Bluff, Utah
Monument Valley:
Danny and I arrived at Bluff, Utah and checked into our cabin. We then headed to Monument Valley. Monument Valley is not like the National Parks since it is a Navajo Tribal Park. We did not stay long there. We got discouraged at the entrance over the lack of things to do there. Only one short hike was available around the nearest butte to the Visitor Center. The only other thing to do was a 19 mi. drive through the park on a dusty bumpy red dirt road. We did not want to take our low slung rental car on that road. The other option was to purchase a ride in open air trucks with benches that the local venders were selling at high prices and you were expected to haggle with them over prices. Then you would spend a couple of hours tailing a long line of other vehicles with dust in face the entire trip. We saw a number of the iconic buttes as we drove into the valley and from the visitor center a number of other buttes were visible.
Monuments on the way to Monument Valley.
The visitor center was enormous with the largest gift shop I've seen of pricey items mostly imports. There were some Navajo items. There is a large inn at the complex, too.
From there we headed back to Bluff and rode toward Natural Bridges National Monument. We found the entrance, but didn't have time see the three bridges in the park. We came back and took a road that looked interesting. It turned out to be one of the most interesting rides of the trip. We came to the end of the pavement where a overlook gave an idea of what was to come. We were thousands of feet up on a cliff that had a road going down the cliffs in tight switchbacks. Once to the floor of the cliffs the roads disappeared across a flat valley ending up at Mexican Hat. Mexican Hat is named for a rock formation that looks like a person wearing a Mexican Hat.
Unfortunately, I have lost photos from the two days we were in the area. I know I didn't take as many photos, but I remember specific ones that are not there. Danny may have a few photos on his phone that I can add later.
Accommodation Notes: We stayed at very nice cabins in Bluff, Utah at Desert Rose Inn and Cabins. Nothing is close to Monument Valley or Natural Bridges National Monument without quite a drive and restaurants are hard to find. We walked to a steak restaurant near the cabins that was very good. Gas stations are hard to come by. There is one at Monument Valley and one at the motel on the other side of Bluff.
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