Monument Valley

[4CornerFlyer]

I've been meaning to get there for a while, but finally did a day trip to Monument Valley Airport (UT25) today. It's a private strip just north of the Utah/Arizona border in what is said to be the most photographed land in the country.

The strip is owned by Goulding's Lodge, which is about a two minute walk from the parking area, although a van showed up to give us a ride without being asked. On site they have a motel and camping, and a decent restaurant that's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had the green chile stew with frybread...going with the local Navajo specialty. Desserts looked excellent. There's a museum showcasing the history of the old trading post and the many westerns filmed there.

Goulding's offers tours of the Monument Valley Tribal Park, ranging from 2 1/2 hours for $35 to a full-day for $80. No need to make reservations, just show up and buy a ticket a few minutes before departure time, which is around 9am, 1:30 pm and 4 pm this time of year. They also have a Full Moon tour, which I'll have to come back someday to do. Definitely wouldn't leave that airstrip after dark.

As to the landing facility itself, the runway is about 4000 feet long, mostly dirt with about 1/4 paved on the south end. There's fair slope to the runway, so you land to the south and takeoff to the north. When you land, you're aiming right at a high mesa a quarter-mile past the end of the runway. If you're late on a go-around, you'll hit this brick wall--see the photo. There are no obstructions on your downhill departure, so even on a hot summer day you'll be okay. The runway surface was pretty smooth. No trouble for my Mooney, or for most common aircraft. They get a lot of traffic from the sightseeing flights out of Vegas and Page...not unusual for there to be a squadron of Twin-Otters on the ramp. Supposedly they use 122.9 as a CTAF, but I can't say I heard anyone else call on it. The strip is charted, but can be hard to find, as the dirt blends in with the landscape. Once you've seen it, it's easy, but the first time, you might want to plug in lat-long coordinates from Airnav or the lodge.

For info, look at www.gouldings.com. I found them to be extremely helpful in answering questions, and they are very happy to have people flying in. All in all it's a fantastic place to visit by plane.

Jon

[Grant Prellwitz]

Originally Posted by 4CornerFlyer

I had the green chile stew with frybread...going with the local Navajo specialty.

The pictures look beautiful. Love to visit there sometime.

Frybread, however, is debatably the second-worst scourge the white man perpetrated on Native Americans health-wise, after whiskey. It's not just a Navajo thing, the various Alaskan natives have it too.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410209

Originally Posted by Suzan Shown Harjo/Indian Country Today

If frybread were a movie, it would be hard-core porn. No redeeming qualities. Zero nutrition.

Frybread has replaced ''firewater'' as the stereotypical Indian staple in movie land. Well-meaning non-Indians take their cues from these portrayals of Indians as simple-minded people who salute the little grease bread and get misty-eyed about it.

[Jeff]

Great pics!! We fly Carvans there for tours out of PGA and DVT. We do use 122.9 for CTAF and when flying through the monuments.

[CapeCodMichael]

wow, i cant believe I havnt been there yet. In that 3rd picture, is that the runway facing that wall of rock? Is it a one way in and out?

[Bill Jennings]

Fantastic pictures, thanks for posting!

[igor]

Truly amazing! Have to get myself there at some point. Thanks for the photos.

[Eric Jensen]

Originally Posted by Michael

wow, i cant believe I haven't been there yet. In that 3rd picture, is that the runway facing that wall of rock? Is it a one way in and out?

Most definitely one way for anything but a helocourier or supercub. Besides the cliff the land is rising to the south so even if you side step right you'll have trouble. Land 16, takeoff 34. You can land a long, there's plenty of length with the uphill, and miss the rough spots at the threshold.

The ramp can get crowed with the tour planes. They come all day but morning and lunch are busy. I try to park on the west edge of the paved ramp, out of their way. If you can't park on the pavement, I'd park at the far north end of the gravel lot. Some of the tour pilots don't watch maybe don't care who the blast when the turn. I watched a twin otter sandblast a nice 185 last fall.

