The Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is in the northern part of Arizona right next to the southern Utah border. There are only a few places for RVers/campers to stay when visiting the area, including The View Campground within the park, Monument Valley KOA, just outside the park,or Gouldings Campground also just outside the park.
The View Campground is basically a parking lot with a row of sites side by side and no hookups. There is a dump station in the campground. All the sites face The Mittens (iconic sandstone buttes) so they offer great views. The View Campground is located right next to the Visitors Center and The View Lodge and the The Valley drive (17 mile drive of the iconic buttes and movie locations) for easy access to much of what Monument Valley offers. But in the heat of the summer you may encounter sweltering heat and lots of generator noise.
Monument Valley KOA is another option and it sits on the west side of Hwy 163 just north of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park entrance but is right along the highway with no trees or shade, and no shelter from the afternoon winds, but it provides terrific views of the surrounding valley. The RV park looks easy to get in and out of and is within close proximity of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. This RV park does provide full hookups to allow some A/C during the hot summer months.
The last option discussed here is Gouldings Campground which is the one we choose. We were planning on staying quite awhile in the heat of the summer and decided we wanted some A/C and some laundry opportunities along with some nice scenery. It is a lovely campground nestled in the red rocks with fabulous views.
The roads within the campground are a bit hilly but most of the sites were flat. Our only problem was finding a flat area to unhook our tow vehicle but we were finally successful. Gouldings is a lovely campground which we found very pleasant, nice and tidy, with friendly staff, and lots of amenities. The campground itself offers a clean indoor pool, small store, and a laundry along with tours of Monument Valley. If you want to ensure a flat spot to unhook then we would recommend the gas station at Gouldings just prior to heading up the hill to the campground. They have lots of wide open space.
The Campground is part of Gouldings which includes a lodge, restaurant, grocery, gas station, trading post, small free movie theater (showing a John Wayne film every night), free shuttle between the lodge and the campground, and a terrific museum detailing the lives of Harry and Mike Goulding, a must see.
Campground: Gouldings Campground
Location: Olijato-Monument Valley, Utah (a few miles from Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park)
Site: 37 (pull thru)
Cost: $55.80 (Good Sam rate)
Services: FHU (50 AMP)
Comments: AKA Gouldings Hills (a joke). A very nice RV park nestled in the red rocks with some great views.
The campground offers a variety of site types from Big Rig pull thrus to small back-ins to tent sites. They offer something for everyone. Many of the sites are tiered to provide better views.
The campground itself has a few hills here and there but is lovely and picturesque.
The campground also offers a few small trails that lead up to the red rocks and to an arch.
A lovely campground which we would be more than happy to stay at again.
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