Monument Valley

Warning: this is likely to be a long one folks! On our recent trip to Arizona, Utah and Nevada the first major planned day was a visit to Monument Valley (after a very long detour to Antelope Canyon - watch out for future review!). My husband had been briefly before with his brothers but they hadn't entered the actual Navajo Tribal Park itself, just drive past the edge. He had bought a huge landscapre picture whilst there which has hung on our living room wall since we married and has been teasing me with it's majestic beauty ever since. It was a place I'd been desperate to visit for a while ... more

I have now been to monument valley 3 times and thought I would share my experiences with you. Our most recent trip was 18 months ago when our children were 6 and 18 months. I hope the review will be useful for anyone planning a trip. Where is it ? *********** Monument valley straddles the boarder of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah. It is 175 miles north east of Flagstaff, Arizona. We have always approached it via Kayenta, the nearest town that is about 23 miles south of Monument valley. The US163 from Kayenta to monument valley is a well-photographed road and you will no doubt ... more

Background and Location Monument Valley (MV) is nowhere near as famous as the Grand Canyon, but in my opinion it is so underrated! MV is in the American South-West in Arizona, but close to the borders of Colarado, New Mexico and Utah. The climate is semi-arid (aka VERY HOT in the summer) and if you google search 'Monument Valley', you are likely to recognise the landscape as it is where most Western Films were set (especially John Wayne stuff). It is famous for it's huge monoliths of rock which are shaped and sculpted by natural erosion and weathering processes. I didn't realise how close this ... more

You get the strangest sensation as you approach Monument Valley. Never mind that this remote corner of Southern Utah is 6,000(ish) miles from The Odeon Leicester Square: you can’t help feeling you’ve been here before. It is not by chance that I choose a cinema as my point of reference – in fact it is a clue. For these breathtaking buttes and mesas that rise dramatically from the valley floor have served as the backdrop for probably more films than any other geological feature in the world. Hence the déjà vu. Two men are principally responsible for this phenomenon - Henry Goulding, a pioneer ... more

Monument Valley was the second stop on our road trip around the National Parks of Arizona and Utah and was probably the one I was most looking forward to. It is absolutely fabulous and definitely worth making the trip to. You see pictures of it everywhere and you have undoubtedly seen it in many a film (remember Tom Cruise abseiling at the beginning of one of the Mission: Impossible films anyone?), but absolutely none of this can prepare you for just how jaw dropping it is in real life. We considered staying near the valley itself originally but then decided against it. If you are planning a ... more