Nice breakfast or lunch stop if you in the area. We stopped for breakfast last fall on the way home from Page. The breakfast burrito is great. Overnight is fun too, very quiet and the sunrise over the monuments is great. It is dry so bring your wine with you.

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Michael

In that 3rd picture, is that the runway facing that wall of rock? Is it a one way in and out?

Yes, it is an "interesting" sight when you look down the runway in the flair. Here are a couple of pictures from this past summer when I was there (please excuse the bug splats).

Barb

[Dave Krall CFII SEL SES]

Originally Posted by One Short

Yes, it is an "interesting" sight when you look down the runway in the flair. Here are a couple of pictures from this past summer when I was there (please excuse the bug splats).

Barb

The third PIX close-up is interesting in that if these formations are solidified craters of extinct volcanoes with the surrounding mountain eroded away, why then are some stretches smooth and others much more narrowly striated?

If not the above, then WT_ ARE they?

[Taildragging]

Nice, miss the place already (was over in Page a number of years, can't count the times I drove through MV to get to somewhere else. Beautiful!)

[Taildragging]

Originally Posted by Dave Krall CFII

The third PIX close-up is interesting in that if these formations are solidified craters of extinct volcanoes with the surrounding mountain eroded away, why then are some stretches smooth and others much more narrowly striated?

If not the above, then WT_ ARE they?

Actually, the formations you see are all Mesozoic sedementary deposits from former inland seas which have eroded at different rates due to caps of harder rock which prevent erosion, thus after a few million years the neighboring spaces erode but they do not (or erode much slower.)

There is really only a couple of igneous uplift spires in the area.

[Greg Kainz]

Originally Posted by alaskaflyer

Actually, the formations you see are all Mesozoic sedementary deposits from former inland seas which have eroded at different rates due to caps of harder rock which prevent erosion, thus after a few million years the neighboring spaces erode but they do not (or erode much slower.)

There is really only a couple of igneous uplift spires in the area.

Or, about 3,000 years ago there was this world-wide flood that this guy named Noah rode out in an Ark, that caused huge erosions as the rains fell and then again as the flood waters receeded. But, I suspect this hijack is gonna send me to ... "The Spin Zone..."

[Anthony]

Didn't they film a lot of John Ford westerns there?

[iNeed My Minions!]

Beautiful. I have only flown over at the flight levels and it was a great view from up there.

[iNeed My Minions!]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Didn't they film a lot of John Ford westerns there?

Some of them, yep.
I searched IMDB for that location and found these titles that had some filming done there

