Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Four Corners Furtherance: The road to Monument Valley

Out to the west there's a trail that leads somewhere
And a call of the wild that takes some people there
Through Monument Valley to California sun
From New Amsterdam to the way the west was won

Joe Jackson, "Wild West," 1986.

Just getting there is part of the fun. Although US Route 160 bypasses Monument Valley, it has plenty of its own scenery to boast about. The mesa on the right foreshadows much of the rock formations we saw in southern Utah, which are known as the Grand Staircase. As with the Four Corners Monument, this stretch of roadway is part of the Navajo Nation.

This is range land, cattle ranching with a few sheep every now and then. But it's mostly empty--which is part of the allure of this great land.

Next: Monument Valley Sunset

Earlier posts:

The monument is closed and in the wrong spot
More of Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park and the Ancients
Gerald R. Ford Memorial Highway
Flatlanders battle the Rocky Mountains and a car gets altitude sickness
Buffalo Bill's gravesite
Buffalo Bill's Scout's Rest Ranch
My rattlesnake sighting


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