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If you do Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park there are a number of guided tours of the Valley available and you can arrange for one either at the Visitor Center or at Gouldings Motel. You can also drive the seventeen mile loop drive yourself and it takes three to three and one-half hours. If you do decide to drive yourself, do not be discouraged by the first mile to mile and one-half. It is over solid rock and is quite rough. After that, it changes to a mostly dirt road which is smoother but dustier. If you are driving a rental vehicle, make certain this drive is not prohibited by your rental agreement.
If you have the time, an attractive and rewarding alternative is to travel about twenty miles north of the Valley to Mexican Hat, Utah. This would give you the opportunity to visit Goosenecks State Park which is about 10 miles north of Mexican Hat. It is a great place to visit and only requires about an hour.
There are a couple of decent motels in Mexican Hat: The San Juan Inn and The Hat Rock Inn. The San Juan Inn also has a pretty good restuarant. Both overlook the impressive San Juan River gorge.
The drive between Mexican Hat and Monument Valley is also well worth the while and gives you some excellent views of the Monument Valley formations as well as the signature Hat Rock:
Coming from Monument Valley it would work great to pick up Arizona 64 near Cameron and enter Grand Canyon Nat'l Park at the east entrance. Arizona 64 becomes Desert View Drive and Desert View, Lipan, Moran, Grandview, Yaki, Mather and Yapavi Points are along Desert View Drive. Desert View Drive takes you in to Grand Canyon Village. These east rim viewpoints along Desert View Drive provide some excellent views and the east rim is generally much less congested. Arriving in the Village, you can park and walk the Village Rim where there are several excellent viewpoints as well as restaurants and gift shops. You can then catch the Hermit Road shuttle or, if you’ve seen enough, take Arizona 64 on in to Williams, Arizona.
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