April 2011 ...........

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park: The park is no Navajo land and National Park passes are not accepted. There have been more western movies made in the park than at any other site in the US, including "How the West Was Won" and "Stagecoach". There is a 17 mile road through the park were you can view the unique Sandstone formations. You can do a self guided tour with your car or take a guided tour. The guided tours are conducted in trucks that have seats in the back and. the dust is terrible, so if you don't like dust you better take your own car. There is one part of the park that is not access able unless you are on a tour. There is a campground close to the visitor center that is a gravel parking lot with no services and the road in is terrible. We stayed outside the park at a private campground. At most of the turnouts the people have set up booths to sell jewelry.

April 2011 ...........

Mokee Dugway: We took a day trip from Monument Valley to Natural Bridge National Monument. The route there is UT-261 and part of 261 is a three mile section of road called "Mokee Dugway". The road goes over Cedar Mesa and as you drive up to it you can't see any way over but as you get to the mesa there is a road constructed in 1958 by a mining company. The road goes up 1100 feet is unpaved and consists of switchbacks with a five mile per hour speed limit and 10% grades. Only vehicles less than 28 ft. and under 10,000 lbs should attempt the road. Not often have I seen Dean grip the steering wheel and look a bit shook up, however he was on that road. Going up was much worse than coming down.

April 2011 ...........

Natural Bridges National Monument: In southeast Utah, close to scenic highway UT-95 between Hanksville and Blanding. We got there by taking UT-261 from Monument Valley. That takes you on the Mookee Dugway (description above). The park is remote and not heavily visited. There are only three natural bridges but the monument also contains Anasazi cliff dwellings, pictographs and white sandstone canyons. The bridges are formed by running water and are much rarer than arches. There is a one way loop road and lots of hiking trails.

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