Monument Valley is one those places I knew about but did not really know. Most of us have seen as the back drop for movies such as John Fords Stagecoach starring John Wayne, MI-2 or Back to the Future 3.
Initially I figured it was a National Park. After searching several times I realized it was a Navajo Tribal Park. I suspected they would not take our National Park pass and a sign at the entrance confirmed that.
After handing over $20, we were handed a photocopied map. No color fold out or a multipage newspaper detail sheet.
The visitors center had a gift shop and museum next to the outdoor overlook. There were no uniformed rangers ready to help clueless visitors.
In the visitors center we learned that RVs are not allowed on the road into the valley. We were worried that they might decide our van Sparty was too much like an RV. We knew Sparty had no problems with unpaved roads and were glad no one stopped us.
Yet another sign we were not in a National Park was parking. There was plenty of it. Parking areas were numerous, some were huge and all were free form. No lines saying where to park and few signs saying no parking. A welcome change from tiny NPS parking lots and circling around for a space.
One of the real negatives out on the roads were porta potties. There were only a few and they were messy and full. We decided it was best to wait till we were back to the visitors center.