Monument Valley Travel Tips: What to Know Before You Go
There are places you visit because they are beautiful.
And then there are places you arrive at and realize you have somehow known them all your life.
Monument Valley is one of those places.
Its towering red buttes have appeared in Westerns, television shows, commercials and photographs for generations. For movie lovers, however, this isn’t simply spectacular desert country. It is John Ford country: a landscape that helped create the visual language of the American Western.
If you’re planning a trip to Monument Valley,our travel tips a little preparation makes an enormous difference. This is remote country, distances are deceptive, weather matters, services are limited and some of the most interesting places aren’t accessible in the way visitors sometimes expect.
Here is what we think you should know before you go.
When is the best time to visit Monument Valley?
For comfortable exploring, we particularly like fall. September and October and into November generally bring warm days, cooler mornings and evenings, clearer skies and relief from the intense heat of midsummer. They are also wonderful months for photography, when lower sunlight begins to bring out the shapes, shadows and extraordinary colors of the landscape.
Spring is also be beautiful, particularly April and May, although this is the West (youv’e seen the movies!) so just know winds and blowing dust can sometimes make an appearance.
Winter brings an entirely different Monument Valley. Days are cold and nights can freeze, but occasional snow against the red sandstone can make the valley spectacular. Visitor numbers are also considerably lower.
Summer is hot. Very hot. Temperatures can climb into the upper 90s and beyond, shade is scarce and July through mid-September also brings the possibility of monsoon storms. We don’t want to take people out in that - it can get miserable and it’s super busy with tourists to boot, so for Western Movie Tours, we deliberately schedule our Monument Valley season when we think our guests have a much better chance of actually enjoying being outside and we just don’t tour in summer.
If you, however, are visiting AZ, UT or NM in summer, early starts, plenty of water and sensible sun protection aren’t optional extras.
A surprisingly important Monument Valley tip: check the time
This catches people out.
Most of Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time. The Navajo Nation does. Because Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is on Navajo Nation land, the local time can therefore differ from other places in Arizona during part of the year. Imagine this - Tuba City, a town partly on the Navajo reservation, and part Hopi, works on both times. You can visit a gas station on one side of the road and it's noon, but at the station on the other side, it's only 11am.
If you have a tour, reservation or appointment, don’t simply assume that the time showing on your phone elsewhere in Arizona is the time being observed at Monument Valley. Confirm the local time before you leave.
Monument Valley is remote. Treat it that way.
One of the things that makes Monument Valley extraordinary is also something visitors need to remember: this is not a theme park surrounded by restaurants, pharmacies and convenience stores.
1) Fill the gas tank before you start wandering.
2) Carry water.
3) Bring sunscreen and a hat.
4) Have a jacket in the vehicle even when the day begins warm.
5) Download anything important before heading into remote areas rather than assuming you will always have a strong cell signal.
Also, don’t plan your day as though everything is five minutes apart. This is big country.
Driving inside Monument Valley
The famous Valley Drive is an approximately 17-mile dirt road through Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. And the words “dirt road” are worth paying attention to.
Conditions vary, but the road can include broken surfaces, ruts and deep sand. An SUV or truck is preferable, and weather can make conditions considerably more difficult. You will be fine if you are on the road with Rain in his truck, but just know that if you decided to go again in your car, things can get rough pretty quick.
Importantly, the public road is not the whole of Monument Valley. Some locations beyond the normal visitor route can only be accessed with an authorized Navajo guide. Monument Valley is Navajo land, not simply a scenic attraction, and visitors should respect the rules governing access.
That matters particularly to movie fans, because seeing Monument Valley and understanding how filmmakers used Monument Valley are two very different experiences.
Monument Valley isn’t just where Westerns were filmed.
It helped define what a Western looks like.
One of our favorite stops for movie lovers is Goulding’s Trading Post Museum. The original trading post tells the remarkable story of Harry and Mike Goulding, who helped bring Hollywood to Monument Valley during the Depression.
They didn’t wait for Hollywood to discover the place - they went to Hollywood!
The result was Stagecoach, and film history changed. If you’re here because you love Western movies, Goulding’s isn’t merely somewhere to sleep or buy a souvenir. It is actually part of the story you’ve come to see.
Where should you stay near Monument Valley?
We don’t bundle hotels into our tour prices and that’s deliberate. You see some guests want a memorable room overlooking Monument Valley. Others would rather spend less on accommodation and more on the experiences they came here for. Some are making Monument Valley one stop on a much longer Western road trip. So we’d rather let you choose.
The closest accommodations includes The View Hotel, inside Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, and Goulding’s Resort, immediately outside the park area.
Other useful bases include Mexican Hat and Kayenta, both roughly half an hour away depending upon where you’re starting, while Bluff is approximately an hour away.
Blanding, Page, Cortez, Moab and Flagstaff can also form part of a larger Southwest itinerary, but don’t make the mistake of looking at a map and assuming they are all “just down the road.” Out here, an inch on the map can mean hours behind the wheel.
As Western Movie Tours develops local hotel partnerships, we’ll be adding the places we particularly recommend to our guests. You will still book your accommodation separately, so you’ll always be able to see exactly what you’re paying for.
