Son of a Sailor

Out of Durango early, we would spend the rest of the day traveling deep in Native American Indian country, ending up in Monument Valley.

Leaving Durango early, we headed west….deep into Native American Indian country. Michelle and I had been to these places before, but we would take our kids this first time, trying to expose them to the wonder of the natural formations and a bygone era passing slowly. While some of this day was disappointing, nothing could replace the wonder of seeing where four US states meet or the simply awesome landscape of Monument Valley. The Cowboy and Indian films with familiar background scenery are a bygone film era now….my kids have no idea what I’m talking about as I attempt to narrate and share my own sense of wonder. But a trip to see the Four Corners and Monument Valley with kids is still worth it. This is our story of doing that trip in summer, with kids….in an EV.

**Our trip through Four Corners and into Monument Valley.**

I like to roadtrip, but I don’t live for long boring drives all day. This day, between Durango and Monument Valley would be a mix of boring and sentimental driving, as I had done some of this drive before….years ago. Out of Durango, we would retrace our route past Mesa Verde through Cortez and head southwest toward Four Corners. If you don’t know, the “Four Corners” is literally four different corners of four states that meet in one place, the only occurrence like this in the US. I had been here before, when you could drive in and check it out, take pics without having to pay entry fees. No longer is this the case. Since this attraction is on reservation land, you pay at an entry kiosk then walk past the numerous vendors selling Native American wares so you can take your turn in the photo line…..stretch out and try to get into all four states at once. Fun…. but a quick stop. At least there were some bathrooms we could use….and of course we made sure to buy from several of the vendors.

**Vendors outside the Four Corners Monument.**

**Inside of the Four Corners Monument, Vendors around the inside of the outer ring.**

**About 5 seconds without people to check out the actual Four Corners Monument, with folks in line behind me….the actual meeting of four US states in one place.**

**Then we started the drive to Kayenta.**

Out of Four Corners, we knew there was good fast EV charging in Kayenta, our next stop before Monument Valley. At least we hoped all the chargers worked and we could get a good EV charge. Getting into Kayenta, it was a pleasant surprise to find a modern, fast charging station at the local Burger King, with a surprise history lesson inside. After plugging into a fast charger, we got into the busy Burger King to find a mini-history museum. The Burger King owners father had been a Navajo Code Talker during WWII, and there was a significant dedicated space to tell the story of the Navajo Code Talkers inside the Burger King. If you have only seen the movie Windtalkers….there’s so much more history and valor it makes the movie just the dramatic tip of the iceberg.

**Mini-Navajo Code Talker Museum inside the Kayenta Burger King.**

After getting a full charge and lunch, we headed north to Monument Valley, where we had a campsite reserved at the View Campground. We were still hauling all of our camping gear and we had picked up a cooler worth of camping food, so we were looking forward to a night with a spectacular view of camping. The HelmsMistress and I had camped here before we were married on one of our road trips, so we knew there was a great campground and view. This is what I was looking forward to:

However, once we arrived and went to check-in, we were informed that the whole tent camping section had been moved to the side of the mesa…meaning it was now walk-in camping. So, we gave it a chance and walked down to check it out. Off the steep trail, we found there was hardly any flat camping spots, no fire rings, no tables and no fires allowed. So, back to the kiosk I went. No amount of discussion with the management would allow us to pitch tents in the “RV or car” sites….but we could have slept in (or on) our car. So, we were not going to shlep all our stuff over the cliff to the walk-in sites and we could not camp in the spot we reserved (and paid for). Yes, we were a bit scraggly after days on the road, but some compromise could have been reached.

Needless to say, I was less than happy with the lack of understanding from the folks running the camping areas. Mostly because there is no info on the website that says you can’t camp in car sites….like pitch tents right inside your own car site, next to your own car. And there’s no info on the website about WHERE the actual camping area is, I assumed it was in the same spot as when I was last there, bad assumption on my part.

As we had not even started our 4×4 tour of Monument Valley and I was already in a spirited mood, we deduced that we needed somewhere to stay and the hotel was expensive…and we had no reservation. In the end, we were forced to rent one of the view cabins….finding out upon walking into the cabin that we were not allowed to cook (no kitchen) and we decided not to risk using our own stove in case they kicked us out. Again, I was less than pleased. But, the cabins were clean and had good A/C so it turned out to be money well spent.

**The view from the cabin we finally rented. It was spectacular.**

**Basic map of Monument Valley Drive. We skipped John Ford Point and did the circular drive on here, knowing we needed to get to the restaurant before it closed.**

Back to the Rivian, we headed onto the Jeep Trail down the mesa to do our own self guided tour of Monument Valley. We went roughly #’s 1,2,3,5,6,9- then back up the mesa. Here’s my pics, as a slideshow:

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Knowing we needed to get back to the top before the restaurant closed, we scooted back, cleaned up and walked to the restaurant. I was looking forward to the view but I was impressed with the expansive gift shop and we ended up buying several Christmas gifts here. While the food is ok and there’s no alcohol served, the views are amazing and you can try the Navajo Taco while you are there.

**View from the edge of the restaurant/hotel, late afternoon.**

**The night sky, by the HelmsMistress.**

**Morning, looking away from our room west, as we prepped to leave.**

I’ll admit it…this place is remote. Many adults and kids today don’t have the same wonder and historical film context that I have….how many people have actually seen the War Wagon or John Wayne films or even know what spaghetti western means? I have nostalgia for movies when I’m out in the areas where they were filmed.

So, this place is a commitment to get to and I was bummed we could not camp but of course we made the best of it and in the end….it was beautiful beyond belief and I would totally go back…..with my kids. The ultimate moment of Monument Valley enlightenment was just yesterday as I worked on this story. My youngest daughter told me how rad the trip to Monument Valley was and she wants to go back. I’ll take that as a win.

If you go with kids, be aware that you will pay to get into the area just to do the self-guided drive and a high access vehicle or 4×4 might be best but isn’t mandatory. We followed a Nissan Sentra down the grade to start the tour. This area is also all tribal land, which is neat but a bit more remote than what you might be used to. If you want to take kids with you….DO IT. And don’t forget to try the Navajo Tacos.

Here’s the other posts we’ve done for this road trip so far, please click the links and check them out:

Colorado Road Trip W/ Kids 2025- Day 1

Colorado Road Trip W/Kids 2025- Day 2 On The I-40

Colorado Road Trip W/Kids 2025- Day 3 Colorado or Bust!

Colorado Road Trip W/Kids 2025- Days 4-7….Donkey Hooves

Colorado Road Trip W/ Kids 2025- Day 8…..Colorado Dreamin

Colorado Road Trip W/ Kids 2025- Day 10….Mesa Verde National Park

ALL photos in this story are property of LF2TS and may not be used without our permission.