Monument Valley, Navajo Tribal Park
Previous: Day 3 (part 2) - Vermilion Cliffs, Navajo Bridge, Antelope Canyon
Day 4 (part 1) of road trip.
As mentioned in my last post, we decided to skip other Page, AZ attractions (I had previously thought of going to Horseshoe Bend) and started early for Monument Valley, Navajo Tribal Park after having breakfast at the hotel. On the way, I kept coming across a familiar sight of Navajo people asking for lift at roadside. I have seen this being a common practice in India but was pleasantly surprised to see the same in US :). However I did not stop anywhere to give a lift.
The road from Page to Monument Valley had very little traffic. As we reached closer to Monument Valley, we took the this photograph from outside the Park. The view, even from outside, is exhilarating.
We paid $5 at the entrance and moved towards the 17 mile unpaved trail in the park. Before coming to Monument Valley, I had done fair amount of reading done to see if its worth taking a risk to drive with your own vehicle. While some reviewers were supportive and others were totally advocating against it. I still went ahead and took a chance with my own vehicle. Boy, what a wonderful drive it turned out to be. Monument Valley was truly a highlight of this road trip.
The first one mile of the road is little difficult (with uneven rocks). But once you navigate it, it was fairly easy (but it can get very tough if there was lot of rain in recent past). The weather was just perfect for the trip. We entered the trail around 9am and came out of it at about 12:30pm.
As soon as we entered the park, I was totally taken over by the views in the park (just like a kid being his favorite toy). I was getting down at every stop for first hour and we took lots of pictures. Here is one of them. My son also joined in taking pictures of this place (he usually does not get this excited about taking photograph :).
In the picture above, the path on which we drove is clearly visible. On this drive, I think there are about 13 points which are clearly marked. After one hour or so, we reached John Ford's point with a view of Three Sisters mesa.
There were few jewelry stalls at this point (this is another common feature of Navajo area). We chatted briefly with the Navajo people managing the stalls and went around this magnificent area. Here is another shot of Monument Valley from John Ford's point.
From this point, we drove forward and stopped at each point to take more photos of Butte / Mesa. Final point was Artist Point and it was a breathtaking view (one of those places which make you wish you had more powerful camera). The below picture does not really do any justice to grandeur of this place.
From this point, we made our way back towards the visitor center and came across this shot.
After spending few mins at the visitor center, we came to the balcony and took one last view of the park and its most famous buttes.
It was truly a blessing to see this place and I was thankful for this opportunity. As we made out of the park and took a right turn to enter Utah. Our next stop was Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Next : Day 4 (part 2) - Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Day 4 (part 1) of road trip.
As mentioned in my last post, we decided to skip other Page, AZ attractions (I had previously thought of going to Horseshoe Bend) and started early for Monument Valley, Navajo Tribal Park after having breakfast at the hotel. On the way, I kept coming across a familiar sight of Navajo people asking for lift at roadside. I have seen this being a common practice in India but was pleasantly surprised to see the same in US :). However I did not stop anywhere to give a lift.
The road from Page to Monument Valley had very little traffic. As we reached closer to Monument Valley, we took the this photograph from outside the Park. The view, even from outside, is exhilarating.
We paid $5 at the entrance and moved towards the 17 mile unpaved trail in the park. Before coming to Monument Valley, I had done fair amount of reading done to see if its worth taking a risk to drive with your own vehicle. While some reviewers were supportive and others were totally advocating against it. I still went ahead and took a chance with my own vehicle. Boy, what a wonderful drive it turned out to be. Monument Valley was truly a highlight of this road trip.
The first one mile of the road is little difficult (with uneven rocks). But once you navigate it, it was fairly easy (but it can get very tough if there was lot of rain in recent past). The weather was just perfect for the trip. We entered the trail around 9am and came out of it at about 12:30pm.
As soon as we entered the park, I was totally taken over by the views in the park (just like a kid being his favorite toy). I was getting down at every stop for first hour and we took lots of pictures. Here is one of them. My son also joined in taking pictures of this place (he usually does not get this excited about taking photograph :).
In the picture above, the path on which we drove is clearly visible. On this drive, I think there are about 13 points which are clearly marked. After one hour or so, we reached John Ford's point with a view of Three Sisters mesa.
There were few jewelry stalls at this point (this is another common feature of Navajo area). We chatted briefly with the Navajo people managing the stalls and went around this magnificent area. Here is another shot of Monument Valley from John Ford's point.
From this point, we drove forward and stopped at each point to take more photos of Butte / Mesa. Final point was Artist Point and it was a breathtaking view (one of those places which make you wish you had more powerful camera). The below picture does not really do any justice to grandeur of this place.
From this point, we made our way back towards the visitor center and came across this shot.
After spending few mins at the visitor center, we came to the balcony and took one last view of the park and its most famous buttes.
It was truly a blessing to see this place and I was thankful for this opportunity. As we made out of the park and took a right turn to enter Utah. Our next stop was Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Next : Day 4 (part 2) - Mesa Verde National Park, CO
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