Monument Valley, Arizona – Out and About

Highway 163 in Utah

Views along Highway 163 in Utah

Hogan demonstration area

Train Rock

Skull Rock

Olijato

Near Olijato

The View Lodge

The View Lodge is inside the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park which costs $20 to enter. The fee is a day use fee which provides you access to The Lodge, Visitors Information, the restaurant, and the infamous Valley Drive.

Flags waving outside The Lodge

Monument Valley at sunrise as seen from The Lodge

Outside of The View Lodge

Inside the lobby

Outside area of The Lodge

View of The View Lodge as seen from The Valley Drive

Gift shop in The Lodge

Dining area in The View Lodge

Breakfast buffet at The View Lodge

Kachina Dolls

Quite the view at The View Lodge – a nice place to enjoy your coffee

Valley Drive – Monument Valley

The Valley Drive is a 17 mile drive though Monument Valley and is famous for its sandstone buttes known at The Mittens. We measured the drive on our odometer and it fell quite a bit short of 17 miles. We aren’t sure how it was measured but it was still a beautiful drive. We arrived first thing in the morning so we could witness sunrise before we embarked on our journey. The road was in fine condition and we had no problem driving it in our tow vehicle. We had read and heard that the road can be in terrible condition which we could see if it had just rained. Most of the road is maintained gravel and in good condition.

Entrance sign at sunset

Sculptures at the entrance – at sunset

Photographers awaiting sunrise

Sunrise at The West Mitten

The Mittens just after sunrisre

The Valley Drive as seen from The View Lodge – vendors below

Valley Drive

Three Sisters along Valley Drive

Typical scenery along the drive

Totem Pole

The Thumb

Beautiful vistas

Typical road condition

Another example of the road

Beautiful scenery

Stables along The Valley Drive

Valley Drive selfie

Sunrise at The Mittens

Photographers at sunrise shooting The Mittens

Forest Gump Point

You can’t drive between Monument Valley and Mexican Hat without seeing tourists in the middle of the road trying to capture that Forest Gump photograph.

Our car having it’s Forest Gump moment

A view of the area

Capturing a moment

Forest Gump Point

Mexican Hat

Mexican Hat is a small village between Monument Valley and Bluff and sits along the San Juan River. It is a near a rock formation called, appropriately, Mexican Hat Rock. It is a perfect navigation feature for those coming down the San Juan River. The Old Bridge Grille and the San Juan Inn sit on the bluffs right along the river.

Mexican Hat Rock

The Mexcian Hat Rock

A cool rock

Bridge over San Juan River in Mexican Hat

Bridge over San Juan River

Collecting water samples from the San Juan River

San Juan River with the Old Bridge Grille and the San Juan Inn on the far side

Goosenecks State Park

This Utah State Park is located a short distance from Mexican Hat along the San Juan River which meanders like a goose’s neck through the gorge. The park offers day use and 8 dry camping camping sites along the rim with fantastic views. The park is quite small and was busy during the day with tourists stopping by for very short visits. The campsites are a bit further down from the day use and would probably avoid the hustle and bustle from the visitors. Some of the sites, which are not really well marked, are a bit bumpy with rocks. The ranger told us that the covered picnic table sites were day use and the camping sites were further down the road. We read that those dispersed camping sites are really outside of the state park in BLM but yet the state park charges a fee for them. Who knows? It is still a beautiful area and may be well worth the $10 camping fee. When we were there in June all sites were available.