2015 - Charleston's Trailer Tripping: Day 52

Gouldings Trading Post is just what it is. A trading post on the border of Utah and Arizona that was established in the early 1900’s. It’s on the map, but not in the AAA book. The only thing there, is a lodge at the base of the cliffs and a very nice RV park nearby. We wanted to be near Monument Valley and this is the only decent RV park that is nearby. There are other establishments there as well, but only businesses that depend on the lodge traffic.

We will be staying here for four nights and will be visiting NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL PARK, GOOSE NECKS STATE PARK, MONUMENT VALLEY TRIBAL PARK and VALLEY OF THE GODS.

April 24 – 27: We stayed at Goulding’s Campground. And it was indeed a very nice park. The park is surrounded by red rocks so we had a pleasant view. The sites were level and spacious and very comfortable. It was quiet at night and you could see the stars.

These two brothers or sisters or both, were very sweet and would always greet us every morning and evening. They were strays that were well fed by the campers. I wish we could have taken them home.

We celebrated our 34^th anniversary in Gouldings. We had a fairly nice dinner at the Goulding's Lodge Stagecoach Restaurant. Where else could we go. It was the only place in town.

It is 75 miles to Natural Bridges. We got an early start the next day and as we approached the nearby town of Mexican Hat we had to stop suddenly for the wild mules or donkeys wondering across the road. Then at Mexican Hat, we had to stop and see the Mexican hat the town was named after...actually the hat is a rock.

Mexican Hat

We continued on Highway 163 and then turned onto Highway 261. We came upon a cliff where the road became unpaved. Moki Dugway (name of that part of the road) switch backed up that cliff (for 3 miles) to the top of the mesa. Then we continued onto Natural Bridges on a paved road. Below are some pictures of Moki Dugway.

Looking back onto the road we were traveling on.

Back on a paved road and oops...open range.

NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL PARK

Natural Bridges NP is on 7,780 acres. Within two canyons, water has eroded the stone walls to form three massive bridges. All three bridges can be viewed on overlooks. You can also hike to them and get up close and personal. The three bridges were named after Hopi Indian terms that relate to their characteristics.

h Sipapu Bridge i

h Kachina Bridge

Looks like an interesting cave.

Fooled you, just holes in a rock

Trees growing out of a rock.

h Owachomo Bridge i

Another juniper growing out of a rock

Bears Ears – Interesting story on how it got it's name.

GOOSE NECKS STATE PARK

The park provides a cliff top overlook into the goose neck canyons of the San Juan River. The distance across the goosenecks is one mile. The rivers course covers six miles.

I see a turtle!

VALLEY OF THE GODS

This is a dirt road that is a scenic 17 mile loop that winds its way through a valley of brightly colored sandstone monoliths and rock formations that are over a million years old.

View at entrance - lots of colors

We entered at the east entrance.

h Seven Sailors

h Rooster Buttes & Battleship Rock

hCastle Rock

h Balanced Rock & Lady in a Tub

Open Range – lots of babies.

MONUMENT VALLEY TRIBAL PARK

Across the border into Arizona is Monument Valley; a colorful region covering several thousand square miles within the Navajo Indian Reservation. We only traveled about 15 miles of it on paved and dirt roads. Many TV shows and movies were filmed in this area.