WEST COAST OF THE USA STAGE 8: MONUMENT VALLEY

Monument Valley is one of those mythical sites, which we have all dreamed of visiting sometime ... or not? When we began to imagine our 2-month trip through the United States, we knew we would step on that red earth, we would feel in the old West and freak out with its sunsets of fire.

So it was and today we tell you 🙂

If you come from the north to visit Arches and Canyonlands, you will have to follow the road 191, pass Monticello and continue on the road 163. De Moab is about 150 miles (244 km), about 3 hours away.

If you arrive from the south, after visiting the GreatCanyon, you will have to take the turn off at Flagstaff, continue on 89, then 160 and finally on 163. From Flagstaff it is 178 miles (287 km), just over 3 hours.

If you arrive from the west Well, you've visited the Antelope Canyon or Horseshoe Bend and you stay in Page, you will have to follow the 98 highway and then take the 160 to then enter the scenic highway 163. From Page it is 127 miles (205km), two and a half hours of travel.

- Map of our tour:

The Monument Valley park is visited in apath that leaves from the Visitor Center (east of Monument Valley Junction) and that runs through the valley and its huge rocks for a few 17 miles. It is rather a road of goats, rocks and sand, with areas of many potholes and dunes, prepared in principle for 4-wheel drive cars and high. We ask if we could go through our Ford Fiesta,several told us that we were likely to encounter problems, that many people had to turn around and that it is common to get stuck in the sand.

We do not know if that is the reality, we read several blogs and it is true that some did it in conventional cars like ours. Maybe it's just a strategy to sell you the 4X4 tour offered by local companies ... But we prefer not to play it and settle for the views we had from the campsite where we spent the night and those that left us amazed from the Visitor Center.

Therefore, there would be two ways to tour the Monument Valley: in your own car or with a 4 × 4 tour:

→ Tour the Monument Valley in your car: the 17 miles are traveled in about 3 or 4 hours if you have no problems.

→ Tour the Monument Valley on a tour: the price is around $ 75 per person for a tour of about 3 hours. Normally on these types of tours they take you to less accessible places than if you do it in your own car. It is best to hire online, apparently it would be cheaper than doing it right there. Here you have a list of operators.

We have seen that there is a very interesting tour that runs through several parks such as Antelope, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend or Valley of Fire from Las Vegas in 3 days of travel. You can see more info here.

Monument Valley map, to visit byfree

Here we leave the map of the 17-mile road that runs between the huge rocks of the Monument Valley. As you can see, it leaves from the Visitor Center and bequeathed to the Raub Good Mesa, which surrounds itself and then returns.

Well, since we weren't sure of getting in the car on those roads of God, we prefer to keep some of the views we had from outside the park and that are really amazing.

¿What are the best views of Monument Valley without entering? Well, the one you have before arriving, on Highway 163 (below we give you more details) and especially the wonderful panorama from The View Hotel, in the Visitor Center. We arrived around 18:30 in the afternoon and nobody asked us to enter the road from the Monument Valley Junction.

There is no need to pay to be able to contemplate this wonder of nature. The scenic road 163 it crosses the valley from north to south and from its asphalt you can have a panoramic postcard. In fact it was where the famous scene of Forrest Gump in which he gets tired of running and by his noses he returns home ... He is on the mile 12, north of Monument Valley, it will not be difficult to recognize it.

But this road passes through other interesting points like the Mexican Hat or the Valley of the Gods, which we did not visit but which they recommended.

To truly enjoy the Monument Valley we recommend staying there. The first option is the The View Hotel, but it costs a lot and apparently has a long waiting list ... So the alternative is to find other accommodations in the surroundings of Monument Valley Junction that allow you to enjoy the sunset and sunrise.

We reserve a tent on Airbnb and I think it will be one of the places we will remember all our lives. We saw the sun throw its last rays on the rocks of the Monument Valley and at 5:45 am the next day we saw it again but coming out behind them ... One pass! But it was also very comfortable, the store was huge, had two good inflatable mattresses, a few mega sleeping bags (at night it is cool, not cold). They were also building great Indian tents (tipis) and there were new bathrooms, running water, barbecue, etc. Super well mounted! It cost us more than 60€. You can also get a € 35 discount if you make a new account from this link.

• More information

You will see that the whole area is quite devoid of services, nothing of fastfoods or chains of gas stations, coffee shops or diners, or supermarkets ... But there is a place that concentrates everything, the Gouldings, which in addition to offering accommodation, has a gas station, a small supermarket (where by the way beer is not sold, although this is supposed to be by the razor-laden lakes), a cafeteria and a souvenir shop.

Video: USA 2017 - HORSESHOE BEND. MONUMENT VALLEY. PART 02 incl. subs (April 2024).