Monument Valley
Arizona/Utah (Navajo Nation)
Red sandstone buttes standing alone on open desert across the Arizona and Utah line, inside the Navajo Nation, and the backdrop of more Western films than anywhere else. The valley floor is a Navajo tribal park with its own entry fee and a 17-mile dirt drive you may take yourself; everything beyond that drive needs a Navajo guide, while the highway approach and the rims to the north are free.
3 challenges · 15 stops
STARTERAround the West Mitten
≈ 4,500 steps2.1 mi · about 2.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.The one trail in the tribal park you may walk without a guide: from the Visitor Center overlook down to the Wildcat Trail and around the base of West Mitten Butte. About four miles in soft sand with a climb back up, two and a half hours. Sign in and out at the Visitor Center, and carry water.
STANDARDThe Free Road North
35 mi by carabout 4.5 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Monument Valley from outside the gate: the long straight of US-163 where the buttes line up on the horizon, the rock that named Mexican Hat, the San Juan River's deep bends, and a cliff edge that looks back over it all. Half a day by car, the last five miles on gravel after the Moki Dugway switchbacks.
ADVANCEDDown the Valley Drive
≈ 15,000 steps7.1 mi · about 5.5 hoursAdvanced · 8 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.Eight overlooks on the 17-mile dirt loop you may drive yourself, from Elephant Butte to the one-way circuit around Rain God Mesa and out to North Window. Most of a day at an unhurried pace. The road is rough and sandy, so high clearance helps, motorcycles are not allowed, and last entry to the drive is mid-afternoon.
Counted between stops; you'll walk more at each one.
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