Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 8, Muley Point, Moki Dugway, Goosenecks State Park, Mexican Hat, Valley of the Gods, House On Fire

For our second jamping excursion of this trip, we left the Navibahn in Natural Bridges, went east on 95 and south on 261 to the top of the Moki Dugway. Just before dropping down the switchbacks, we turned west on a dirt road that led to Muley Point. Muley Point is a spectacular spot, high on the rim of of a cliff overlooking the snaky twists of the San Juan River. Beyond the river is a perfect view of Monument Valley just across the state line in Arizona. I knew that there were dispersed campsites along this rim so we drove up and down the road. The best spot was slightly east of Muley Point in a spot aptly called Muley Point East. There were one or two other people already camped there but we found a great spot right on the rim. Muley Point has a reputation for being windy and although there was no wind when we arrived, we weighted the stakes down with very heavy rocks. We also left the tent fly off and uncovered the windows on both ends of the tent to allow any breeze to flow through. We also brought over a hundred gold bars we’d taken from Fort Knox and laid them on the floor of the tent to keep it from blowing anywhere.

**Looking across the San Juan River to Monument Valley from our camp on Muley Point**

With the tent and the site established, it was time for adventure. First, we drove down the Moki Dugway which is just a series of switchbacks that take you down the cliffs to the valley below. I’ve read so many things about how scary this road is but it’s really not bad at all. Some people even drive their RVs up and down the Dugway. It was a bit too bumpy for us to consider driving the Navibahn on it, but the road really isn’t very hard or scary.

Below the Dugway we turned off at the road into Goosenecks State Park. As far as I can tell, there isn’t anything to do in this park other than check out the viewpoint of a double gooseneck on the San Juan River. It’s a really nice view but you don’t need more than twenty minutes to see this park.

After Goosenecks State Park, it was a short drive to the town of Mexican Hat. I remember driving through there a few years ago on our way to Monument Valley and made a mental note that I had to come back and explore the area a bit more. Since then I had seen photos of a place along the San Juan River called Raplee Ridge. This was a fascinating ridge with very geometric triangles of rock lining the river. It’s hard to describe but I wanted to find a good spot to photograph this amazing looking ridge. In hindsight, I think all the best photos are drone shots from the air. There may be some spots you can drive or hike to that have a good view but we didn’t find any.

Raplee Ridge (photo taken from the internet)

Our efforts took us on a dirt road that drove past the Mexican Hat Rock. It turned out that while we were there, several climbers were on the top of the rock. Mexican Hat Rock has a caprock on top with a large overhang all the way around so it must have been difficult to get on top of the rock. Anyway, while we were there they took turns rappelling off the top of the rock so we stopped and took some shots of the climbers free hanging framed against the sky.

**Raplee Ridge across the San Juan River**

**Climbers rappelling off Mexican Hat Rock**

Continuing up 163 we turned onto the eastern entrance to the Valley of the Gods Road. What a treat this was! This seventeen mile dirt road winds through an iconic western valley chock full of spires, pillars, buttes and various rock formations. Along with the azure sky dotted with cotton ball white puffy clouds, it was a scene from the old west if there ever was one.

The Valley of the Gods is on BLM land so the first part had a lot of people camped right by the road. But as we got further into the valley, the crowds disappeared and you would see an isolated camper perched on a hill with a billion dollar view.

To set the mood, I cued up the theme from the movie How The West Was Won and Bridgit was grinning ear to ear as we drove through this incredible old west scene with the perfect musical soundtrack for the situation. You had to be there! https://youtu.be/1QPyD09K_t4?si=qCqiI-sXWQLxE-Hi

After winding through the Valley of the Gods we connected back up to 261, drove back up the Moki Dugway and back to our camp. The gold was gone but the tent was still there. Like Bullfrog Canyon Overlook, this was a great place to just set up our camp chairs and stare off to Monument Valley. We were surrounded by perhaps the greatest concentration of little lizards I can recall seeing, but we love the lizards. They are harmless and fun to watch darting on the rocks.

We rarely even bother bringing a stove on these one night jamping trips but we did on this one and had grilled cheese sandwiches and hot tomato basil soup for dinner. Around six-thirty I drove out to Muley Point and shot there through most of the golden hour. I could see Merrick Butte and the East Mitten in Monument Valley and the hills carved by the San Juan River looked great in the evening light. Then I made a beeline back to our camp and took more shots until the sun went down. It was a bit hazy but still very nice.

**Evening from Muley Point. Our tent is on the rim just above where the roof of the Jeep is in the photo.**

By the time the sun went down there were tons of people camped in every nook and cranny. It was more of a total party atmosphere and compared to our night at Bullfrog Canyon where I doubt there was another person within fifty miles in any direction, having so many people all around took a little out of the experience for us. But with that said, to be there for sunset and sunrise was well worth putting up with all the other people.

The morning was a bit more frenetic. The wind picked up quite a bit during the early morning hours so when I got up to get dressed and prepare for sunrise the wind was howling and it was cold. Bridgit was getting up to and to make it warmer she zipped up the windows. Well that immediately turned our tent into a sail and the front of the tent lifted right out from under the rocks. I jumped out and hung on for dear life. Bridgit made several trips to just toss everything into the Jeep and then helped me get the tent poles out so we could quickly wad up the tent and throw it in the Jeep as well. Meanwhile the sun was coming up so I grabbed my camera and got to the rim just in the nick of time to see the first rays lighting up Monument Valley and the hills above the San Juan River.

To get back to Natural Bridges, instead of going back the way we came, we drove back down the Moki Dugway and took 163 towards Bluff, Utah. We turned off onto Comb Wash Road which is a well maintained dirt road and took that all the way up to 95. Heading west, we pulled off at Arch Canyon Road and parked at the trailhead for another ruin called House On Fire. This ruin got its name because the ruin is built underneath an alcove of overhanging rock. Typically around mid-morning, late enough for the sun to get higher but not so late that the ruin has any direct sunlight, the sun will reflect off the rock in front of the ruin and light up the alcove above it in a flaming blaze of orange light.

We started the one mile hike up Mule Canyon at ten so we were definitely there early enough. When we got there the entire area was still in the shade. Several other people were there waiting for the phenomenon to occur, including Larry and Dorothy from Oregon. We chatted a bunch while we waited and it turned out they were also staying at Natural Bridges just a couple of sites from ours. I don’t know if it had to do with the time of year and the patterns of the suns arc, but we sat there until 12:30 and the roof never caught fire. It looked really nice but I can’t say it was glowing. Oh well, it was still a really cool ruin and a very nice hike.

**Comb Ridge along the Comb Wash Road. For photography, this would be much better at sunset than sunrise.**

That evening we invited Larry and Dorothy over and I got to play guitar for them for about forty-five minutes or so. I think they really enjoyed it and promised to get in touch when they come up to the northwest in August. Making new friends is one of the great benefits while we are out there traveling!

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 8, Muley Point, Moki Dugway, Goosenecks State Park, Mexican Hat, Valley of the Gods, House On Fire

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 7, Natural Bridges National Monument

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 9, Hanksville, Long Dong Silver, Moonscape Overlook, Cow Dung Road