We visited Monument valley as part of our Southwest road trip. In the afternoon, we started from Page, AZ, and arrived at Monument valley in 2 hours. Click here to read the previous post.
Monument Valley belongs to the Navajo Nation, so you need to pay $20 to enter, and it is not covered in the Annual national pass. The best thing to do here is to drive the 17-mile valley road. We went to the visitor center and grabbed a map for self-drive. You must drive carefully because this road is made of dirt and gravel. It was muddy but not dusty when we went there because it had rained the day before. Visitors can only self-drive on this one road; if they wish to go off-road to explore further, they must sign up for a guided tour. If you don’t want to self-drive, you can also take a guided tour of Valley Road.
The Mittens
The Mittens and the Merrick Butte
Merrick
John Ford’s Point
Three sisters
Cly Butte
North Window
The views from the visitor center at sunset.
Parking lot and the visitor center.
The only lodging is the View Hotel and the cabins. Our cabin from the back side where we were staying for the night.
It was getting dark and here are the views from our cabin
In the morning the views look different with the sun in the back.
From the luxury of our room, we could comfortably take in the sights.
Here is our cabin where we stayed the night. You must reserve your lodging in advance here because it quickly sells out.
We had breakfast in the View hotel restaurant. It had many options considering it was in the middle of nowhere. The visitor center also has a small museum and a gift shop with handmade products from Navajo people. We enjoyed the views from the visitor center for some more time and then left for our next destination.
Monument Valley can be done in 2-3 hours but staying the night helps to enjoy the views in the evening and morning. Moreover, it is far from any major city or airport, so depending on where you are coming from might adds up the driving time. If you want to explore other areas in the valley, you might need more time.
Forrest Gump Point. There was enough room on the side of the road to park the car and take pictures. Due to traffic use caution when walking on the road.
Mexican Hat
We continued our drive to Moab, UT, where we are staying next on our road trip, but we made a detour to Four Corners Monument.
After that, we continued our drive to the next national park, Arches, and Canyonland.