After passing Flagstaff, take Highway 89 towards Cameron. Heading north towards Flagstaff, the route follows State Route 89A to Oak Creek Canyon Vista, a viewpoint overlooking the canyon’s deep red rock and lush green vegetation.ĭescending into Flagstaff, the route passes through Coconino National Forest where towering Ponderosa Pine trees line the roadside. Upon leaving Sedona you pass the red rock buttes and powerful vortex sites for which Sedona is renowned. The route is popular with day-trippers to the Grand Canyon and there are many stunning vistas along the way. The magnificent Grand Canyon is 117 miles north of Sedona. Entrance to the park costs $20 for a car and up to four passengers, and the scenic drive takes about two hours.

The route: follow Highway 163 north of Kayenta for 22 miles until you reach the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Welcome Centre, where you turn right. Even from the main highway you can get some great views, but for a closer look head into the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park where there’s a viewing platform as well as a 17-mile (bumpy) scenic drive which runs right around base of the rock formations. The buttes range from 400–1000 feet tall, and erosion has sculpted them into an array of quirky shapes, giving them nicknames like the Mittens, the Totem Pole, Elephant Butte and the Three Sisters. As the road gets closer to Monument Valley, you get a better idea of the huge scale of these sandstone buttes, their layers of golden red rock contrasting against the blue skies. But before long you start to see shapes emerging on the horizon. The Kayenta–Monument Valley Scenic Road takes you right to the heart of it, stretching over 26 miles from the town of Kayenta in Navajo County, Arizona.Īs you head north of Kayenta, you first drive through a flat sandy plain, with the road stretching off into the distance. You can’t find many more classic southwest USA scenic drives than a road trip through Monument Valley – the American West of countless Hollywood films, from John Ford’s Westerns to Forrest Gump.

Kayenta–Monument Valley Scenic Road, Arizona On the road at the Utah-Arizona border 12 of the best southwest USA scenic drives

Arizona scenery