cheerful

When is the best time of the day to visit? Morning? Sunset?

Thanks!

Bill_H

Yes, sunrise and sunset for best light ... are you staying at Gouldings?

cheerful

Probably not in Gouldings. It's a short trip and we have to drive a few hours after the day. Will hit Natural Bridges, Moki Dugway, Gooeseneck SP, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley in about a day and half. We probably will try for sunset -- sunrise is quite cold.

I was told the park close on Thanksgiving day. Can we still drive in by ourselves (like most NP)? Or there is gate to keep people out?

We will rent a 4x4. Will the guided tour be worth it? How much would it cost for 2?

Thanks!

Bill_H

There's a gate (also a spur road for locals to bypass the gate ...) so you won't be able to get in if it's closed Thanksgiving.

Will the guided tour be worth it?

On your own you get to circle on the main road thru the valley, with the guide you get to access some other areas and usually stop at a hogan and watch rug weaving, etc. If you have a personable guide it's worth it, I feel.

Dunno what the costs are for the standard tour, we used to do private photo tours with the Bedoni brothers (Totem Pole) or Daniel Chee (Daniel's Guided Tours) or Fred Cly (Fred's Adventure Tours).

Bill

theatrelover

We were just in Monument Valley a few weeks ago. We did two private tours. We did a sunset photo tour with Tom Phillips. The 3 hour tour for just the two of us cost about $170. The next day we did an all-day private tour with Richard of Simpsons Trailhandler which cost about $240. We added tips on to the cost of each tour. The group tours are much less expensive and you can check on the websites of any of the tour guides to get prices. The tours are well worth it because the Navajo guides take you off the main road to areas you can't go by yourself. There were many magnificent views we would have missed if we hadn't taken the tours. In addition, we learned so much from our guides which really enhanced the experience. I highly recommend a tour.

utahtea

We drove ourselves and loved having the freedom to stop where we wanted and for as long as we wanted.

I don't know how much the tours cost and I'm not sure which ones we saw, but when we were there they looked awlful! The vehicles they drove visitors around in were open with probably 12 to 16 seats and those who had them had scarves over their noses and mouths because of all the flying sand. Sometimes there would be 3 or 4 truck loads in a row...I felt so bad for that last truck load of tourist! We were stopped at one of the most scenic & famous overlooks (Ford Overlook) and the tour truck came flying in and everyone was saying STOP and the truck made a circle and left. Not my idea of a great tour!

Utahtea

cheerful

Thanks for the info.

Is there some way to find a map of the valley?

Thanks!

Bill_H

Is there some way to find a map of the valley?

Sure, go to google.com and type in 'monument valley map' and you get plenty of sites like this ... http://www.americansouthwest.net/uta...alley/map.html

On this map the entrance is about where it says 'Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park' (in the lower-right quadrant) and the road you can self-drive is the one making a circle around 'Rain God Mesa'. All the other areas are private land.

utahea wrote when we were there they (tours) looked awlful!

These are probably the group tours of people coming in on large busses or people doing the Goulding Tours ... we always got a single guide for just the two of us (it was much cheaper back in the old days too, often $15 per person for the simple tour, or $50 if we wanted to go to a certain spot to photograph).

We have some photos of the area posted at http://www.hiltonphotography.net/sw/canyons/ ... seven of these came from Monument Valley. To answer cheerful's original Q ("Morning? Sunset?") we did better at sunset, especially after a clearing thunderstorm.

Bill

utahtea

cheerful,

You get a map of Monument Valley when you enter the park.

Utahtea