(Podcast) The Wonder of Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods, Bears Ears National Monument, + Durango, CO
Season 1 Episode 16.
As we move on from Moab we head to Bears Ears, Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods, and Natural Bridges National Monument, and then on to Durango Colorado.
If you are going to
visit this area be prepared to be in a very remote place, pack accordingly and fuel up whenever possible! It is a stunning part of America that is only now really getting lots of attention.
This is an amazing place with big vistas and natural wonders around every turn.
We boondocked at an abandoned air strip that we found using the App Campendium (link below).
What a great find that was!
Beautiful, not crowded and a view of of Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National Monument.
Be sure to check out our Facebook Page to see some of the pictures we took! To be sure this is only a place to park your rig, it doesn't have any electricity, water, septic, nothing.
Come prepared to be self sufficient.
Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park and not a US Park, there are fantastic tours, hikes, history and more and the best resource that I can give is their website (linked below) the park is currently Closed for Covid but updates are found on the site.
John Ford and John Wayne really helped put this area on the map by making some beautiful and memorable old western movies here. This has continued into today with modern movies like Transformers and one of the Lego movies. It is one of the most iconic places in the American West. Valley of the Gods (not to be confused with Garden of the Gods in Colorado) is a stunning and often overlooked area that offers lots of fun adventure and is free and accessible via a gravel road running 17 miles through the park, there is remote camping, hiking, and photos galore, the only thing is you have to be very aware of the weather in the area as it is very prone to flash flooding.
This can very much be the case of rain falling miles away uphill in the mountains and causing problems for the unwary tourist.
As always when visiting areas like this take more water than you think you will need, enough to last a couple days if necessary, it could make the difference between life and death.
The Moki Dugaway is about as treacherous a road as you will find, it is the most dangerous road in Utah, narrow, with very tight switchbacks and oh yeah it is all gravel!
It descends 1200 ft from the mesa rim to the valley floor and wow will it get your attention, beautiful yes, dangerous? You bet! Do not attempt this with large vehicles like RV's or pulling trailers.
Natural Bridges National Monument is one of the oldest National Monuments ( Theadore Rosevelt 1908) and was once very difficult to get to, but with better roads were built in 1977. This is one of the areas that has seen people living here for since 7,500 BCE. A stable water source in the desert with over-hangs that they were able to build buildings and granaries in made this a good place to survive and thrive for Native Americans.
Challenging hiking and beautiful natural rock formations make this a great place to explore on your trip through the area.
Bears Ears National Monument has definitely gotten a lot of exposure in the press over the last few years, and has unfortunately been reduced in size by 47% which is a real shame.
Then Durango Colorado stole the Show..
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Natural Bridges National Monument
The Polar Express - https://durangosilvertonrailroad.com/the-polar-express/