1. "Airwolf" (1984) TV Series
   ...aka "Lobo del aire" (1984) (USA: Spanish title)
2. "Planets, The" (1999) (mini) TV Series 8.8/10 (172 votes)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 8.3/10 (77386 votes)
4. American West of John Ford, The (1971) (TV) 5.3/10 (37 votes)
   ...aka Great American West of John Ford, The (1971) (TV)
5. Back to the Future Part III (1990) 6.7/10 (30947 votes)
6. Billy the Kid (1941) 6.0/10 (154 votes)
7. Cheyenne Autumn (1964) 6.9/10 (669 votes)
   ...aka John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn (1964) (USA: complete title)
8. Chronos (1985) 7.7/10 (163 votes)
9. Color Country Chute-Out 2002, The (2003) (V)
10. Comanche Stallion (2006)
11. Directed by John Ford (1971) 5.8/10 (83 votes)
12. Easy Rider (1969) 7.2/10 (12936 votes)
13. Eiger Sanction, The (1975) 6.2/10 (2200 votes)
14. Electra Glide in Blue (1973) 6.8/10 (648 votes)
15. Forrest Gump (1994) 8.3/10 (112927 votes)
16. Fort Apache (1948) 7.6/10 (2383 votes)
    ...aka War Party (1948)
17. Genio, due compari, un pollo, Un (1975) 5.8/10 (377 votes)
    ...aka Genius, The (1975)
    ...aka Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot, A (1975) (USA) (USA)
    ...aka Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe, A (1975)
    ...aka Nobody ist der Größte (1975) (West Germany) (West Germany)
    ...aka Nobody's the Greatest (1975) (video title) (video title)
    ...aka Trinity Is Back Again (1975) (USA) (USA)
    ...aka Un génie, deux associés, une cloche (1976) (France) (France)
18. Harvey Girls, The (1946) 7.0/10 (560 votes)
19. How the West Was Won (1962) 6.9/10 (2562 votes)
20. John Wayne: Bigger Than Life (1990) 1.2/10 (6 votes)
21. Joshua (1976) 3.8/10 (34 votes)
    ...aka Black Rider (1976)
    ...aka Joshua the Black Rider (1976)
    ...aka Revenge (1976) (Australia: video title)
22. King of the Stallions (1942)
    ...aka Code of the Red Man (1942) (USA: 16mm release title)
    ...aka Code of the Redmen (1942) (USA)
23. Kit Carson (1940) 6.2/10 (42 votes)
24. Knights (1993) 4.0/10 (455 votes)
25. Laramie (1949) 5.0/10 (10 votes)
26. Legend of the Lone Ranger, The (1981) 4.3/10 (374 votes)
27. Lightning Jack (1994) 4.8/10 (1322 votes)
28. Lone Star Ranger, The (1930) 3.6/10 (7 votes)
29. Lost Forever Everett Ruess (2000)
30. Mackenna's Gold (1969) 6.3/10 (830 votes)
31. Major Movie Star (2006)
32. Mission: Impossible II (2000) 5.7/10 (42356 votes)
    ...aka M:I-2 (2000) (USA: DVD box title) (promotional abbreviation)
    ...aka Mission: Impossible II (2000) (Germany)
33. Moviemakers, The (1971) 6.4/10 (8 votes)
34. My Darling Clementine (1946) 7.9/10 (3116 votes)
    ...aka John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) (USA: complete title)
35. Navajo Dream 3 (2003)
36. New Morning of Billy the Kid (1986)
37. One Year Later: Interviews und Radio (2003)
38. Over the Top (1987) 4.1/10 (4405 votes)
    ...aka Meet Me Half Way (1987) (USA)
39. Peuple migrateur, Le (2001) 8.0/10 (3935 votes)
    ...aka Nomaden der Lüfte (2002) (Germany)
    ...aka Nomaden der Lüfte - Das Geheimnis der Zugvögel (2002) (Germany)
    ...aka Nómadas del viento (2002) (Spain)
    ...aka Popolo migratore, Il (2002) (Italy)
    ...aka Travelling Birds, The (2001) (International: English title)
    ...aka Winged Migration (2002) (Canada: English title: festival title) (USA)
40. Pontiac Moon (1994) 4.7/10 (273 votes)
41. Rio Grande (1950) 7.3/10 (2196 votes)
    ...aka John Ford and Merian C. Cooper's Rio Grande (1950) (USA: complete title)
42. Searchers, The (1956) 8.0/10 (12612 votes)
43. Secret of Navajo Cave, The (1976) 6.0/10 (10 votes)
    ...aka Legend of Cougar Canyon (1976)
44. Sergeant Rutledge (1960) 7.3/10 (496 votes)
45. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) 7.2/10 (2838 votes)
46. Sognando la California (1993) 5.0/10 (57 votes)
    ...aka California Dreaming (1993)
47. Stagecoach (1939) 7.8/10 (6762 votes)
48. Starman (1984) 6.7/10 (6566 votes)
    ...aka John Carpenter's Starman (1984) (USA: complete title)
49. Tall Tale (1995) 5.0/10 (513 votes)
    ...aka Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill (1995)
50. Thunder II (1985) 3.3/10 (23 votes)
    ...aka Thunder Warrior II (1985) (USA: video title)
51. To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) 5.5/10 (4504 votes)
52. Trial of Billy Jack, The (1974) 4.1/10 (295 votes)
53. Un homme qui me plaît (1969) 6.7/10 (55 votes)
    ...aka Love Is a Funny Thing (1970) (USA)
    ...aka Man I Like, A (1969) (UK)
    ...aka Tipo che mi piace, Un (1969) (Italy)
54. Vacation (1983) 7.2/10 (10513 votes)
    ...aka American Vacation (1983) (Europe: English title: video title)
    ...aka National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) (USA: complete title)
55. Vanishing American, The (1925) 8.1/10 (43 votes)
    ...aka Vanishing Race, The (1925) (Australia)
56. Vanishing Point (1997) (TV) 4.9/10 (484 votes)
57. Vertical Limit (2000) 5.5/10 (12250 votes)
58. Villain, The (1979) 4.7/10 (1037 votes)
    ...aka Cactus Jack (1980) (UK) (UK)
59. Wagon Master (1950) 7.1/10 (451 votes)
60. Waiting to Exhale (1995) 5.0/10 (1917 votes)
61. Walking in the Valley of the Gods (2003) (V)
62. Wild America (1997) 5.7/10 (1439 votes)
63. Wild Rovers (1971) 6.5/10 (278 votes)
64. Wild Wild West (1999) 4.0/10 (23548 votes)
65. Windtalkers (2002) 5.8/10 (11687 votes)

