Last Updated: May 4, 2026
Monument Valley may be the most photographed landscape in the American West — those flat-topped sandstone buttes rising from an empty desert have appeared in John Ford westerns, road trip commercials, and travel magazine covers for nearly a century, until the image feels almost mythological before you ever arrive. The reality, when you pull off US 163 and the West Mitten and East Mitten appear above the horizon, is that the photographs don’t come close. We drove up from Page, Arizona in April 2018 with our dog Jake, crossed into the Navajo Nation at the Utah-Arizona border, and spent two days at Goulding’s Lodge within sight of the buttes — driving the valley road, hiking to Hidden Arch, finding the Forrest Gump hill, and pushing north to Mexican Hat and the vertiginous switchbacks of the Moki Dugway.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park charges a per-vehicle entry fee for access to the 17-mile valley drive — check navajoparkstourism.com for current fees and hours, as these have increased since our 2018 visit. The park is not covered by the America the Beautiful annual pass. Goulding’s Lodge is located just outside the park boundary in Utah, with lodging, an RV park, a restaurant, a trading post museum, and unobstructed views of the buttes. Mexican Hat and the Moki Dugway are about 25 miles north on US 163 and make an excellent half-day side trip.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Monument Valley sits on the Colorado Plateau at 5,000 to 6,000 feet elevation, straddling the Utah-Arizona border entirely within the Navajo Nation. The sandstone buttes — West Mitten, East Mitten, Merrick Butte, the Three Sisters, and dozens of others — stand up to 1,000 feet above the valley floor. Their vivid red-orange color comes from iron oxide in the sandstone; the blue-gray formations scattered among them get their hue from manganese oxide. It is one of the most distinctive landscapes on the Colorado Plateau, and one of the most filmed locations in American cinema.
The 17-Mile Valley Drive
The self-guided valley drive enters from the visitor center near The Mittens and winds 17 miles through the heart of the Tribal Park on a maintained dirt road. The circuit passes the most iconic formations — The Mittens, Merrick Butte, the Three Sisters, John Ford’s Point, Camel Butte — and offers a series of pullouts where you can step out and photograph at close range. We took about two hours at a relaxed pace with multiple stops. The road is passable for most vehicles in dry conditions; after rain it can become muddy and slick. Guided Navajo-led jeep tours are also available from the visitor center and access areas the self-guided drive does not reach.
Goulding’s Lodge
Goulding’s began in 1923 when Harry and Leone Goulding — Harry couldn’t spell her name, so he called her “Mike” — purchased 640 acres just outside the Monument Valley Tribal Park boundary in Utah and established a trading post serving the Navajo community. Its place in history changed during the Great Depression, when Harry packed a portfolio of landscape photographs and drove to Hollywood to pitch the area to the film industry. He got in front of director John Ford, Ford loved what he saw, and the partnership that followed produced Stagecoach (1939), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and a string of other westerns that permanently embedded these buttes in the American imagination.
Today Goulding’s is a full resort complex with a lodge, RV park, campground, trading post and gift shop, restaurant, and a museum. The museum is filled with film memorabilia, production photographs from the John Ford era, and Goulding family history — it’s genuinely worth an hour. We had lunch at the restaurant; Sandy had the Navajo fried bread taco, which was one of the better things she ate on the whole trip. When Harry and Leone retired, they donated the homestead. Harry died in 1981. Leone moved back to Monument Valley and lived there until her death in 1992.
Hidden Arch
A short trail from the Goulding’s RV park leads to Hidden Arch, a sandstone arch tucked into the rock above the property. It’s a quick out-and-back with no real elevation, and we had it entirely to ourselves. Sandy made the most of having the arch to herself.
The Forrest Gump Hill
North of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park entrance on US 163, the highway straightens into a long flat section with the buttes arranged perfectly in the background — one of the most recognizable road views in the country. This is where Tom Hanks’s character ends his cross-country run in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, stops in the middle of the highway, and tells his followers it’s time to go home. There’s a pullout on the side of the road, no fee, and the view is exactly what you expect. Michael stood in for Forrest.
Mexican Hat & the Moki Dugway
About 25 miles north of Monument Valley on US 163, the San Juan River cuts through a stretch of red canyon country and passes a small town with one of the better names in the Southwest: Mexican Hat, Utah, population 31. The town takes its name from a nearby rock formation that looks exactly like an upside-down sombrero balanced on a narrow pediment — and it does. The setting along the river is stark and beautiful.
West of Mexican Hat, UT-261 climbs the Cedar Mesa escarpment via the Moki Dugway — a stretch of unpaved switchbacks so steep they look like they were carved into the cliff face by hand. They essentially were. In 1958, Texas Zinc Minerals Corporation built the road to haul uranium ore from the Happy Jack mine on Cedar Mesa down to a processing mill in Mexican Hat. It’s now a public road, passable in a regular passenger vehicle in dry conditions, and the views from the top of the switchbacks over the Valley of the Gods — with Monument Valley’s buttes visible in the distance — are extraordinary.
Practical Tips
Entry fees and hours: Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park charges a per-vehicle fee; the park is not covered by the America the Beautiful annual pass. Check navajoparkstourism.com for current fees, hours, and any closures. The 17-mile valley drive is a maintained dirt road suitable for most vehicles in dry conditions — avoid it in rain or snow. Guided Navajo-led jeep tours are available from the visitor center and access restricted areas off the main loop. Goulding’s Lodge RV park is popular in spring and fall; reserve well ahead. The Moki Dugway is unpaved with no guardrails and serious exposure — it is fine for passenger vehicles and small SUVs in dry weather but not recommended for large motorhomes or vehicles towing trailers. Best light at Monument Valley is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, when the buttes glow deep red-orange. The park is on Navajo Nation time, which observes daylight saving time unlike the rest of Arizona.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Monument Valley in Arizona or Utah? Both. The Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park visitor center and most of the valley drive sit on the Arizona side of the border, while Goulding’s Lodge and the Forrest Gump viewpoint on US 163 are just across the line in Utah. The entire area is within the Navajo Nation.
Does the America the Beautiful pass cover Monument Valley? No. Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park, not a National Park or National Monument, and is not included in the America the Beautiful annual pass. A per-vehicle entry fee is charged at the gate.
Is it worth staying at Goulding’s Lodge? We think Goulding’s is the best base for Monument Valley. The location is unbeatable — right at the park boundary with the buttes directly in view. The RV park, restaurant, trading post museum, and trail to Hidden Arch make it a destination in its own right, not just a place to sleep. Reservations are strongly recommended in spring and fall.
Can you drive the Moki Dugway in a regular car? Yes, in dry conditions. The Moki Dugway is steep and unpaved with no guardrails and significant exposure — it is not recommended for large motorhomes or vehicles with trailers, and should be avoided entirely in wet or icy conditions. In a standard passenger car or small SUV on a dry day, it’s manageable and the views from the top are worth every white-knuckled switchback.
What time of year is best for visiting Monument Valley? Spring (March through May) and fall (September through November) offer the best combination of comfortable temperatures and dramatic light. Summer brings intense heat and afternoon monsoon storms — the storm light can be spectacular for photography but the valley drive can become impassable in heavy rain. Winter is cold and uncrowded; snow on the buttes is rare but stunning when it happens.