The classic Western scene of John Ford films… Monument Valley and its magnificent buttes and the grand desert. Picture the cowboys riding through it. Today, it is part of the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona near the Utah border. This was one of my favorite trips – I will take this over Paris any day.
The best place to stay is The View Hotel. It is part of the Navajo Nation and located in Monument Valley park. You need to pay $30 to get into the park even if you are staying there. The rooms are not cheap, but it is definitely worth it to have views like these. Most rooms have views of the buttes as seen below.
There is no other hotel in Monument Valley itself. We stayed for two nights and could have stayed longer. There is a lot to see. The Navajo Nation is dry, so no alcohol is sold or served anywhere (I believe you can bring your own – we did.) The hotel has a restaurant.
You can drive down the road near the buttes and do a loop for about an hour, but it is best for a 4 wheel drive. You can go for a bit in a sedan – to the main buttes, but not too much further. There are many tour guides that offer jeeps and horse back riding.
We opted for horseback riding with Sacred Monument Tours. You can find them right in the hotel parking lot. They have representatives from various tour groups in the main lot and they will take you to the stables which are on the property as well. There is nothing like riding horseback through this classic desert scene. Wow! It was truly an experience of a lifetime. You will not find this view and this experience anywhere else. We loved it!
For more photos of Monument Valley and Arizona go to Wonderland Photography
For more Arizona blogs go to Horseshoe Bend, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell and Arizona. Also visit the blog describing the home of the big gunfight at OK Corral in Tombstone.
