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| One of the Mittens |
Monument Valley Tribal Park
Monument Valley is one of the most iconic - and most photographed – places in the American West. A cluster of massive sandstone buttes scattered across a 91-acre valley on the Colorado Plateau, Monument Valley lies within the Navajo Nation Reservation.
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| Operated by the Navajo Nation |
The area is open to the public as the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, operated by the Navajo Nation. It is NOT a National Park, although many people think it is. It is about eight and a half hours from my house, so we knew that, if we left early, we could arrive by early afternoon.
And, we ALWAYS leave early!!
Admission to the park is $20 per vehicle with up to four people (after that, extra fees apply). Admission is good for four days, going in and out as often as you wish. And, no, a National Park pass cannot be used.
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| The famous Mittens and Merrick Butte |
The formations reach heights of 400 to 1,000 feet. The terrain is desert, lots of red sand and rock punctuated by desert plants, some very hearty ...
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| Mesquite |
... and some very funky ...
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| Interesting beans |
There is a 17-mile
gravel loop road. The road is deeply rutted in some places, but drivable by car if you are
careful. I would be cautious about taking a low-profile car. Our Honda Pilot was fine and we saw lots of sedans. Some were struggling.
The road is open roughly from sunrise to just after sunset. We were told several different times and then we witnessed both a late closing and a late opening. Plus, we saw people driving on the road after hours. They may have been locals. There are some ranches within the park. But, there are rules.
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| A dusty drive |
Parts of Monument Valley, such as Mystery Valley and Hunts Mesa, are
accessible only by guided tour. But, the 17-mile loop gives you plenty to see, so we didn't see a need for a tour.
The Navajo name of the valley is Tse'Bii'Ndzisgaii, which
means (not surprisingly) “valley of rocks.”
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| One big rock |
The park was created in 1958, but the area was made famous before that in countless western movies. John Wayne made many films there, including Stagecoach in 1939, and he is still very revered in the area (interesting for the Navajo Nation).
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| Photo: Scene from Stagecoach |
Like Arches and Canyonlands National Parks to the north, Monument Valley showcases nature's erosive power. But, its formations are unlike any others in the world. For millions of years, layers upon layers of sediments settled and cemented in the basin. The basin lifted up
and became a plateau; then the natural forces of water and wind slowly removed
the softer materials and exposed the spires, buttes and other formations of the
valley.
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| Bright colors |
The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed
in weathered siltstone. Darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color
from manganese oxide. The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal
layers. The lowest layer is the Organ Rock Shale, the middle is de Chelly
Sandstone and the top layer is the Moenkopi Formation capped by Shinarump
Conglomerate.
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| Hole in the rock |
Between 1945 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument was mined for uranium, which occurs in scattered areas of the Shinarump
Conglomerate; vanadium and copper are associated with uranium in some deposits.
The Visitor Center offers museums, souvenirs, restrooms, a
restaurant and a lodge.
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| Kachinas |
Guided tours of the park are available by vehicle
(open, dusty jeeps) and by horseback. You can see the Mittens and Merrick Butte without driving on the loop road. There are great vantage points from the parking lot and an overlook near the campground.
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| Good views |
Camping looks rather bleak. No shade. There are, however, some very nice-looking cabins that have a great view.
Our Cabin
When I was booking our accommodations, I was concerned because I thought I wouldn’t find anything on short notice. But, I did!
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| Cute! |
I THOUGHT it
was the hotel that is within the park, but it turned out to be a very nice
place across the highway. One problem is that I always think that Monument Valley is in Utah. It isn’t. It is in northern
Arizona right on the border with Utah. So, I erroneously searched for Utah lodging.
The other problem is that the Monument
Valley Navajo Tribal park website doesn’t mention or link to the onsite hotel.
Finally, I was just moving too quickly. And, possibly, the onsite hotel (named the View) came up on my search because the it was probably sold out.
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| Nice inside |
So, we ended up a Goulding's Lodge, which is in Utah, in the
only room available – a very nice brand-new freestanding cottage. It had a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, second bed in the main room and a porch that looked
across to the formations.
Although I was disappointed not to be in the park,
the cottage was really nice and it wasn’t difficult to drive back and forth.
Goulding’s restaurant was good, too, with excellent Navajo fry bread, Navajo
tacos and, according to Scott, great green chili.
