This morning we decided to tour the Navajo Tribal Park.
World famous red rock buttes surrounded by sandy plains; the epitome of a Western landscape, featured in many movies and commercials. The movie staring John Wayne “Stagecoach” was filmed here among many others.
The view from Lookout Point is spectacular enough, but most of the Navajo Tribal Park can only be seen from the Valley Drive, a 17 mile dirt road which starts at the visitor center and heads southeast amongst the towering cliffs and mesas, one of the most famous being Totem Pole, an oft-photographed spire of rock 450 feet high but only a few meters wide. The road is dusty, steep in a couple of places and rather uneven, but does not need 4WD - unless after recent heavy rain, the journey is suitable for the majority of family cars, and small to medium sized RVs, though the surface is perhaps not improved too much in order to increase business for the many Navajo guides and 4WD jeep rental outfits, which wait expectantly by the visitor center - typical prices are around $75 for a 2 hour trip.
These were our transportation choices for the 17 mile tour on a dusty, unmaintained, rocky, rutted road:
We choose the following: Our Car
It was a really rough road but my man did a great job and the rock formation were really interesting:
The sky was really beautiful.
It took us 2 hours to tour the 17 miles.
Our site and views from the site
Wild life on the roadway
We were home for lunch and had a relaxing afternoon and evening.
4 comments:
It was great reading your last few blog entries. It was a trip down memory lane for us. We covered some of the same areas some 15 years ago with our then young family in a motorhome we hired. Our trip around Arizona,Utah and California is still talked about with fondness. Now we are travelling around Australia and hope to venture to British Columbia in 12-18 months time.
We missed that last time we were in the area. But won't miss it next time. Thanks for sharing.
Travel safe,
I love the state of Utah, used to travel through with hubby in the semi. Can't wait to get out there again, hopefully next year! Thanks for posting your beautiful pictures. I am bookmarking this place on my "To Visit" list!
I can't wait to see that area.
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