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WHAT TO SEE IN MONUMENT VALLEY
Mittens and Merrick's Butte
Mittens and Merrick's Butte
As with Yellowstone, describing Monument Valley is a very difficult task. As the name itself suggests, Monument Valley is truly "monumental".
It is one of the undisputed symbols of the western United States.
The vast desert plain is actually of fluvial origin (Colorado Plateau) and is located on the border between Utah and Arizona in a rather isolated, yet extensive area, more than 70 km from the nearest town: Kayenta. The territory is mostly flat except for the fact that the plain is dotted with small isolated hills with flat tops and sloping sides called butte or mesas depending on their shape. The three most famous (which you see in the photo above) are the Mittens and Merrick's Butte: natural structures made of rock and sand in the shape of towers with a reddish color (caused by iron oxide) and a more or less horizontal flat top. The area is part of the Navajo Nation Reservation, where a tribe still lives, and it is entirely and exclusively managed by the Native Americans, including The View Hotel, which opened in 2009 and was built in place of the basic campground that had existed for 40 years.
It is necessary to make a premise: Monument Valley is practically and completely unpaved, with considerable potholes along the road. Impossible to travel with your Harley. With a motorcycle you can easily enter the park but you will inevitably have to stop at the Hotel parking lot and continue your visit with organized tours. If you have a rental car you can try to drive the Scenic Valley Drive, which is the only road accessible independently, that is, without a native guide.
For the reasons above and to allow you to fully enjoy this wonder, I strongly recommend booking tours with local guides. There are several Navajo providers who offer horseback or jeep tours both online and on site.
We decided to try both.
HORSEBACK TOUR
I think the horseback tour is truly unmissable. I am not a great horse lover, nor a great rider. For safety, never having ridden a horse before, I decided to train by taking a few rides here in Italy to get a bit of familiarity. I think I did a wise thing. I should point out that the natives are a bit "easygoing" in the sense that they are a bit disorganized and tend to take many things for granted, including your ability to ride. Don't worry, there is nothing to fear, just pay attention and let them know if there is something that doesn't seem right.
We booked a guided tour from Italy with Roy Black's Guided Tour lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes. As I said, there are many providers offering more or less the same excursions. The guide will pick you up with a jeep in the main square and will take you, rather recklessly (get ready!), to the ranch where you will mount the horses. Since organization is not their strong point, be prepared to wait patiently under the sun. Bring a hat or bandana, sunglasses and sunscreen and, above all, water, since there are no facilities and the Navajo have no facility for guests, not even water.
Finally, it's time to leave. The tour is truly exciting. In the total silence of the desert, in the most enveloping heat, with hooves sinking into the bright red sand, you will see and enjoy a landscape unique of its kind. The guide will show you the most picturesque corners and point out the particular shapes the rocks take, naming them one by one. You will go up and down sandy slopes, skirt cliffs, and keep turning your head right and left trying to capture every single frame to imprint in your memory. There really are no words to describe this experience, which will truly be memorable.
Horseback tour
Horseback tour
JEEP TOUR
In addition to the horseback tour, why not also take a jeep tour. It will allow you to see other areas of the park that you will not have visited during the horseback ride. We relied on Spirit Tour. Book a sunset tour to enjoy the most beautiful show that Monument can offer. The guide will pick you up at the usual parking lot and take you with a 4x4 jeep on truly dirt tracks to visit the classic tourist spots, but will also show you hidden views where only Navajo guides can access (also giving you valuable tips for taking truly unique photos). The tour starts from John Ford's point: a viewpoint named after the famous Hollywood director who, with his films, helped make Monument Valley one of the most iconic places of the distant Far West. Here it is a must to take a photo on horseback just like John Wayne in the movie The Searchers. The horse, placed ad hoc at this panoramic point, is truly amazing as it stands still like a statue. This ability is the result of great training. If you don't want to take the photo on horseback, you can sit and take a snapshot with the cliff and the Mittens and Merrick's Butte behind you. The tour continues to the Sun's Eye Arch: from below we admire this arch in the rock that resembles an eye through which sunlight enters. Through holes and bumps we arrive at the Big Hogan Arch, a large natural arch cave with a unique acoustics inside. The guide will sing a native song inside, accompanied by a typical musical instrument of his tribe: truly evocative. Then you move on to the Ear of the Wind: a natural arch where the bright red color of the sand is in sharp contrast with the dry, bare tree that seems to frame it. The tour continues to the Flying Eagle: a very tall rocky spur whose top depicts an eagle in flight with outstretched wings. The last stop is the Three Sisters: three sharp, thin pinnacles, very different from the other formations in the Monument. At the end of the tour you will be taken back to the starting point where you will arrive with your bones a little sore but your eyes full of spectacular and unusual views.
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