Part of the Trail of the Ancients, we drove through the scenic, steep switchbacks of the Moki Dugway and then into the Valley of the Gods. The weather was challenging with intermittent rain and strong, gusty winds but we had a blast enjoying the unique rock formations and the ancient sandstone landscape. This area is only about 30 miles from Monument Valley so the landscape is quite similar. In addition to the drive, we also included scenes from a ride that we did on our RZR Trail through Arch Canyon. We didn’t anticipate the steep, rocky rim portion of the ride so what we planned to be a quick 2-hr ride became more like 5 hours!
Valley of the Gods //S1Ep8
Links and Resources
Valley of the Gods
https://www.blm.gov/visit/valley-gods
This area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is completely free to access. You can even camp overnight for free! There is a 17-mile dirt road that winds through the monuments providing spectacular up-close views. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great when we were there so it was VERY windy, rainy, and cloudy. Despite all that, we found the views to be amazing and this is on our “must return” list. In fact, next time will probably include an overnight stay.
Arch Canyon
https://www.blm.gov/visit/arch-canyon
We did a side-by-side ride here but really didn’t start in the best place. Not knowing the local terrain, we chose to stage several miles east of the canyon with a plan to follow numbered county dirt roads to get there. In our minds, it was going to be easy, fast riding with the wind in our hair. To the contrary, it ended up being rock climbing and rim riding along much of way which added several hours to our ride. Needless to say, we did not return that way! It really did end up being a fun ride but it was not what we were expecting at all.