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Monument Valley — three days, two nights cost: $400-$500

• Monument Valley Tribal Park (entry fee is $20 per car, up to four people); www.navajonationparks.org/htm/monumentvalley.htm

• The View Hotel (accessible room with roll-in shower from $150); 435/727-5555, monumentvalleyview.com

• Goulding’s Lodge (lunches from $12); 435/727-3231, www.gouldings.com/dining-room

• Goosenecks State Park (free admission); 435/678-2238, utah.com/goosenecks-state-park

• Valley of the Gods (free admission); utah.com/monument-valley/valley-of-the-gods

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The Moki Dugway — just northwest of the Valley of the Gods — is a staggering, graded dirt switchback road carved into the face of the cliff edge of Cedar Mesa. 

It consists of three miles of steep, unpaved switchbacks that wind 1,200 feet from Cedar Mesa to the valley floor. 

This white knuckle route provides breathtaking views of some of Utah’s most beautiful sites. 

But nothing compares to Monument Valley. 

Poets, priests and great writers of prose have failed to coin words worthy of the spiritual feeling that overtakes every person who gazes upon its majesty.

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Nearby attractions include Goosenecks State Park, a half-hour drive from Monument Valley.

It features a paved road that ends at a scenic overlook with amazing views about 1,000 feet above the winding San Juan River and switchback formations the river carved out of the rocky area. 

Another half hour from Goosenecks is the Valley of the Gods.

A 17-mile dirt and gravel road, passable in a family car when the weather is dry, winds through the valley.

The sandy, bumpy, often steep drive is usually deserted — and that’s a good thing.

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The View, the only hotel on Navajo land, features an accessible room with a patio that opens up to the majestic valley. 

The room, with a roll-in shower and private balcony, starts at $150 per night. There is an on-site restaurant and trading post for supplies.

Local dining options are limited to the restaurant at the View, or the dining room at the famous Goulding’s Lodge just outside the Tribal Park.

Goulding’s barrier-free trading post and grounds are a perfect backdrop for feasting on a menu of Navajo frybread with a side of beef stew, spicy pork green chile or chili con carne.

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Monument Valley is a 30,000-acre Navajo tribal park established in 1958 located on the border of Arizona and Utah within the 16 million-acre Navajo Reservation.

The barrier-free visitor center has clean restrooms, an air-conditioned gift shop and excellent observation areas for breathtaking views of the iconic Mittens and Merrick Butte. 

The visitor center building has a small elevator that takes wheelers up to the second story observation deck.

A 17-mile loop road winds along the valley floor among the rock sentinels that tower 400 to 1,000 feet above. 

The road is raw and unpaved, but that’s a good thing because it slows traffic to a nice leisurely pace.

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Desert solitude and silver screen-worthy rock formations — that’s what drew legendary Western movie director John Ford to Monument Valley. 

The heavenly scenery and fresh air will draw you to the corner of southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona.

It is especially engaging in late October, when the mercury rarely exceeds 70 degrees — even in this arid desert climate.