Monument Valley
Campground
Monument Valley KOA Journey
A very basic KOA. This is a "Journey" so it is really intended to be for short-term stays. Lots of turnover from day to day. This is a fairly new KOA so the facilities are also clean and well maintained. Beautifully finished bathrooms and showers. The staff is very helpful when looking for things to do.
If you visit here in the Spring, be prepared for some VERY windy days and nights. Us northerners call things like this blizzards so just substitute sand for snow and you'll get the picture.
Things to see
Forrest Gump Movie Location
It's your chance to re-enact the famous "Forrest Gump" scene when he decides to stop running across the country. This was actually our second encounter with something "Forrest Gump" related (see Savannah GA). As a bonus, you will enjoy gorgeous scenery.
Goosenecks State Park
Very nice view of the river below. There are no real trails or other activities here. Just a nice view and a campground. Dogs allowed.
John Wayne's Cabin
This is a small cabin at Goulding's Trading Post where a John Wayne film was shot. It has a few posters with additional information about John Wayne.
Mexican Hat Rock
A fun photo opportunity and a great place for Polly to get out and run around. You can climb to the top with a little extra effort and careful foot placement.
Moki Dugway
The view is definitely worth the journey here. "Moki" is a local term for the ancient Puebloan people who inhabited the Colorado Plateau hundreds of years ago. "Dugway" is a term used to describe a roadway carved from a hillside. The Moki Dugway Scenic Backway is a stretch of Highway 261 in Utah where the blacktop turns into a dirt road that drastically switches back and forth down the side of a cliff at an 11% grade.
Monument Valley Extended Backcountry Tour
You should do the self scenic-guided tour of Monument Valley but we also highly recommend scheduling a backcountry tour led by a Navajo guide. You will go to areas that are off limits unless you are with a guide. Our guide was Marjorie and she spent 3 1/2 hours with us sharing her knowledge of the area and the Navajo history. She insisted on taking photos and giving us guidance on shots and techniques. Dogs allowed.
Natural Bridges Monument
There is a one-way drive through the park that leads to viewpoints for each of the 3 natural bridges. Check out the Natural Bridge hikes in the hiking section. We highly recommend these hikes for a close-up of the bridges. Dog not allowed.
Valley of the Gods
You can drive the gravel road though the area or pick a pull-out spot and hang out for the day or even camp. We really wanted to boondock for a night or two but the road was not big rig friendly. Dogs allowed.
Hiking
House on Fire via Mule Canyon Trail
Easy trail in the Mule Canyon Wilderness Study Area. There is a fee of $5 (on your honor). We were there from 11 AM to about 1 PM, waiting to see if the "fire" looked more intense...it didn't. Check out the photos to set your expectations. We had set ours a little high. It was still very cool to see the ruins. Dogs allowed.
Kachina Bridge Trail
This trail is in Natural Bridges National Monument. We highly recommend taking the trail to see the view from under the bridge. It is a much better perspective than the overlook offers. You will also be able to see petroglyphs under the bridge. No dogs allowed.
Wildcat Trail
This trail is in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. It is one of the few hiking trails in the park, which we thought was unfortunate. It was an easy trail around one of the large rock formations. You won't see any views that you don't see on the drive through the park; however, if you are looking for some exercise, we recommend it. Dogs allowed.
To make a long story short ...
Ari Molina
Wow. What a story this turned out to be.
It was one of those very windy days where sand and dust was getting everywhere. Sustained winds of 40 MPH and gusts of 70 MPH. I am not exaggerating. Barb had taken Polly out for a walk and, when she came back, said "There's this guy that came in on a motorcycle and is trying to put up a tent. We just can't let that happen."
Not being shy (I know, surprised, right?), I went to talk to him. The least we could do was invite him to have dinner with us (we had just finished making our favorite curry dish) and he could wait for the wind to die down a little. I had intended to say "Dude, I've been where you are, motorcycling by yourself, trying to put up a tent in a storm ..." but I got no further than about half that when he interrupted me by saying "I do not speak much English." Turns out his first language is Spanish. Well, Barb and I have been studying Spanish (DuoLingo on our phones) for about a year so we spoke about as much Spanish as he did English. Now what?
