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RVing in Monument Valley

We took a drive through Monument Valley around August one summer, picking a nice warm day for our self-directed tour. Who am I kidding? It was stinkin' hot. That aside, it was absolutely beautiful-one of the most peaceful drives I've ever taken. The desert colors are amazing. Initially, you'd think desert equals tan, brown, drab... Well, that's not a color, but it should be.

The Lively Desert

But the desert is anything but drab. There isn't much green in August, due to the hot and dry factor, but in spring and early summer many of the plants and grasses are bright green, with shrubs flowering every color you can imagine. But even when their season has passed, the grasses and plants provide a soft straw coloring to the landscape that is almost transparent, revealing the rich red siltstone below. Cast against a bright blue sky, whether cloudless or speckled with white, it's clear where the "southwest" color scheme comes from.

Subtly Famous

Known, of course for its majestic monument-like buttes Monument Valley was the backdrop for dozens of famous movies, including John Wayne's early movies. It was also the setting for Chip n' Dale's cartoon Rescue Rangers. Within Monument Valley is the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Nation.

Always Lovely - Never Dull

Behind the park's Visitor Center, facing east are two buttes called the Mittens, whose "thumbs"-totem-like towers adjacent to the main butte-face inward, as do our opposables. From this vantage point you can watch the sun rise from between the Mittens. What a beautiful way to start the day, even if you do have to lift your head a wee bit early to see it. Sunsets are no less spectacular. Splashing a rainbow of colors across sky and clouds, each moment is one of a kind.

Things to Do

The Visitor's Center has grown up since we were there. It has RV parking, a gift store and restaurant. Several tours are available ranging from $40/person for a short tour to $100/person. We didn't get to see Mystery Valley or Hunt's Mesa, but these are features of some of the tours as they are inaccessible to individual visitors. You can drive the 17-mile dirt road yourself for just the National Park access fee.

Horseback riding tours are available, too. Perfect for one's second childhood, it's easy to imagine riding off into the sunset after hunting down Butch Cassidy and Jesse James, and blowin' the smoke from the barrel of your Colt 45. Oops! Make that your index finger. They won't let you have guns in the National Parks.

From May 1st through October 31 there are hot air balloon rides and small plane rides, too, so you can see all this beauty from the air, by horse, by car, by RV or by guide in a 4-wheel drive tour vehicle.

Their guided tours will give you a chance to learn about Navajo appreciation for their sacred lands, and point out many features that would be easy to miss by just driving through. I recall one tour by the forestry service in another desert park that pointed out that the desert floor is actually a crust that acts like our skin, protecting the ecosystem below. So, they discouraged people from wandering off the pathways and otherwise doing things that might damage the crust. Your native Navajo tour guide will show you cave paintings and other ruins, and share legends and beliefs that will help you see the desert in an entirely new way.

More Desert Wonders

Did you know about the "Grand Circle?" This is a circle of canyons and parks that includes Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Bryce, Canyon National Park, Zion Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges, Hovenweep, and Arches National Park. You could plan a couple weeks of travel around these spots, each uniquely different from the others