Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a Navajo tribal park of 91,696 acres on the Utah–Arizona border, where sandstone buttes rise 400 to 1,000 feet above a flat red desert. Navajo Parks and Recreation runs it; the Navajo name is Tse'Bii'Ndzisgaii. The view from the visitor centre takes in the two Mitten buttes and Merrick Butte, a skyline seen in John Ford's westerns, starting with Stagecoach in 1939.

The park is Navajo land, not a national park, so the rules and the fees are the Navajo Nation's. We checked every figure below on 26 October 2026 on the Navajo parks' own pages, the operators' booking pages and NOAA's normals.

Which side of the Utah–Arizona line is the Valley Drive on?

Monument Valley lies in both states, but the part a visitor drives is in Arizona. The road into the park leaves US-163 at a roundabout a quarter of a mile north of the state line and runs about four miles to the visitor centre and The View hotel. The Valley Drive is on the Arizona side.

Goulding's, the trading post and lodge outside the park, Mexican Hat and the US-163 viewpoint known as Forrest Gump Point are in Utah. The park is part of our guides to both Arizona and Utah.

What do two adults in one car pay at the Navajo booth?

Monument Valley costs $10 per person per day plus $15 per vehicle on the Navajo Nation's park page, so two adults in one car pay $35. The Navajo parks raised all their fees on 1 January 2026, and an older Navajo page still shows $8 per person. The View hotel's room page gives the same $10 and $15 and notes that hotel guests pay it too.

The America the Beautiful national park pass is not accepted, because this is a tribal park. The Navajo online ticket showed no bookable dates from October to December 2026, so in practice the fee is paid at the gate. Entry is capped each day, first come, first served. No Navajo page we read says whether the booth takes cards.

How do you drive the Valley Drive?

The Valley Drive at Monument Valley is a 17-mile loop of dirt road past eleven numbered stops, from the Mittens and Merrick Butte to Three Sisters, John Ford's Point, the Totem Pole and Artist's Point. The Navajo parks describe it as very rough, with deep sand.

Motorcycles and RVs are banned from it. One Navajo page also bans large SUVs and off-road vehicles, while another says an SUV or a truck is preferable, and The View recommends four-wheel drive or high clearance without requiring it. The park accepts no liability for damage to vehicles on the loop.

No Navajo or hotel page says whether rental contracts allow the drive, so read the car hire terms before taking a rental car onto the dirt.

Which areas, from Ear of the Wind to Hunts Mesa, need a Navajo guide?

Monument Valley's backcountry needs a Navajo guide: families live on the valley floor, and the Navajo parks allow visitors into most of it only with an authorised operator. Ear of the Wind, Mystery Valley, Hunts Mesa and every hike except the Wildcat Trail are guide-only.

The Navajo list names 25 authorised vehicle-tour operators, and guides wait at the lower car park by the visitor centre. A guide can also ride in your own four-wheel drive. On their own booking pages in October 2026, five operators priced a backcountry tour of two and a half to three and a half hours at $70 to $95 per adult. None of them says whether the $10 and $15 Navajo fee is included.

The Wildcat Trail is the one hike open without a guide, a loop around the West Mitten from near The View's campground. Its length is given as 1.5 miles by the park, 3.2 miles by San Juan County and 4 miles by The View, so plan on the longest. Sign in and out at the visitor centre.

When does the Valley Drive open and close?

The Valley Drive at Monument Valley opens from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter, from 17 October in 2026, with last entry at 2:30 p.m. In summer the Navajo pages give hours as long as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with last entry for the drive at 4:30 p.m.

All the Navajo tribal parks close on Thanksgiving, Navajo Nation Family Day the day after it, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. In 2026 that means 26 and 27 November. The parks can also close at any time in bad weather.

Why is Navajo time an hour ahead of Page in summer?

Monument Valley keeps Navajo Nation time, which moves to daylight saving time, while the rest of Arizona does not. From March to early November it is an hour ahead of Page, Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, and the same as Utah. Daylight saving ended on 1 November 2026.

The valley's tour clock is the opposite of Antelope Canyon's. The Antelope operators run on Arizona time all year, but at least four of the valley's operators say in writing that they run on daylight time. One of them puts it plainly: when it is 8 a.m. in Page, it is 9 a.m. in the valley. Read the time zone on every booking.

What do the Navajo rules ban, from alcohol to drones?

The Navajo Nation's rules apply in Monument Valley, and several are stricter than in a national park. Alcohol and drugs are banned on the Navajo Nation, drones flown in the tribal parks are confiscated, and dogs, firearms and rock climbing are not allowed.

Ask before photographing Navajo people. Commercial photography and filming need a Navajo permit. Off-road driving is banned everywhere on tribal park land.

Where do you sleep: The View or Goulding's?

The View is the only hotel inside Monument Valley's tribal park, beside the visitor centre, and most of its rooms have a balcony facing the Mittens. It also has rim cabins and a campground with dry RV sites up to 24 feet and tent sites. Check-in is at 4 p.m., and there is no pool, out of respect for residents who haul their water.

Goulding's, on the Utah side about 5.5 miles from the visitor centre, has a lodge and a trading-post museum; its own website was unavailable when we checked. Kayenta lies about 26 miles south, in Arizona.

When is the best time to visit Monument Valley?

Spring and autumn are the best seasons at Monument Valley, when highs run from the 60s to the 80s °F. It sits at about 5,500 feet, so winter nights fall well below freezing. The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Monument Valley station, beside The View, from 13 to 16 years of records.

The valley averages 59 days a year at or above 90°F and 105 nights at or below freezing. The Navajo parks warn that flash floods are most likely in the monsoon, from July to September. Around 30 March and 13 September the West Mitten casts its shadow onto the East Mitten at sunset.

How far is Monument Valley from Page, Moab and the Grand Canyon?

By road, Monument Valley is about 125 miles from Page and 150 miles from Moab, on our own routing, since no official source gives road distances. It sits between the Grand Canyon and the Utah parks, which is why it fits into so many Southwest road trips.

Our guide to Page, Arizona and Moab cover the two towns on either side. The Navajo parks also run Antelope Canyon, near Page, under similar rules.