For the beginning of our Southwest Tour, start here: Arches National Park
We drove to Sanders, Arizona, staying at a little mobile home unit behind somebody’s house out in the boonies. It wasn’t a very long drive, so we stopped at Monument Valley to do the driving trail tour.
Many western movies directed by John Ford have been filmed in Monument Valley, by the way, including, “The Searchers,” “Cheyenne Autumn,” and “Stage Coach.” John Wayne referred to Monument Valley as “God’s Treasure,” which from my point of view is mete, right and salutary.
Evidently part of Forrest Gump had been filmed there, too, since we saw a signs for Forrest Gump Hill shortly before arriving at MV itself. I’ve only seen Forrest Gump once and it was about a thousand years ago, so I don’t remember much from it. Next time we watch it, I’ll be on the lookout for Forrest Gump Hill.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is owned by the Navajo Nation, so it isn’t considered a National Park.
You could get guided tours, but we figured we’d get as much as we wanted out of it by doing the self-guided driving tour on something they were calling a road. This kind of driving is apparently called “off-roading.” Oh my goodness – I’ve never been on such a bumpy road. If my head hadn’t been attached, it would have fallen off. I could hardly wait to get off that road, but it was one of Kris’s favorite experiences, so “vive la difference.”
We stopped at all the turnouts, as well as taking the side spurs to places of interest. The East and West Mittens, as well as the Three Sisters, were probably the most iconic sights.
One of the places we stopped along the driving trail was called “John Ford’s Point.” A very sad looking horse stood out in the sun waiting for people to hire it for a short ride. I exchanged a sympathetic look with the beastie before we moved on.
We bumped and jolted our way along the rest of the trail, stopping at the Rain God Mesa and Spearhead Mesa and a couple other places to do the Tourists Taking Photos routine.
It took us about 2 hours to do the 15-mile trail, partly because of all the stops and partly because we had to drive very slowly over the sandy, rocky and rut-filled road.
Thanks for joining us on our Southwest Tour – more to come!
Next stop: Petrified Forest National Park
Take a ride out to Blog Post Point now, ‘cause it’ll be gone in the morning!
Lynniebeemuseoday 
Great photos! Whoever named those rocky features just may have been doing a little peyote. ;~)
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It makes you wonder… 🤔
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We had a rented car and took it on that horrible road. Reached the first turnout and headed back out. In the rental car agreement it said we couldn’t go offroad with it, plus we were worried about ANY damage to the car from that road. Instead, we hiked around one of the mittens and came out with orange shoes! A fascinating piece of America–so glad you experienced it. –Lori
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What a great story! It WAS a horrible road! On our way back to the visitor center there was a car in front of us that barely made it up one of the hills, there was so much sand and rock. It wasn’t a good car for offroading – the clearance was too low. It was an adventure, but not one I’d care to repeat.
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