A Visit to Monument Valley: Part One
My husband and I paid a visit to Arizona in early May, incorporating a trip to the storied Western movie location of Monument Valley with bringing our son home from college in Flagstaff.
It's been such a busy few weeks that I'm just now sorting through the significant number of photographs I took that week!
It was a very special, even emotional visit for us, as so many favorite John Ford and John Wayne movies were filmed in Monument Valley, including MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), FORT APACHE (1948), SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949), RIO GRANDE (1950), WAGON MASTER (1950), and THE SEARCHERS (1956).
We stayed at Goulding's Lodge, where Ford and Co. stayed when filming in the valley; Goulding's itself was also a location seen most notably in FORT APACHE and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON.
Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan visited Monument Valley a few years ago and wrote: "Goulding's is the Vatican City of Western films, the place where memory resides, an establishment whose story is inextricably linked with the valley's relationship with the movie business."
The view approaching Goulding's, which is nestled against some of the area's towering monuments:
Click any photo to enlarge; doing so on the above photo makes it easier to make out the lodge itself, which was designed to be relatively unobtrusive and not detract from the amazing scenery.
The original Goulding's trading post, which is now a museum:
The original dining room was seen in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON but no longer exists. The current dining room:
A side view of the trading post/museum:
There's a memorial to the Gouldings in front of the museum:
The view from Goulding's looking toward some of the beautiful monuments, which are just over the state line in Utah, on Navajo tribal lands:
Another view of the trading post:
The trading post in the early morning, looking rather like a shot in a John Ford film:
We were very pleased with our stay at Goulding's; the lodge building was older but was clean and well maintained. We very much enjoyed both the museum and the modern-day trading post, which has a nice selection of items. DVDs of movies made in Monument Valley can be checked out at the front desk, and there is a theater which shows a Monument Valley film each evening.
Our breakfast in the lodge dining room was adequate, though not on a par with the breakfast we enjoyed the next day at a Cracker Barrel in Kingman, Arizona. The only other dining option for miles is at The View Hotel near the entrance to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. While the view at The View is indeed unparalleled and the service was friendly, we cannot recommend eating there; we felt pretty sure our dinner was pulled out of a freezer and microwaved!
While on the trip I began reading a very appropriate book for that locale, THREE BAD MEN: JOHN FORD, JOHN WAYNE, WARD BOND by Scott Allen Nollen. I expect to have that review up in the near future. (Update: Here it is!)
My next Monument Valley post will focus on Goulding's Monument Valley Museum and the location of the quarters of Captain Brittles (John Wayne) from one of my favorite movies, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949). A final post in this series will feature more gorgeous Monument Valley scenery, including John Ford's Point.
Updates: A Visit to Monument Valley: Part Two, and A Visit to Monument Valley: Part Three.
posted by Laura @ 1:00 PM
12 Comments:
Would the modern Goulding's be adequate, dining and accomodation, for us elderly...?
As you can make out from some of the photos, Goulding's is on a hillside, and some of the walking around the area is thus on slopes or using stairs. If there are no issues in terms of mobility in such circumstances, it should be fine. We were able to park immediately outside the door of our room.
The rooms and beds were in good shape, though they had to be somewhat inventive to incorporate conveniences expected by today's travelers in older, smaller rooms; for instance, an ironing board could be found hanging on a bathroom wall.
We only ate one meal there and found it acceptable but not memorable. Reviews of the lodge can be found at Yelp.
It should be mentioned that driving on the "loop" road touring Monument Valley locations is *very* bumpy and slow, taking two to three hours to travel to the various scenic spots such as John Ford's Point. I'm glad we used our own vehicle, however, as the open-air tour vehicles we saw looked like a dusty experience for the passengers.
I hope you'll have the opportunity to visit, it was quite amazing to actually be there in person.
Best wishes,
Laura
Thank you. That was informed and informative. Just great.
Oh my, what breathtaking pics!
I can only imagine what it was like to be there in person...
Nice work, Laura - thank you for sharing them.
Wonderful photos. Thank you
You know what? A trip to Monument Valley has just been put on my bucket list, thanks to your post.
Thank you, Mel and Vienna -- wish you lived closer so you could make the trip in person too! Maybe someday...
Silver Screenings, so glad to know my post has inspired you to try to plan your own visit. I should have another post up later this weekend.
Best wishes,
Laura
Loved looking at these pictures. I've always wanted to do a dive to Monument Valley. I like that the lodge has a theatre showing films made in the Valley. How are the prices? Is it economical or more of a splurge? And is it crowded with tourists or pretty quiet? Thanks for the recap!
Hi Robby!
At first we were going to have to take a bigger room that week, which would have been splurge-y (grin), but when we got there they had an opening for a smaller room which dropped the price down to something a little more comparable to, say, a Hilton Garden Inn.
My husband took an early morning horseback ride through the valley which was pricey. I think the escorted tours are also pretty expensive. We just used a map and drove our own car along the loop through the valley; I would definitely not pay for a tour bus unless I was worried about an older car struggling on the bumpy dirt road.
Goulding's was busy -- the rooms book up well in advance, and we heard languages there from all over the world. (It reminded me of Yosemite in that regard.) At the same time, it was a quiet, peaceful place where everyone seemed focused on taking in the scenery and history.
Best wishes,
Laura
Very nice post Laura! It seems like you enjoyed your vacation.
When I went on my honeymoon, I was reading a book about Charlie Chan that tied in very much to Hawaii where we were heading. It made the trip all that more enjoyable because we learned more about the history of the islands and were able to search for some locations that were Charlie Chan related! Tying in movies to trips just adds to the fun!
Thank you, Raquel! We really enjoyed the trip and were happy to finally see Monument Valley. One of the first things my husband ever gave me was a drawing of John Wayne and Monument Valley which he commissioned from an artist friend. Now here we finally were in person! :)
That's wonderful about your Charlie Chan book -- it really is fun to tie in movies with travel.
Best wishes,
Laura
Thank you, Raquel! We really enjoyed the trip and were happy to finally see Monument Valley. One of the first things my husband ever gave me was a drawing of John Wayne and Monument Valley which he commissioned from an artist friend. Now here we finally were in person! :)
That's wonderful about your Charlie Chan book -- it really is fun to tie in movies with travel.
Best wishes,
Laura
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