Sunday, October 20, 2024
After spending Saturday at Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments, we stayed at a hotel in Kayenta for the night and then got up early on Sunday so we could spend the morning going on a private tour of Mystery Valley near Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation, which I had arranged a few weeks prior with Navajo Spirit Tours. It’s been over a decade since I last visited Monument Valley (aside from just driving through on the highway) and I’ve long wanted to see the ruins and rock art of Mystery Valley, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to finally go on a tour while we were in the area. We arrived at the Navajo Welcome Center shortly before 8:00am to meet up with our guide and then we hopped into his vehicle and took off to spend a few hours learning about the secrets of Mystery Valley!
Our first stop was at the Pancake Rocks Viewpoint.
The light was looking nice this morning as the clouds started to clear out from the recent storms. It had rained overnight and our vehicle left the first fresh tracks on all the backroads we drove this morning.
Scattered Potsherds
Square House Ruins
This large petroglyph of a bighorn sheep was right below the alcove.
There were some scattered petroglyphs on the wall around the corner.
There were a number of nice views of Monument Valley in the distance as we drove between sites.
Faded petroglyphs of bighorn sheep.
Baby House
Sheep with a Flute
Lizard Man Panel
Sandstone & Clouds
This alcove contained quite a few nice pictographs. Below are some closer looks at different parts of the panel.
We spotted a few arches throughout the morning, but Honeymoon Arch was the only one we stopped to visit.
We climbed up into the arch to get a closer look at this ruin built underneath it.
Looking out from inside Honeymoon Arch.
One of our last stops was at the House of Many Hands.
Besides there being many handprints near the ruins, there were also plenty of other pictographs scattered throughout the large alcove.
Finally, we drove around the corner to visit the Long House Ruins.
This room was tucked up into this smaller alcove nearby.
Doorway on a Ledge
After returning to the Navajo Welcome Center shortly before noon, we headed over to Goulding’s Lodge and had lunch at the Stagecoach Restaurant, which had a great view of Monument Valley. Afterwards we left Monument Valley and drove across the Four Corners region to Cortez so we could spend Monday morning in Mesa Verde National Park before heading back home.
This was our view of Eagle Mesa and the Setting Hen as we drove over Monument Pass on our way out of Monument Valley.
Great Photos
Who did you use for tour?
Thanks for sharing
Hi Kevin, we used Navajo Spirit Tours. There is a link to their website in the opening paragraph above.