Road Tripping Through Monument Valley + Arches National Park

MONUMENT VALLEY

If you happen to be planning a trip to Arches National Park, add to that plan, a day to drive around and through Monument Valley. We drove from the Grand Canyon to Arches and made sure that we drove right through Monument Valley, and it was an incredible drive. I can only image how beautiful a sunrise or sunset would be; seeing the sun peak around those rock formations… truly magnificent.

It’s hard to really show just how incredible those rock formations are; how every gaze off into the horizon shows a different, beautiful skyline. The only time I torn my eyes away from the spectacular views was when I needed to calm my screaming two year old. His timing was remarkable…

 


ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

If you happen to be in Colorado, Arches National Park is about a six hour drive. And if you’ve visited Garden of the Gods… Arches crushed it. And I think GOG is pretty spectacular.

We chose to spend the night in Moab (after the Grand Canyon) knowing that Arches National Park was right there. We got into town mid afternoon, and after checking into our hotel, we went right to the park. You get some great views from just driving through the park. But you’ll get real experience from hiking. We were running on fumes so we just walked to see Delicate Arch from the lower viewpoint. We had walked about five steps when both boys m e l t e d down. Naturally we kept going, but it didn’t get much better.

Imagine seeing a father carrying a wildly screaming toddler past you as you’re trying to take in the beauty of one of the most photographed arches in the park. I apologize to any whose vibe we might have thrown off.

We were over our road trip, so first thing in the morning we drove out of town and ended up that night in our new home. From what we saw of the tiny town of Moab, the downtown looked pretty cool! Lots of fun outdoorsy restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops. Unless you’re camping, I would tell you to stay in the downtown area. There is literally all the things to do there – none of which we did – but it would totally be worth a weekend trip to check it out! It might even be on our list to head back.

 

Have you been to Monument Valley or Arches National Park?
Also. How many times have you had to carry your screaming toddler to the car while all the hipster, college kids stare like you’re carrying an alien?