The beauty and solitude of Monument Valley
SCENIC LANDSCAPE DEFINES THE WEST
Close your eyes and picture the West — the Wild West, the Old West, the Hollywood West or the real West — it doesn’t matter. Chances are the images in your head are of soaring spires, sculpted columns and broad mesas. Because if you’re like me, you’re seeing Monument Valley.
Straddling the Arizona-Utah state line, Monument Valley is the centerpiece landscape of the Navajo Reservation. Like Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona, this should be a mandatory destination for all Arizona residents. And autumn, with its clear cool days and low slanted sun, is the perfect time to visit.
Just getting to Monument Valley is a treat. It’s a long drive across the northlands and Navajo Reservation, the last 27 miles from Kayenta on U.S. 163 through sparse terrain punctuated by sandstone hoodoos and monoliths. You’ll enter Utah for a fleeting moment. When you turn on the road for Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, you’ll cross back into Arizona.
On your own
At the end of the 4-mile paved road, you’ll find the visitor center and museum along with the Navajo-owned View Hotel, restaurant, trading post and campground. The visitor center contains a museum with exhibits on the cultural history of the tribe and the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. Vistas from the overlook are spectacular and are worth the journey alone.
Monument Valley was the first Navajo tribal park. It shelters over 91,000 acres and is still home to dozens of Navajo families. The only public access to the interior of the park is a 17-mile dirt road (13 miles are one way) that loops through its stony heart.
From the parking lot, the road slopes down to the valley floor, passing the Mittens and Merrick Butte. This feels like the edge of the world, where blocky towers vault from the sand and sagebrush to pierce a tall sky.
The road continues past such distinctive features as Three Sisters, John Ford Point, Rain God Mesa, North Window and Totem Pole, all separated by quiet expanses. The spaces between these formations are as haunting as the rocks themselves.
High-clearance vehicles are recommended but carefully driven passenger cars can manage the road. I drove it in August when it was teeming with rental cars and noticed a few dicey spots, most notably on the side road to Artist Point.
If you prefer to let someone else handle the wheel, take a jeep tour with a Navajo guide. You can sign up with one of several companies at a small booth in the visitor center parking lot. Goulding’s Lodge, just outside the tribal park, also offers tours. In addition to tracing the park road, some tours explore distant corners of the terrain like Mystery Valley and Hunt’s Mesa. Horseback and hiking tours are also available.
I often get asked to name my favorite Arizona hiking trail, which is an impossible task. I usually rattle off several to reflect the staggering diversity of the state. But if I had to pick just one, it would likely be the Wildcat Trail, a 3.2-mile loop that weaves among the iconic formations of Monument Valley.
The Wildcat throws a lasso around the West Mitten and provides spectacular views of East Mitten and Merrick Butte. I am transported as I cross the valley floor gazing at monoliths stranded like shipwrecks washed up on an ancient shore. Massive cloud shadows sweep the formations. An aching stillness envelops the landscape. It’s sun, sky and stone in perfect balance and I have it all to myself. No longer am I a wide-eyed kid watching Western movies, I’m living one.
For years Wildcat was the only hike available to visitors without a Navajo guide. But two more trails have been added, the Mesa Rim and the Lee Cly. Both start from the south side of the View Hotel before branching off in different directions.
Mesa Rim makes a short (0.7 mile) but steep climb up the shoulder of the mesa above the hotel. The elevated perch offers
Details: 435-727-5874, www.navajonationparks.org.
The View Hotel is the only lodging in the park. The View is designed to exist in harmony with the magnificent surroundings. It features a low contour conforming to the mesa it sits on so it doesn’t disrupt the scenery. The exterior’s reddish hue blends with the rock. Rooms face east, each with a sheltered balcony framing a panorama of iconic formations. The View also has private cabins in western decor overlooking the valley floor. A campground offers RV and tent sites.
Details: 435-727-5555, www.monumentvalley view.com.
Goulding’s Lodge sits at the base of Rock Door Mesa, across U.S. 163 from the tribal park. Comfortable Southwestern-style rooms have private balconies. This summer the lodge added 68 hillside suites, standalone units with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and porch. There are two heated indoor pools, one at the lodge and another at the campground. A variety of tours are available.
Details: 435-727-3231, www.gouldings.com. a good vantage point for far-ranging vistas. But be alert. It’s hard to tell exactly where the official trail ends. Some social pathways keep going up and the footing becomes less stable.
The Lee Cly Trail was dedicated in the summer of 2016 and makes a 2.1mile loop across rolling sandy hills with excellent views of Mitchell Butte, Mitchell Mesa and Grey Whiskers Butte. This is another beautiful trail with mostly level walking but the deep sand gives you a bit of a workout. Lee Cly was born in Monument Valley and went on to become the longestserving ranger in the tribal park’s history.
No trip to Monument Valley is complete without a visit to nearby Goulding’s Lodge. Harry Goulding moved to Monument Valley in the early 1920s with his young wife Leone (whom he affectionately nicknamed Mike because he had trouble spelling Leone). The couple built a trading post and eventually gained the trust of the Navajo people.
During the Great Depression, money and jobs were almost nonexistent on the reservation. Harry had the idea to attract Hollywood interest in Monument Valley as a movie location. Using their last $60, he and Mike traveled to the coast toting photos of the landscape. Harry finally wrangled a meeting with director John Ford. Ford must have liked what he saw because he shot the film “Stagecoach” there in 1939. It became a classic and made John Wayne a breakout star.
Ford and Wayne made several more movies there, providing jobs and capital for the tribe and putting Monument Valley on display to the world. The Gouldings built accommodations to house the film crews and that eventually grew into the lodge.
Today, Goulding’s is a sprawling complex that includes a grocery store, gas station, restaurant, gift shop and a beautiful campground in a red-rock canyon. The original store has been converted into a terrific museum. There’s even a theater that shows John Wayne movies nightly.
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