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| Well, you can see it |
Next time, however, I would like to
stay at the View, because I think you could actually shoot
photos from your balcony. I am not sure if the angle from the balconies is right for photos of the Mittens. But, even if it isn't, it would be nice to just grab your equipment and walk out. Plus, you could peek out during the night to see if the sky is looking good.
I guess I should be more careful when I book (but, our cottage was nice and the fry bread was great). And, often, mistakes make great travel.
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| The View |
Our Visit
Anyway, we drove straight there, stopping only briefly at
Four Corners, the only place in the U.S. where four states intersect (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah). It’s kind
of hokey and is really just an excuse to sell mediocre Navajo jewelry, but ya
gotta do it.
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| Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet here (ish) |
We arrived in the early afternoon and, after checking out
the room, went over to the park to get some photos ...
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| Getting the shot |
Then we took our first drive on the 17-mile loop.
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| On the drive |
We got great views of
the formations and saw a few critters, including a few Black-throated Sparrows (I had seen them at White Sands as well)…
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| They seem to like the desert |
… a Robber Fly …
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| Devouring another Robber Fly |
… and a Desert Spiny Lizard …
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| On the lookout |
I saw lots of tracks of Lizards, Mice, Ground Squirrels and,
I assume, Roadrunners, but we didn’t actually see many other animals. And, I missed some shots of Ground Squirrels.
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| Tracks |
We chose to drive ourselves because we like to be able to
stop and take pictures when we want to. Watching the open Jeeps bounce along
the dusty road solidified the wisdom of our decision. I think a tour could ruin
a camera with all the dirt and I doubt you could get anything decent while
moving. Most people were holding on for dear life.
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| Pretty |
The valley is beautiful and the drive wasn’t very crowded. However, every time a car passed, we had to wait a few minutes for the dust to settle.
Literally.
The. Dust. Needed. To. Settle.
It was surprisingly cool. I always think it will be over 100 degrees there – but it wasn’t summer yet. Instead, it was in the 60s and 70s.
Temperatures in May generally range from 37 to 78. In August, the average high is 94 degrees.
The Plateau sits at about a mile high, which is one reason it doesn't get as hot as the lower part of Arizona in the summer. Still, the mid 70s are a lot better than the high 90s.
We spent a lot of time trying to get unusual angles (in addition to the stuff everyone gets) and trying, where possible, to get some greenery in the shots. There aren't a lot of plants, but, because there had been some rain and snow the weeks before, it was unusually verdant for Monument Valley.
That meant stepping off the road and climbing up and down a few hills. I was careful to watch for snakes, but never saw any. Sturdy closed-toe shoes are a good idea.
After a brief rest back at the cottage, we went back for sunset photos. (I didn't notice until I got home that the statue cut off the name of the park in the photo below!)
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| Afternoon |
The light was incredible – a rich, bright red ...
... punctuated with purples ...
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| Glorious sunset |
At one point the reds got so intense that it didn't even look real ...
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| Not retouched! |
Because the road closes around sunset, the only shots you can get are from the parking lot and overlooks.
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| Fortunately, those are the most iconic views |
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| Worth staying the night |
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| Wow! |
After dark, we went back for star shots. There was a fairly bright moon, so we were not able to capture the Milky Way (we need to go back when the sky is dark).
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| Bright night |
But, we were in the middle of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower (debris form the tail of Halley’s Comet) and we both managed to grab a few.
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| Nice capture! |
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| Close-up |
Then, off to bed so we could get up early for sunrise. While not a spectacular as sunset, sunrise was beautiful.
But, I guess, a lot of people love John Wayne and that helps bring in tourists.
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| On the point |
When we arrived the first day, we saw a Navajo on a horse on the point (see the photo at the top of this post).
While it looked spontaneous, it was actually a tourist attraction -- you can pay a fee to sit on the horse on the outcropping for a photo.
Or, you can pay to get a picture with the Navajo. We didn't do that.
But when we got there the next morning, they hadn't set up for photos yet. We were one of the first cars in and traffic was light. So, the point was empty (except a fair amount of horse poop). We took the opportunity to take pictures of each other across a ravine between the parking area and the outcropping.
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| Not a bad portrait! |
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| Even far, far away |
We grabbed a few more photos ...
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| Can't get enough |
We saw a few birds, but even with the early hour, not much else ...
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| Another Black-throated Sparrow |
And, then, we completed the loop ...
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| Final shot |
... and headed off toward the Grand Canyon ...
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| Grand Canyon |
Trip date: May 3-8, 2017
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