Goulding's Monument Valley Campground & RV Park

The Great Outdoors

The obvious outdoor attraction when you are RV camping at Goulding’s RV Park and Campground is Monument Valley itself. But there are several ways to explore it, depending on how much time you have to spend there. The simplest is the 17-mile scenic drive loop through the park, which can be done on your own in just about any vehicle. The loop visits the most iconic buttes, and if you’re itching to get out of your rental RV, the four-mile-long Wildcat hiking trail is open to the public.Most of the activities in Monument Valley require that you join a tour though, primarily for the protection of the fragile ecosystem. Scenic driving tours will take you through some of the lesser-known sections of the park with guides that can explain the rich history of the valley and what it means to the Navajo tribe. A much larger network of trails will be open for hiking on these tours, and you can book overnight camping trips.Some other options for outdoor recreation when RV camping near Monument Valley include Grand Canyon National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The former is about three and a half hours' drive away from Monument Valley, making for a long day trip or an overnighter. Many tourists come to stand in awe of the mighty canyon, while more intrepid hikers should make a trip to the bottom of it along the Bright Angel Trail. Grand Staircase-Escalante can be accessed near Whaweap, Arizona, and is one of the largest national monuments in the country and takes up a considerable portion of southern Utah adjacent to Lake Powell. If you’ve got the vehicle for it, there are loads of interesting off-highway driving opportunities here and hundreds of hiking trails to explore. If you’re hoping to beat the heat, Lake Powell is one of the region’s most popular spot for swimming and water sports.

Exploring the City

Urban amenities are few and far between when you’re camping at Goulding’s Monument Valley RV Park and Campground. One of the closest towns is Kenyata, Arizona, about half an hour's drive from Monument Valley. There’s not a lot of commercial development there, but you can find a grocery store, gas station, and a few cafes – some of them serving excellent Mexican/Native American fusion fare.Kenyata is also home to the Navajo Code Talkers exhibit; a small, but deeply important museum chronicling the contributions of the Navajo tribe in keeping American military communication secret during World War II. It mainly consists of photographs and newspaper articles, along with some military uniforms and patches that can be pieced together to tell the heroic story.Just down the road from the Navajo Code Talkers Exhibit is the Navajo Cultural Center, another museum that is woefully small for its significance. On its grounds are a traditional Navajo Hogan (a small dwelling made from mud and logs), a sweat lodge, and a few wagons. On weekends, there’s occasionally a presentation about the code talkers. If you want to buy some authentic Navajo crafts, there are usually a few tables selling them nearby.