March 16, through 17, 2026
We left Kanab following US89 south out of town. We’ll soon be driving through Page AZ, then head east towards Navajo Country, but first we’ll have the biggest brain fart on the trip thus far. Jil and I felt that a quick side trip to Horseshoe Bend would be great since we hadn’t been there. We also wondered how far US89 is from the Glen Canyon Dam. See answer below……….. yep US89 is so close to Glen Canyon Dam that one can reach out and touch it- almost……
As far as Horseshoe Bend goes- we missed. Completely forgot about it. Sheesh!
South of Glen Canyon Dam the Colorado River makes a U turn as it follows the canyon towards the Grand Canyon. It as well as the Antelope Canyon are a big tourist draw near Page. Antelope Canyon is on the Navajo Reservation and requres tour guides to enter the canyon.
We drove through nondescript high desert with hills cropping here and there but no sign of our target, Then, off in the distance we see, is that one a monument? Then another and another. Yes, we are in Monument Valley which straddles the Utah, Arid-Zona border. The valley also lies on the Navajo Reservation so the native Americans control the show here. If one would like a tour of the Monuments they range from $65 to $80 for a ride in the back of a pickup that has seats installed to $180 for a horseback tour.
One can also drive their own vehicle on the “loop road” but the locals discourage it by saying the “road is really rough”- and then you see a load of tourists in the back of a pickup head down the same road. Does that look comfortable bouncing up and down a really rough road- more comfortable than riding in a Subaru for example? Anyway, they talked us out of touring in our own vehicle and we didn’t want to do the alternative.
We stayed at Gouldings, a complex of hotel, small store, museum, restaurant and gas station as well as a campground. In my opinion Goulding’s campground is the only option even though there is one other not so nice RV Park. We settle in for a two day stay. The balance of day one is settling in after an interesting drive.
On day two we head down to the Visitor’s Center where a Navajo lady in some Navajo uniform behind a desk seems perturbed that we are seeking information. She says for $20 we can take the road to the tribal headquarters and hotel but not on the 17 Mile Loop Road (too rough for Subarus). We didn’t go into the headquarters building rather we enjoyed seeing some monuments up close.
We enjoyed seeing the “Monuments” but the place is way too commercialized. We’ve seen pretty much all of the monuments that can be seen without traversing the very bumpy 17 Mile Scenic Drive so I tell Jil we aren’t going to see anything new here so why don’t we pack up and go half way to our next stop which will give us more time to explore that area. She agrees and we pack up and head north east into the state of Colorado.
More on that adventure in our next blog…… It didn’t go so well……..
Travel With Jil and Mike 