Tag: Monument Valley Tours

People all over the world have seen Monument Valley in photographs, videos and movies.  It was one of the most prevalent locations for shooting westerns in the 1970's, due to the fact that it's landscape being so dramatically diverse represents the American southwest better than almost any other.  Miles of completely flat terrain suddenly being interrupted by sandstone buttes towering hundreds of feet into the sky make for a backdrop unlike any other, and as a result the place has become iconic over the years.  It was even featured in a science fiction movie called "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind," being the destination preferred by alien life to make contact with humans.  This choice was probably due to the fact that the place itself it otherworldly looking yet it is located right here in the United States on the Arizona Utah border. Monument Valley is believed to be a national park by many visitors, when in reality it is not controlled or funded by the federal government.  It is a protected space within Navajo land, and as a result is actually maintained by Navajo Nation.  For visitors, this fact should have no real bearing on their decision to visit the park, as it is simply not "controlled" by our federal government.  There are no additional restrictions or requirements that are necessary to visit the area, just the promise to not disturb the landscape or to destroy any of the historical aspects. Tours of Monument Valley are best done as part of larger tours that visit several national parks and protected spaces.  This is due to the fact that Monument Valley is a 6.5 hour drive from Las Vegas, which is generally considered the best starting point for tours of these types of areas in the American southwest.  Las Vegas

Monument Valley is a protected area located on Navajo land near the Utah and Arizona state lines.  You have probably seen it before in movies, as it is one of the most-used backdrops for westerns that are illustrating the American southwest.  Because Monument Valley is made up of a cluster of red sandstone buttes that tower as high as 1,000 feet over the desert floor, it is an iconic landscape that translates well in both movies and photographs.  One of the more recent blockbusters that showed Monument Valley as a primary location for filming was "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," in which you may remember the son fashioning one of the buttes out of mashed potatoes!  The entire area of Monument Valley is roughly five miles of the Colorado Plateau, and is tourable by driving, hiking, hot air balloon and many other methods of transport.  Of course, we prefer the comfort of our busses to get to the best locations, then we can explore on foot if we want to! Monument Valley is actually part of the Grand Circle, which is America’s largest concentration of national parks and monuments. It includes Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, and the Four Corners region. For those unfamiliar with Four Corners Monument, where four states (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah) meet, you can visit this area easily from Monument Valley.  We offer our Monument Valley tours as part of our 3 day excursions that visit Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon as well.  The reason for grouping these parks together into a longer trip is due to the cluster of the Grand Circle itself.  We can minimize driving time by leaving Las Vegas and traveling to Zion, then to the other parks from there in a loop shape.