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Valley of the Gods is a small scale version of Monument Valley, but, without a doubt equally as impressive and beautiful. There is a 17 mile trail winding its way through the Valley connecting Highway 163 to Highway 261 at the bottom of Cedar Mesa. Although the trail is relatively well maintained, it can be very rough and bumpy and subject to washouts. Some areas have rocks exposed from the shifting sands and scraping bottom is a strong possibility.
There are no tour busses or tourist traps in the area. There are no gas stations, gift shops, coffee shops, washrooms, and rarely any other tourists. Most are hesitant to bring their vehicles on the trail. However, the solitude and serenity of the area is well worth the extra hour it takes us to get through it. And, of course, as is always our delight, it leads us right to Highway 261.
We love to explore and discover new things instead of doing the same thing on our travels, but we have found some areas that we have totally fallen in love with and keep coming back to year after year. Valley of the Gods is one of them.
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| Valley of the Gods - 2001 |
When researching where the big red rocks were, Karen had come across an area called "Valley of the Gods". So, of course, when we saw the signs, it was hit the brakes and make a right. It is an eerie, desolate, magnificent landscape and immediately one understands it's name.
The map showed a road - unpaved over the sand. Not knowing where it led, we did not venture too far in - just far enough to know it was somewhere we wanted to come back and explore. |
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| Valley of the Gods - 2002 |
This year we found ourselves at the base of Hwy 261 and the west entrance to the "Valley".
Driving a Chevy Cavalier is not exactly 4-wheeling it, but we made it through the 17 miles of dusty roads, washed out creeks and fallen rocks. The road had not been graded after the winter and a couple of vehicles were not as adventurous and turned back. I guess size isn't everything. What's a little high-centering here and there? A quick check of the muffler and undercarriage and we were on our way. |
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| Valley of the Gods - 2003 and 2005 |
| We didn't drive through Valley of the Gods these years - just pulled off and drove a little way in to look around.
Skirting it on two sides still manages to bring a sense of peace to us. It is truly beautiful. Much can be seen of Valley of the Gods from highways 261 and 163.
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| Valley of the Gods - 2006 |
We drove by Valley of the Gods, but we did not tour through it. It was dusk so spent our time going up and down highway 261 and exploring Muley Point Road.
We also noticed the Gooseneck State Park road and made a note to spend some time touring that area on a return trip. |
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Valley of the Gods 2007
| It's amazing that we can travel all the way to New Orleans and then by careful planning find ourselves in Valley of the Gods on the way home, but that's exactly what we did. It just didn't seem right that we could go away and not visit one of our favorite places. So, although it was a "destination New Orleans" trip - we ended up in Valley of the Gods again. It just felt like we were home. |
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This year we drove the 17 mile trail through Valley of the Gods again. We had Karen's new vehicle, a SUV, so the worry of scraping bottom wasn't there. As always, we were in awe and the drive took us about 1 1/2 hours. Karen noticed that one of the rocks (the one we nicknamed Geronimo) had lost a large piece from the top which actually changed the look of it. Part of the face has fallen off. We call that rock Geronimo because it looks like an indian chief sitting with his arms crossed. But now he's an indian chief without a nose. |
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