With just a few days left in April 2025, we make one more move toward Moab, leaving Kanab, Utah, a day earlier than planned because we had already accomplished our national park checklist. We made a detour up Forest Gump’s highway 163 to check out the iconic western scenery of Monument Valley.
We planned for about four hours of actual drive time between Kanab and Bluff, Utah, but made time for a worthwhile detour through Monument Valley. Since our route passed along the east side of the park, we swung around to the west entrance to visit the iconic Tribal Park. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes from Kanab to reach Glen Canyon Dam, where we made a quick stop.
Navigating the tight motorhome thru the insanely narrow driveway that turns out to a huge parking lot was a challenge. Unfortunately, the visitor center doesn’t open very early and it was not yet open for the day. We made the best of it, we just took the short walk around the dam overlook instead. In the future we will either make the hour trip over and then back from Kanab, or plan for a few hours in our transit time to take the tour.
After the dam it was about another two hours and fifteen minutes to the Monument Valley visitor center. There are not very many services between the two locations, so make sure to fuel up near the dam before heading out Northeast.
Monument Valley Tribal Park
Monument Valley straddles the Utah–Arizona border and lies entirely within the Navajo Nation Reservation. Its towering buttes and broad desert floors have become iconic thanks to decades of Western films, especially the scene from Forrest Gump where he ends his long run on U.S. Route 163. The land is Navajo-owned and managed, and access to many areas requires permits from the tribe. Pictures do nothing to emphasize how vast this area is, until you see references like the size of cars driving the loop road.
We parked the motorhome in their first visitor center along US Route 163, near the park entrance and dropped the Jeep to make the final run out to the visitor center. It would have been fine to take the motorhome into the main visitor center, but it was far less hectic out at the first parking area. Inside the upper visitor center, we paused at the Navajo Code Talkers exhibit, an interesting tribute to the World War II heroes whose language became an unbreakable military code.
From the upper lot and visitor center, you get direct access to the iconic panoramic views and the Navajo-operated scenic loop drive. If all you could do is get photos from the visitor center, you have seen most of the scenes already. The 17-mile dirt loop is self-guided but restricted to high-clearance vehicles. However, we saw many low clearance cars trying to work around the poorly maintained dirt and dust road.
We spent a few hours exploring the valley before wrapping up the day with just a one more hour drive North to Bluff, Utah, for the night.
Cadillac Ranch RV Park
The campground seems to be doing some improvements, with a new restroom, shower and laundry facilities. Lots of new gravel, especially when you compare to the older satellite image that makes it seem very run down. Each site was easy to get into and had a picnic table and a fire ring. It was easy to maneuver around the park with plenty of open spaces. Our site was plenty long and we did not have to disconnect the Jeep for the night. This park was a pleasant surprise and will also be another highlighted icon our map for future overnight stays.
