Monument Valley, spend a night or just drive by?
 

Hello, we are doing a two week long road trip next June. I'm trying to fill in more details on my skeleton itinerary. Two adults, three young teens. We will be leaving Grand Canyon South rim and hitting Antelope and Horseshoe in Page. Then I was planning to spend one night in Monument valley before moving on to Arches. Do you think MV is worth the overnight, or would you hop out of the car to take pictures and move on?

Looking for any thoughts from people that have been there.
Thank you!

If you want to take photos, it would be worthwhile to pay admission and drive around.

HTtY

It will depend on how the drive times mesh with your stops IMHO.

It is about 2 hours from Page to MV, so if you leave Page after breakfast, you could do an hour or so drive through MV (or take a tour if the road looks bad), have lunch, drive towards Moab perhaps stop in Blanding for Edge of Cedars SP for a couple of hours then up to Moab before supper, perhaps do a hike late in the afternoon when it is a little cooler since days will be the longest in June.

If on the other hand, you are spending half a day in Page and then heading for MV, you could get some nice sunset pictures, spend the night then get sunrise pictures and head for Moab.

If you have kids along on this trip, or folks who burn out on awesome scenery and want to do more hiking, etc., then getting to Arches quickly will make them happier. Arches does have awesome scenery, but also has great places to hike (not mid day in June).

Definitely stay overnight at Goulding's Lodge, then get up early enough to go out on the balcony of your room and watch the sun come up over the monuments. It is indeed a thrilling sight/site and one of my most memorable travel experiences ever!!!!

Without a doubt I think it is worth it to spend the night at Monument Valley. You have two good options for lodging - Gouldings or The View. Either is fine but we STRONGLY prefer the View. You won't have to wonder how it got it's name. Each room has a private balcony overlooking the Valley and the monuments. You absolutely cannot beat waking up there and catching a sunset in your pajamas. I could go on and on about how much we love The View and Monument Valley.

I think db6040 is right about The View Hotel. You can see dawn and dusk right from your balcony. Rooms are expensive; if you're looking to save a little bit, I don't think there's much difference between the Valley View room and the most expensive room (a combination of Premium View and Star View) -- yet the price difference is almost $100/night.

Thanks, everyone! I just booked a premium cabin at The View. It should be perfect for our family of five, and not too expensive.