Moki Dugway or Canyon de Chelly

Monument valley was ok



, 2.5 hrs away is Mesa Verde which was much more to my liking.


from there its a 2 hour drive to Moab

Moki Dugway is a must see, but you need to see Natural Bridges National Monument and Navajo National Monument. What gems of little national Parks and easy access.

But, what way are you going through Kansas? I took 35 Days to drive from Denver to Salina, KS, last fall and there are so many more places to check out diagonally across Kansas to New Mexico, or southern Colorado.

But do do the Valley of the Gods, Moki Dugway, Goosenecks all at the same time.

Also, if you are thinking Sring, there is the Overland EXPO 14 to experience too! The entire northern Arizona, Southern Utah is right there for you to explore. It might take you more like 12 years, to make a dent in it, but worth starting with 2 months.

Give me shout, once you get started, you just might find me lost in one of those canyons, around that time.

b

Moki Dugway is interesting to do. But it's a 15 minute drive up on down. Then, you're done. Nice views along the drive but the driver won't be enjoying them, unless you stop and there aint many (if any) places to do that. But there are some very interesting areas right near there. I really liked boondocking in Comb Wash, areas out by Muley Point and driving the Valley of the Gods. Cedar Mesa is also nice. Natural Bridges has some great hikes.

IMO, C de C is really best done by hiring one of the Indian Jeep guides to take you into the canyon. You can drive along the rim of the canyon but really not into it. The views in from the top are pretty good..........but not good enough to warrant how out of the way it is. UNLESS you do a canyon tour.

Camping at C de C is not great, either. I dont much like the campground near the mouth of the canyon. Overpriced, ill-maintained and lots of traffic noise. It is not run by the park service. There is another campground along the south rim road that is better but it is far from the canyon entrance.

I'd go to the Dugway area.

exhaustipated wrote:
Embarking on a two month TC adventure this Spring and will be at Monument Valley in early May. Upon leaving Monument Valley we are going to Moab and thought about driving the Moki Dugway on our way up there. But then we noticed Canyon de Chelly in Northern Arizona and thought about going there instead and that would be a lot of backtracking into Arizona again just to get to Moab. Has anyone ever driven the Moki Dugway before? Would it be better to see Canyon de Chelly instead? We can do one but not both in the time frame we're allowing ourselves. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated so I can finalize my itinerary.

Do both. The Moki can be driven rather quickly, about 15-20 minutes, then take it back down again to get to Moab. Canyon de Chelly is an all-day affair or two. It's definitely worth seeing and fairly close to Monument Valley. Here's what I'd do:

1. Canyon de Chelly (1-2 days)
2. Monument Valley (1-2 days)
3. Goosenecks State Park (2 hours)
4. Valley of the Gods (1 day)
5. Moki Dugway (2 hours)
6. Moab