A while back, I asked for advice about Monument Valley for a trip I was planning. For those who might consider a visit down there, I offer the following:
There are two campgrounds and neither one is great. The one in the tribal park is more primitive than the one at Gouldings. We wound up rending a two bedroom apartment while we were there. It was expensive but we had a kitchen and saved some money by cooking our own meals. There is a grocery store and gas station at Gouldings. You can see some of the rock formations from the road but there is a lot of "stuff" intruding into those shots and you'll have to work to get your photos without having trailers, pick-ups etc in the frame. There is a road that winds through the Monument Valley (admission fee). It's rough...I was on my 600 lb motorcycle and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I almost got stuck in the sand a couple times and I hit bottom a bunch. The bike did allow me to stop in places I couldn't have in a car because I could stop in small spots off the road where a car would block traffic. We rode the tour bus through the park later in the afternoon. The bus goes where cars are not permitted (for good reason - some spots were deep sand that no car could get through). We took the regular tour bus instead of hiring a guide for a personal tour. It was cheaper but the bus didn't always stop where I wanted it to stop. It made me glad I rode through by myself earlier. We took the 4:00 tour bus to take advantage of a lower sun in the sky. We were there in mid September and the light was pretty good at that time of day. The tour bus stops were long enough that I had time to walk around and pick my spots then set up my equipment without feeling rushed. Gouldings Lodge has a museum in an old trading post with some interesting stuff about the Navajos and all the movies that were filmed in Monument Valley including some artifacts. They show a John Wayne film from Monument Valley every night in a small theater. We had a good time and it was a worthwhile stop on our tour since we were going through there anyway. I don't know that it's worth a visit by I definitely recommend it in combination with the National Parks that are within a day's drive. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
