Monument Valley / Oljato

Elevation: 5,200 feet (1,585 meters)

The spectacular scenery of Monument Valley is captivating year round. Sandstone formations with fanciful names like Mittens, Elephant Butte, Totem Pole, and North Window reveal their greatest beauty at sunrise and sunset, and can easily be viewed from the native surface road through the Tribal Park.

Available facilities include a visitor center, campground, and restaurant in addition to guided tours. Gouldings Lodge provides lodging, dining, tours with Navajo guides, a museum, a gift shop full of hand-crafted Native American items, a grocery, and a campground.

The Gouldings operated a trading post from the 1920s through the 1960s, serving the local population with groceries and supplies. Harry Goulding made the initial contact with the film industry that continues today. Monument Valley has been the location for over sixteen major motion pictures and scores of commercials.

Day tours include Valley of the Gods, Goosenecks State Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Navajo, Natural Bridges and Hovenweep National Monuments. Full services.

Located on the southern border of Utah at an elevation of 5200 feet, Monument Valley and Oljato are surrounded by unique sandstone formations. Monument Valley is twenty-five miles southwest of Mexican Hat on US 163. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located here, as is historic Gouldings Trading Post and Museum. The Valley is world renowned for its photographic possibilities. Since Stagecoach was filmed there in 1938, it has been a popular location for many feature films and television commercials.

Oljato, located nine miles west of Monument Valley on County Road 2406, is a tiny Navajo community and Tribal Chapter Headquarters with a traditional Navajo trading post at its center. Oljato Trading Post is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Estimated population of the two communities in 2000 was 1600.

 

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