I'm not sure why we got so excited about visiting Monument Valley, but it certainly lived up to its reputation and we were not let down compared to the many pictures that we'd seen previously.
I think when you see the pictures, you visualise it being in the middle of nowhere and being able to saunter up to the huge red buttes in total peace and quiet ... but this is the only drawback. Monument Valley is situated on a Navajo reservation and the site is considered sacred. You can't just wander around wherever you feel like a nomad crossing the country, you need to drive around on a rough track, getting out every now and again to take your pictures. That coupled with the selling of tourist crap at the entrance gives the place a bit of a tacky feel, but if you can blank that out, you should come back with some good memories.
We were lucky to have a gorgeous day weather-wise (I guess they have quite a lot of them), but it was definitely worth getting there early for the low sunrise photos and deep red colours.
By Darrell Grundy - visited on 21 June 2002