WHEELING THROUGH AMERICA: 10 BARRIER-FREE TREASURES FROM BIG CITIES TO NATIONAL PARKS TO EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN part 3

MONUMENT VALLEY

Monument Valley, with its iconic buttes and mesas, sits on the border of Utah and Arizona, contained wholly within Navajo Tribal lands.

Its cyclopean rock formations -- familiar from myriad car commercials, movies and Marlboro ads -- thrust up from the desert floor with a majestic eternalness that captivates even the most world-weary among us.

Visitors with disabilities can drink in the stark beauty of the Mittens, Merrick Butte and many other formations from the wheelchair-accessible visitor center with its multi-level outdoor observation platforms.

For the red dust under your fingernails experience, tour the valley floor with a Navajo guide.

While wheelers can ride in the wagon caravan being pulled along, a gentler ride can be had in the cab of the pick-up truck next to the guide.

Monument Valley Tribal Park, Monument Valley Utah, 435-727-5874, www.navajonationparks.org/htm/monumentvalley.htm
Navajo backcountry tours, 435-727-3231, www.gouldings.com/english/tours.htm


Tomorrow: Wolf Park