I'm trying to figure out if this piece of our itinerery is doable: we want to take an early afternoon private jeep tour in Canyon de Chelly. If we're done by 4 or 5PM will that give us enough time to get to Goulding's before sundown?

Also, if we stay the night at Goulding's is it safe to take our rental into MV for let's say 20 miles or so?

Thanks!

When are you going--check weather.com for suntise/sunset times. If July, you might make it ok.

There is a road into MV, but it's fairly rough, again, depends on whether it's rained recently or not.

We also stayed at the Indian-owned motel in CdC; it was fine. Was it the Thunderbird?? Been about 8 years ago.

The tours in both Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley are three hours long. They go both a.m. and p.m.......the afternoon tour from Thunderbird Lodge doesn't get back until about 5o'clock, as I remember.......best to take the afternoon tour, stay overnight in Canyon de Chelly and go to Monument Valley for the next day's tour, out of Goulding's is good. Don't know anything about taking a car/truck into either one, but I would definitely stick with the Indian guided tour, loads of info. you won't get on your own.

Our travel time from MV to CdC was about 1 1/2 hours on good roads.

Going from CdC to MV, take Rt. 191 north from Chinle; then at the town of "Many Farms" pick up local Rt. 59 north to Rt. 160. Then go left (west) on Rt. 160 for about 7-8 miles and pick up Rt. 163 (north) to Gouldings.

Our AAA map indicated that Rt. 59 was not paved, however that is not the case; Route 59 is paved, marked, and in good condition all the way from Rt.191 to Rt. 160.

So if you are done with your jeep tour at 5 pm and on the road by 5:30 (at the latest), you should be at Gouldings around 7:00 pm. So whether that is in time for sundown will depend on what time of year you are going; check what time sunset is at. Also check to be sure that both places are following the same time. Arizona does not follow daylight savings time, but they do on the Navajo reservation land ... So I think that both CdC and MV should be on the same time, but you should check.

thanks for the replies everyone! We've decided to do it the other way around. We will first go to MV and then CdC. We're driving from Phoenix and didn't want to be pressed for time trying to make it to CdC and the afternoon jeep tour. So I think, getting up in the morning at Goulding's and after a few hours in MV, we should have plenty of time to get to CdC for the jeep tour.
Thanks again!

I would recommend getting to CdC a couple of hours before your jeep tour and taking the drive along the top of the canyon out to Spider Rock. There is a very short trail there (flat) that goes to a look out point over Spider Rock in the canyon. There are some interesting Indian stories associated with it. It's definitely worth the drive if you have the time, especially if you're only taking the 1/2 jeep tour that won't go all the way in the canyon to the Spider Rock. You could probably drive out, take the short hike and get back in an hour with only stopping at the Spider Rock overlook ... but I recommend taking a bit longer so you don't feel you're rushing, and you can stop at some of the other overlooks as well.

We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge and took the jeep tour out of there ... pretty basic, motel like accomodations. Room was clean, but a little "tired." I think we could have gotten a better rate at the Holiday Inn just minutes down the road which looked a little nicer (we ate dinner there).

Regarding MV, the trail there is pretty rough ... I would recommend going on one of the tours. Also, the tours go out into more areas than the loop you would be allowed to stay on in your car.

jml,
Its 97.5 miles from canyon de cheely to Monument Valley. ABout two hours drive. The sunset at 8:30 PM )4/23/2004) an the Navajo Nation goes by Day Light Saving time. CdC and MV are both on the Navajo Nation.

Goulding's Lodge is a very neat spot for sunset and sunrise. Tht ours are also neat if you go with a Navajo guide. We went with Simpson's Tours (435-727-332) and Richard was our guide for a half a day tour of Monument Vallley. It was the high light of tour vacatiom.

All the best to you.