Three Amigos

Monument Valley, Navajo Reservation, Utah/Arizona Border

I have posted a few images of my recent trip to Monument Valley. They were taken from parts of the tribal park that require the hiring of a Navajo guide. The guides are not inexpensive but are well worth it for their local knowledge, stories of the Navajo culture and even playing musical instruments and singing Navajo songs. If you cannot afford to hire a guide, you can still see wonderful scenery as well as all of it's famous landmarks for a $5 per person entrance fee. This fee allows you to drive a 17-mile dirt road that winds throughout the park. It is a fabulous drive and I recommend doing it at least twice - early morning and evening. The light is so different at these times that the formations take on very different looks. This image of the world-famous East and West Mittens and Merrick Butte was actually taken from the visitors center in the early evening. The dirt road can be seen below as well as the shadows of the visitor center. I left the cars on the road to give the image scale - those buttes are really huge.