Through my broken Spanish and his broken English, together with some hand waving and pointing, I was able to communicate that we wanted him to please join us for dinner and get out of the wind. He graciously agreed and for the next 3-4 hours, we talked while trying our best to use Google Translate to fill in some missing words and such. Since our RV has a "garage" area that easily converts into a "guest suite" (complete with half-bath), we also talked him into staying in the RV as our guest overnight. He was VERY happy to accept that invitation.
We found out that he is from the Mexican state of Chiapas in the city of Ciudad Hidalgo. His house is two blocks from the river which separates Chiapas from Guatemala. He is on his way to visit a friend in Vancouver, B.C. This is his "guy trip" before he proposes to his girlfriend.
In the morning, we all had breakfast together and he was on his way to his next stop (Salt Lake City). We had such a wonderful time talking to him and he said as much too. We exchanged phone numbers and have been continuing to communicate via WhatsApp.
Movie locations
This story really isn't about a person as much as it is about many people.
Monument Valley became the "go-to" movie shooting location for so many Hollywood movies, especially westerns. As local history has it, the Gouldings moved here in the 1920s and apparently had connections to Hollywood. They convinced John Ford (famous director) to visit Monument Valley as a possible location to shoot westerns. The landscape is really that extraordinary. Mr. Ford agreed and shot many movies here, most starring the one-and-only John Wayne. It is so fun to watch these old movies, see a background, and know exactly where that perspective is.
One of the people we met at the campground, Donna, loaned us "The Searchers" starring John Wayne. We just had to watch it! It was fascinating to look beyond the characters in the movie.
Of course, the scene in "Forrest Gump", when he decides to stop running back and forth across the country, takes place about 8 miles from the KOA where we stayed. The part of the road is not specifically marked for the movie, but several signs warn you to slow down and you'll see people out in the middle of the road constantly.
Sam Raetz - Professional Photographer
We were hanging out at the campground one afternoon when we noticed a guy with a camera around his neck talking to various other residents. After a bit, we heard a knock on our camper door. Naturally, Polly started barking. She needs to protect us. Plus she's excited to meet new people! We opened up to see that photographer standing outside. Polly leapt right out, tail just wagging away.
Sam explained that he is a professional photographer and is looking for a rig like ours for a photo shoot. He said he liked the color combo of our grey truck and the color scheme of our trailer. While he represents B&W (we use their "Companion" hitch), that really wasn't he only reason we got his attention.
He went on to explain what he wanted. Some action shots of us driving our entire rig out on the "Forrest Gump" spot. It really is a beautiful area of Monument Valley. Such great landscape. He wanted us to make 3-4 passes through the area. He even scoped out some easy places for us to get turned around. It really doesn't take us very long to get hooked up, especially when we know we're coming right back. No need to wrap up all the hoses, pack the garage, etc. So we left most things at our campsite since we'd be coming right back.
Sam came by about 6:30 am (yes, I know, SO early for us). We were on the road by 7 am. He wanted that morning sun angle. An hour or so later, we were heading back to the campground. He took shots of us hooking up, driving out on highway 163, then setting back up.
You can find Sam's website at - www.SamRaetz.com
"Nothing if not persistent." My name is Sam Raetz, and I'm a freelance photographer. I unknowingly put my photography career in motion when I instinctually reached for a camera to capture my time duck hunting with my brother and chocolate lab on the Platte River in western Nebraska. It was on that river that I realized there is depth and meaning to photography infinitely beyond capturing an image. I aim to capture not photos, but memories; not sessions, but experiences. With an unyielding willingness to tell the often overlooked stories, I aim to take daily life and point out its simple magnificence. Grit over glamor and hard work over everything.
I'm currently based out of Omaha, Nebraska.
These are some photographs you are going to want to see!