Navajo Nation Attractions

2gypsies wrote:

DeanRIowa wrote:
Thak you for the ideas.

I found a couple more to visit:

• Navajo Nation Zoo & Botanical Park
• Ch'ihootso Market Place - flea market

Dean

...and you're still going to try and see all of these with your 3-night stay? Please let us all know how you did it! :)

With so many attractions, we will probably be staying close to Mesa Verde for a couple of days as well, thus adding Mesa Verde, Chaco canyon and 4 corners to our trip.

Dean

trailertraveler wrote:
Some places perhaps a little closer to Monument Valley:
UT-261 the Moki Dugway
Goosenecks State Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument
Bluff Fort
South Fork of Mule Canyon and House on Fire
The Valley of The Gods
Sand Island Petroglyphs
Edge of the Cedars State Park
Dinosaur Museum

2X

You can drive your private vehicle on the dirt-road tour thru Monument Valley, or there are several tour operators that will take you in their vehicles. Gouldings offers this service that can be arranged at CG check-in.

I think the 4 hour tour was $40. Private vehicles are charged an access fee but not sure how much it was. The thing that sold me was that the nearest town doesn't have a decent-sized grocery store but has 3 windshield repair shops.

The Gouldings tour provided a Navajo guide that was very knowledgable and entertaining. I would have paid $40 bucks just to sit and talk to that guy for a few hours.

Just a suggestion. (the view from Goulding's campground into the valley is incredible!!!)

Wow your gonna do all that in 3 days...I've lived in the 4 corners area for 67 years & haven't seen all you want to see in 3 days.

I will also add that three days won't allow you to see much of anything. Time wise, it's a long drive from place to place out here. Some of the roads are graded gravel, others very potholed pavement. Just a day trip to Chaco Canyon (well worth visiting) will take a very full day from about anywhere. Ditto Hovenweep.

In the Durango/Mesa Verde area, stop at the Anasazi Hertitage Center near Dolores. They can give you great information on many of the hisorical sites in the area.

Make sure you get an NPS pass if you don't already have the senior version.

You say you're not into long hikes, but be aware that for virtually all of the places people have mentioned, you'll have to get out of the car and walk 1/4 to 1/2 mile or more to see the ruins. Seeing them from the car is like looking at a picture -- you can't appreciate the construction and the day to day living routines that took place in those ruins. In some places, you can still see finger impressions in the mortar between the stones.

Want to save time and money? Skip 4 corners. $5 per person. Just a tourist trap IMHO. Not a place I'd ever take someone touring with us.

We did a roadtrip years ago that started in NM, AZ, UT, CO, back to NM-
Window rock, AZ
Grand Canyon, AZ
Tuba city, AZ
Dinosaur tracks roadside, AZ
Monument valley, AZ/UT
Mexican hat, UT
Valley of Gods, UT
Bluff,UT
4 corners, AZ,UT,CO,NM
Mesa Verde. CO
Durango, CO
Chama, NM
Santa Fe, NM
Cerillos, NM
Madrid,NM

Was a great trip!