Monday, October 20, 2008

Valley of the Gods

The Valley of the Gods is situated in Southern Utah south of Moab, off of Highway 163 less than 15 miles south of the town of Bluff, Utah and north of Mexican Hat and Monument Valley.   I use the Cadillac RV Park in Bluff as my jumping off point in this beautiful area.  

The Valley of the Gods road stretches 17 miles between Hwy 163 and Route 261.   You can start either direction but I prefer starting on the east at Hwy 163 and heading west.  This is definitely red desert land and the colors seem to change throughout the day.  There are many buttes, spires, and monuments throughout this area.   





This is BLM land and there is dispersed camping at different spots along the road.  I have seen RV's within the first couple miles of the east end of the road.  I am not sure that I would take my RV much further than that.  There are several washes that the road passes through, which have always been dry when I visited.  Monument Valley can be seen in the distance from parts of the road.  The quietness the last time I took this road was almost as deafening as the sights were beautiful in every direction.


Once you reach pavement of 261 if you go right, it will take you up to the top of Cedar Mesa on another unpaved windy road to a turn off for Muley Point Overlook.  The 5 mile road out to the overlook is not as good as the Valley of the Gods road but still passible on the main drag by passenger car. It too is on BLM land with dispersed camping The views at the point are great.  
You can see the Goosenecks State Park and Monument Valley from here.   You can continue on 261 to the Natural Bridges National Monument, the drive is not very scenic or go down the way you came and visit the Goosenecks State Park on 261 before you meet up with 163 again.

Monument Valley is a nice place to visit while in the area but it is on Reservation land and there is a charge to drive the unpaved road through the area.  It is a bustling place but still neat to see.  The Valley of the Gods has great desertscape without the bustle.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Actually it is not all BLM. Valley of the Gods has several sections (one square mile) of School Trust Lands in it.