Hello,
First-Time Poster- Long Time Viewer!
Back in August I took a trip to Monument Valley for the screening the Alamo Drafthouse/Netflix presented of John Ford’s “The Searchers”. Having never been there before I wanted to check out the site of the Arch from Once Upon A Time In The West, since it is my favorite film of all time. Thanks to instructions posted by members here, I was able to easily find it during my stay. Here are some shots that I thought people might enjoy! If you haven’t been there, it is worth the trip. I had the soundtrack blasting while I was out there at dusk, and it was quite an emotional experience. I returned early the next morning for more pictures and felt like I could spend all day there just hanging out! It felt like another world to me because you are basically miles away from civilization, there are no planes overhead, and the mesas and buttes of monument valley are off in the distance!
For Those That Plan On Visiting The Site:
As had been pointed out, there were a lot of broken bottles all around the site, so you should be very careful. I was concerned about the road leading up to the site, since it is unpaved, but the rented mini-van that I took up there had no issues whatsoever. Just drive really slow and watch for anything that may be in the road. The road seems like it is traveled on routinely even though it doesn’t lead anywhere, so there is not a worry about huge holes or rocks. I didn’t see any rattlesnakes around, but from what I have heard there are more than a few around! I went in the middle of August expecting the desert to be insanely hot, but the hottest it got was 92 degrees in all 4 days I was in the area. At night it dropped down to about 60.
How To Get There:
Regardless of where you are coming from (Utah or Arizona), you will end up on Highway 163 when heading toward Monument Valley. Once you are on Highway 163, you want to watch the mile markers for the 13 mile mark. The site is about 13 miles from
Mexican Hat, UT and about 9 Miles from the entrance to Monument Valley Tribal Park (and Gouldings Lodge). Although the road is unmarked, there is a stop-sign and a small white road marker labeled either 432 or 437 (Sorry the number is worn off). I have included pictures here to show what you are looking for. Once you get on the road, you will simply follow it for about 2.5-3.0 miles. The road loops at the point of the Arch site, so you can drive in and drive right out back onto the road you came in on.
The Fonda Hill: If you want to see the backdrop of where Fonda came walking up the hill, it is quite simple. Face the arch so that the mesas/buttes of Monument Valley can be seen in the distance, then turn around. OR: Using the cement camera tracks in the ground as a guide, face away from the arch and walk to the end of the tracks. What you are facing is the hill and backdrop from the scene from the film. From there you can walk around and try to find the exact angle that they shot the scene from.
My brother doing his Fonda impersonation:
This shot is me standing on Highway 163 facing Monument Valley. The entrance to the Arch location is to the right of where I am standing:
This is the back of the Stop sign posted at Mile 13. It has an oil container nailed to it:
Here is the Road marker (432 or 437):
This is the main road that leads to the Arch site. As you can see it is not paved, and not very rough. This shot was taken after leaving the site:
The arch at dusk:
If you are passing through Utah or Arizona, don’t hesitate to stop here, it is amazing. Monument Valley itself is a photographer’s heaven. I spent a full day matching shots from John Ford’s films and even tried to get some from Jill’s buggy ride in OUATITW.
Here’s me at John Ford’s Point doing my Ethan impersonation from the Searchers:
Anyway, sorry for the image quality, the Photobucket site resizes pix and causes resolution to drop significantly.
