Monument Valley sits directly on the border between Utah and Arizona, just off Highway 163. We passed it on our way from Albuquerque to the national parks around Moab, and it became our first proper taste of the red-rock landscapes of the American Southwest.
After the long drive from New Mexico, every mesa on the horizon made the road look more like the America we knew from films. The famous formations only appeared gradually, which made the approach almost as much fun as arriving.
Arriving at Monument Valley
We spent the night in Kayenta, Arizona, about 30 miles from Monument Valley. The Burger King in this little town allowed RVs, campers and trucks to park overnight for free. It was not the most romantic accommodation of our world trip, but it was practical and fitted our budget perfectly.
The visitor centre stands directly after the entrance booth and right beside the beginning of the valley loop. Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park rather than a US national park, so our America the Beautiful pass was not valid. We paid USD 20 per car in 2018.
The 17-mile Valley Drive
The Valley Drive is a 17-mile or 27-kilometre scenic loop past the best-known viewpoints. It took us about two to three hours, including plenty of stops for photographs. There are no long walks between the regular viewpoints. You drive, park, walk a short distance and then continue to the next formation.
The road is unpaved and some sections were in pretty bad condition. We did not need four-wheel drive, but the campervan certainly received a free dust coating. Large RVs and buses were not allowed on the loop, and anyone using a rental car should check what the insurance actually permits before leaving the paved road.
Mesas, buttes and familiar views
Monument Valley gets its unmistakable appearance from different sandstone formations. Mesas are broad and flat, buttes are smaller isolated towers, and narrow spires rise almost like needles from the desert. The loop starts with the formations everybody recognises from postcards, films and old Westerns.
Seeing them in real life was strange because the landscape looked so familiar even though neither of us had ever been there. The scale only became obvious once a car appeared on the road beneath one of the buttes.
Stopping along the loop
Most of our time was spent getting out of the car, walking a few metres and trying to fit the enormous landscape into a photograph. The viewpoints offered different angles, but the road itself was also part of the experience. It wound through the red desert instead of keeping us safely at a distant overlook.
There were walks available in the area, but we stayed with the scenic loop because Monument Valley was one stop on a much longer route towards Canyonlands and Arches. The loop gave us the views we had come for without turning the day into another full hiking programme.
Where to stay near Monument Valley
The View Hotel is the only hotel directly inside Monument Valley. Its balconies face the famous formations, and the name is therefore not especially creative but absolutely accurate. Prices were properly American, and the entrance fee was not included. The same story as with taxes: why can they not simply be included in the displayed price?
There was also a campground opposite the hotel. The view was no less impressive, showers were available and it was the cheaper way to wake up inside the valley. We stayed outside the park in Kayenta, but if we had wanted to spend more money on this stop, the campground would have been our choice.
Would we include Monument Valley again?
Before arriving, we had read completely different opinions. Some people called Monument Valley a sight everybody must see once, while others said the surrounding national parks were far more spectacular.
Both views made sense to us. Monument Valley is a relatively small area and can be covered in a few hours. It was an excellent beginning to our Southwest route, with enough impressive formations to make the drive worthwhile. If it had come after Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and the Grand Canyon, it might not have been our favourite. In our route, at exactly this point, it worked perfectly.