Monument Valley

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park straddles the Utah/Arizona border and features sandstone masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet above the desert floor. In 2008, the entry fee was $5 per person. Camping is available at $10 per night. You can take a guided tour or drive your own vehicle along the unpaved 17 mile scenic drive, where you encounter views such as these...







... and if seeing these photos give you the feeling that John Wayne is about to appear on your screen, you aren't too far off...



... as Ellen discovered. Dozens of movies ranging from westerns to Clint Eastwood's "The Eiger Sanction" have been filmed in Monument Valley, and across the highway from the park entrance is Gouldings Lodge which has a free museum chronicling life in this area in the early 1900s and documenting the films made here the last 60+ years. This photo demonstrates how close they are to Monument Valley...



The famous photographer, Josef Muench, made his first trip to Monument Valley in 1935. He met and befriended the Gouldings and returned to the area 354 times to photograph the formations, and many of his photos appeared in the magazine "Arizona Highways." He presented the Gouldings with a black and white album of his photos which they showed to the famous movie director, John Ford, and that's how Ford came to shoot "Stagecoach" here followed by numerous other films after that.