Tours From Las Vegas To Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a great tour to take the friends and family on if you are in the American Southwest.  There are seven or eight national parks and protected spaces within driving distance of Las Vegas that are all unique and worth visiting if you can take a few days out of your vacation. Monument Valley itself is not one of the national parks that is controlled by the Federal gov’t and instead is located on an Indian reservation on the Utah and Arizona border.  It is part of the Colorado Plateau, and is famous for its sandstone buttes and fantastic panoramic views.  The area when relatively unnoticed until it began to be featured in the homes in the 1930s, and really took a huge leap forward as far as interest goes when the movie Forest Gump was made.  In one of the most pivotal scenes of the movie, the main character contemplates the meaning of his life while running down the desolate and lonely stretch of road with the iconic buttes in the background.  The scene were shot on route 163 heading towards the area itself, which is utilized in many kinds of media to illustrate the smallness of a person next to the grandeur of the landscape.  Since the movie came out, there has been an increased amount of interest in visiting this iconic place.  One of the things that must be noted however, is the fact that there is little to do there except a 17 mile scenic loop that you can drive for a $20.00 admission charge.  There is not really hiking of any kind available, and exploration of the space is best done from the areas which are only available to tour companies.  For this reason, it is highly suggested that you not only utilize a professional tour company for your trip, but also because the area is so remote that it is much better to visit as part of a multiple stop tour.  Tour companies that lean from Las Vegas will generally put this tour in combination with Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon.  When structured this way, you can minimize the amount of time that is spent driving and maximize the amount of exploration time that you get because of Zion is located only 2 ½ hour’s drive from the city itself.  You can visit Zion first then drive from there to the other parks within a few hours instead of trying to drive the entire 400 miles to Monument Valley directly.  You will get more out of the trip annual not have to worry about the problems that come with driving large distances into the desert.  In addition, the majority of rental car companies will not allow you to take your car off the paved roads, which ultimately means that you cannot legally take the tour in Monument Valley.  The road is gravel, and ultimately means that you could get extra charges from your rental car company inadvertently.  It’s far better to just leave the driving to them.