Goulding’s Lodge On site
The View On site
Mexican Hat 24.2 (31 mins)
Kayenta, AZ 26.1 miles (30 mins)
Bluff, UT 49.1 miles (56 mins)
Blanding, UT 74.7 miles (1 hr 22 mins)
Chinle, AZ 95.7 miles (1 hr 39 mins)
Tuba City, AZ 100 miles (1 hr 40 mins)
Page, AZ 125 miles (2 hrs 5 mins)
Cortez, CO 124 miles (2 hrs 14 mins)
Moab, AZ 149 miles (2 hrs 38 mins)
Flagstaff, AZ 176 miles (2hrs 58 mins)
Where to eat in and around Monument Valley
Don’t come all this way and eat exactly what you eat at home. Look for Navajo and Southwestern dishes, particularly frybread, Navajo tacos and traditional stews when available. In some pleaces you may find mutton, beans, corn squash and navajo breads and teas.
The Stagecoach Restaurant at Goulding’s is particularly interesting for Western movie travelers because lunch or dinner comes with a side order of film history. The Goulding story and the arrival of John Ford are woven into the history of the place.
Kayenta is also worth knowing about if you want more choices. Local restaurants include Amigo Cafe and Blue Coffee Pot, alongside more familiar national options.
And if your visit falls on a Wednesday, maybe take a look at Kayenta’s Vendor Village. Local vendors offer handmade jewelry and crafts as well as foods including frybread, Navajo tacos and roasted corn.
Food is part of travel and around here, it’s also part of understanding where you are.
Where should you shop for authentic Native American art?
This is one area where we would encourage you to look beyond the standard souvenir. The Navajo Nation specifically encourages visitors to buy directly from Navajo artisans. Vendors around Monument Valley sell handmade jewelry, artwork and other pieces, and buying directly gives you both a much better story to take home and an opportunity to support the people whose homeland you’re visiting.
Goulding’s has shopping and Native-made arts and crafts, but they also have a lot of tourist souvenirs! If your travels take you north to Bluff, make time for Twin Rocks Trading Post. It specializes in Navajo rugs, baskets, turquoise and silver jewelry and other Southwestern art, with longstanding relationships with artists throughout the Four Corners region.
Cow Canyon Trading Post in Bluff is another interesting stop with deep connections to regional Native artists. We also really enjoy the Cameron Trading Post on the road from Flagstaff to Tuba City.
The best souvenir from the Southwest isn’t something stamped “Southwest” in a factory in China. Here’s our rule - if it’s cheap, it’s probably cheap and nasty. If you like something that looks tribal and want to help the Navajo economy, ask who made it.
What else can you see around Monument Valley
With great Monument Valley travel tips, your trip doesn’t have to end when you leave the park!
Valley of the Gods
North of Monument Valley in southeastern Utah, Valley of the Gods offers another remarkable landscape of sandstone buttes and mesas. Its 17-mile gravel road makes a wonderful scenic drive in dry conditions, although wet weather can make the road difficult or impassable.
There are no services, so arrive prepared.
Goosenecks State Park
Here the San Juan River twists through an extraordinary series of entrenched meanders roughly 1,000 feet below the overlook.
It is open year-round and makes an easy addition to a trip through Mexican Hat and southeastern Utah.
Navajo National Monument
West of Kayenta, Navajo National Monument protects remarkable ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. Entrance is free, and the park offers a visitor center, trails and seasonal ranger-led experiences.
It is a very different experience from Monument Valley and an excellent reminder that the history of this region extends far beyond Hollywood’s version of the West.
Bluff, Utah
Bluff is worth more than a fuel stop. Its trading posts, Native American art, history and location make it a useful base for exploring southeastern Utah.
And if you have time, don’t rush between destinations. Some of the best moments in this part of the country happen between the things you originally came to see.
What does it cost to visit Monument Valley?
Your entrance fee is included in your tour fee, but if you are going it alone, remember that fees and access rules change, and indeed Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation introduced new fees in 2026. Rather than relying on an old travel article or screenshot, check the current Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park information shortly before your visit.
Also important to know - a U.S. National Parks pass does not cover Navajo Nation Tribal Parks - an entirely different entity.
If something isn’t included in your Western Movie Tours booking, we’ll tell you before you arrive so there are no surprises.
One thing we would NOT do in Monument Valley
Rush.
People sometimes arrive, photograph the Mittens, drive the loop and leave thinking they have “done Monument Valley.” But they’ve only seen it, not experienced it, and that’s different.
For a Western movie fan, the fun begins when somebody can connect the landscape in front of you with the images you’ve carried in your head for decades.
Where was the camera?
What did the director see?
Why did that particular formation end up in the frame?
What happened while the crew was here?
Which familiar scenes were created nearby?
And what are hundreds of other visitors driving past without realizing what they’re looking at?
Make sense of Monument Valley John Ford Country with a film director
Anyone can travel to Monument Valley, but if Western movies brought you here, we think you should see more than the view.
Our John Ford Country experiences are led by Western film director Rain, taking movie lovers beyond “that’s where they filmed it” and into the decisions, stories and locations behind some of Hollywood’s greatest Westerns.
You’ll stand in the country you remember from the screen, see it through a filmmaker’s eyes and discover details most visitors never know they passed.
We keep our experiences personal because this isn’t supposed to feel like following an umbrella through a tourist attraction.
It’s a few hours in John Ford Country with someone who speaks the language of filmmaking.
You will break to eat and when you sit with Rain, the conversation continues as you have lunch together. Because some of the best stories are told at the table.
Explore our John Ford Country tours and choose the Monument Valley experience that puts you inside the movies you came all this way to remember.