[Eric Jensen]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Didn't they film a lot of John Ford westerns there?

Yeah, they have many of the films on video. You get one free when you stay the night.

There's a little museum with lots a memorabilia from the early film days.

[4CornerFlyer]

There's even a spot on the touring road called John Ford Point, in honor of the legendary director. They show one of the locally filmed movies in the lodge's theater every night on a daily rotation.

Jon

[Jeff]

Here is a video from the cockpit while landing at Monument Valley. My friend was riding along and took it with his camera.

Another thing...how can you reduce the size of videos, and convert them to different formats. It is only a 25 sec video, it shouldnt be that big of a file?

[Dave Krall CFII SEL SES]

Originally Posted by alaskaflyer

Actually, the formations you see are all Mesozoic sedementary deposits from former inland seas which have eroded at different rates due to caps of harder rock which prevent erosion, thus after a few million years the neighboring spaces erode but they do not (or erode much slower.)

There is really only a couple of igneous uplift spires in the area.

What would make such a formation so drastically harder than the nearby surround?

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Dave Krall CFII

What would make such a formation so drastically harder than the nearby surround?

This doesn't really answer your question, but it kind of shows the process at work. This is a picture from Canyon lands, Utah along the Green River.

Barb

[CountryAir]

Originally Posted by Dave Krall CFII

What would make such a formation so drastically harder than the nearby surround?

Possible unconformities in the sedimentary strata caused by orogenic (mountain building) disturbances and/or igneous eruptions. That would be one explanation.

[Bill]

Jon,

Thanks for the great post. Enjoyed the great pictures. Monument Valley is number one on my list of "I have to fly there" places!

... Bill

[Diana]

Originally Posted by 4CornerFlyer

I've been meaning to get there for a while, but finally did a day trip to Monument Valley Airport (UT25) today. It's a private strip just north of the Utah/Arizona border in what is said to be the most photographed land in the country.

The strip is owned by Goulding's Lodge, which is about a two minute walk from the parking area, although a van showed up to give us a ride without being asked. On site they have a motel and camping, and a decent restaurant that's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For info, look at www.gouldings.com. I found them to be extremely helpful in answering questions, and they are very happy to have people flying in. All in all it's a fantastic place to visit by plane.

Jon

Jon, thanks for the write-up and GREAT pictures!

We're planning to land there in May. Looks like we need to send them a copy of our insurance and some kind of information saying we know that it is a private strip, etc.

Hopefully we'll be able to get a room on short notice.

[Barb]

Diana,

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years, you can just fly in, no advance warning neccessary to land or park. Hotel reservations may be another matter. I didn't stay overnight. It's like going to Hotel Beaumont.

Barb

[Jeff]

As far as I know you can just fly in there. Room reservations would probably be nice in case they are busy. The Europe tour companies are starting to get busy. Also it is paved now, and the numbers are not numbers they are RB (red bull paved it for the air race last year). Not as fun to land at now. It now has some little "whoops" in the pavement. We are starting to get busy flying tours too, so a call on 122.9 would be greatly appreciated. The landing runway is 16, departing 34

Have fun!!

Jeff