Our Valley of The Gods Camp Site

valley of the gods overlook We camped at a pretty spectacular spot for our last night in a tent. A friend recommended a location that overlooks the Valley of the Gods just 1.8 miles north of the Moki Dugway. Here’s some pictures and a quick video of our camp spot.

When we arrived the weather was crappy. It cleared up for a couple of hours in the afternoon and we hiked along the rim for a bit. Around dusk it started raining again with intermittent periods of hail all night long. I was glad it was our last night in a tent. I wish the weather was better because I was just a crabby grump the whole time. The idea of tent camping in the rain again was not something I was looking forward to.

It all worked out well though. Around dawn the weather cleared up and my wife made a camp fire to warm up next to. We took our time getting packed up that day to soak in the scenery.

I think that this camp site was mentioned in an article in National Geographic Adventurer earlier this year. I need to check the issue to be sure when we get home.

In the photos below there’s an image of the “road” into the campsite. This is one of the better sections of the road. A high-clearance vehicle is a must. 2WD should be able to handle it but there’s a bunch of ruts and 6″ shelf drops. We needed 4WD on the way out because it had rained all night. A 2WD vehicle would have had a very hard time getting out that day.

Also, you can’t see the road into the campsite well when traveling southbound on UT261. It’s 1.8 miles from the beginning of the Moki Dugway. We were looking for it and still passed it up. The approach from the south is easier to see and a much safer entry due to the off camber pitch of the road a this point.