Monument Valley

Yes on Gouldings. We have been to MV twice. The second time we caught the thunderstorms over the valley--GREAT PHOTOS! Hope you get a few clouds if not thunderstorms--they can make the tour a little different.

Gorgeous photos, thanks to all who posted. We took the tour one August mid-afternoon, and as the sun set, the light on the rocks made for wonderful photo opportunities. It's a beautiful place, and feels familiar if you've watched old movie Westerns.

The downside of the bus tour is there are almost no bathroom facilities obviously except for a rare porta-potty, and you may find yourself spending a very long time just waiting for the other passengers buying stuff or wandering away for various reasons. (Still, no way I'd have driven even our small Class B back then on those roads.)

Gouldings worked for us. Be sure to visit the little movie museum in the Gouldings complex.

If you drive yourself instead of taking the tour then you will miss some key formations such as "Eye Of The Sun" and "Ear Of The Wind" since those features are located in areas where they only allow tour vehicles, not private vehicles.

2gypsies wrote:
We also drove our own Jeep both morning and evening for different lighting on photos. It's amazing that some people in rental RVs do the drive on their own - not high clearance, for sure. I wonder what they break on them.

Probably more high clearance than this, though, and it survived.

We've always stayed at the View campground right in front of the Mittens. Wonderful views! We also drove our own Jeep both morning and evening for different lighting on photos. It's amazing that some people in rental RVs do the drive on their own - not high clearance, for sure. I wonder what they break on them.

If you gotta have hookups, I guess Gouldings is for you. But I would not trade this from the "View CG" at the Tribal Park for them.



Then a latter in the morning, This.

Our site at Gouldings last year.

You will have better access to the valley if you take a tour. We saw signs, not very far into it, indicating that non-resident vehicles were not allowed beyond a certain point (exempting the tour trucks.)

cadilac ranch in bluff is a nice park to explorer the area from .

Desert Captain wrote:
I agree the Gouldings is the way to go if you have to have hookups. They are pricey but it is a nice facility with lots of amenities but as noted reservations are a must.

If you have at least a truck or 4 wheel drive {ground clearance is more important than 4X4}, skip the overpriced tours and just drive the valley yourself. My 2 wheel drive F-150 Scab did just fine as long as you stay out of the deep sand - not hard to do just follow the existing tire tracks. This way you can stop when and where you want for as long as you like.

In late September a couple of years ago we got up early to catch the sunrise from the valley, definitely worth your time. We drove over to the valley road entrance only to find the bar across the road (chained up). Not happy campers at 0530 but....

About this time and elderly Navajo gentleman drove up in a stake bed truck with a load of hay and a 100 gallons of water for the horses down in the valley. He laughed and said he forgot they lock this gate but he knew a back way in and offered to let us follow him.

Back to the main road and then after a couple of hundred yards he hung a hard right through the brush coming out on a well worn two track. He knew the road like the back of his hand we dropped back a quarter of mile to stay out of his dust cloud following the water trail in the dust where is tank kept slopping over on the bumpy road.

Probably 2 of the most gorgeous hours of our lives as we rolled through the valley reveling in a spectacular sunrise in the cloud streaked sky. Even the water droplet on the lense can't ruin this pic taken that morning. This was where our Navajo friend was off loading the hay and water:



:C

Great post. Felt like I was there again. Thanks.

I agree the Gouldings is the way to go if you have to have hookups. They are pricey but it is a nice facility with lots of amenities but as noted reservations are a must.

If you have at least a truck or 4 wheel drive {ground clearance is more important than 4X4}, skip the overpriced tours and just drive the valley yourself. My 2 wheel drive F-150 Scab did just fine as long as you stay out of the deep sand - not hard to do just follow the existing tire tracks. This way you can stop when and where you want for as long as you like.

In late September a couple of years ago we got up early to catch the sunrise from the valley, definitely worth your time. We drove over to the valley road entrance only to find the bar across the road (chained up). Not happy campers at 0530 but....

About this time and elderly Navajo gentleman drove up in a stake bed truck with a load of hay and a 100 gallons of water for the horses down in the valley. He laughed and said he forgot they lock this gate but he knew a back way in and offered to let us follow him.

Back to the main road and then after a couple of hundred yards he hung a hard right through the brush coming out on a well worn two track. He knew the road like the back of his hand we dropped back a quarter of mile to stay out of his dust cloud following the water trail in the dust where is tank kept slopping over on the bumpy road.

Probably 2 of the most gorgeous hours of our lives as we rolled through the valley reveling in a spectacular sunrise in the cloud streaked sky. Even the water droplet on the lense can't ruin this pic taken that morning. This was where our Navajo friend was off loading the hay and water:



:C