October 21-October 24, 2026

Our Monument Valley Photo Safari education program continues to expand every year. Since 2016, Neil's Great Photography Adventures has worked with our Navajo hosts at Monument Valley Tribal Park to provide exceptional photographic educational opportunities. 2026 will be no exception. Whether your photography interests lie in iconic Western landscapes, the deep character of Navajo park residents, or spectacular dark sky astrophotography, we'll have subjects for you.







Wednesday, October 21st: Depart Salt Lake City for Monument Valley. Drive time from Salt Lake City to Monument Valley usually takes about 6 hours. Arrive at Goulding's Lodge. Feel free to explore the area or settle in. Goulding's Stagecoach Restaurant will prepare a luscious dinner, or you can make your own meal in your fully equipped cabin. Prepare for a brief 7:30 meeting to acquaint yourself with your fellow photographers, review our itinerary, and answer any questions. We'll turn in for the night and be ready for Thursday morning's departure.

Thursday, October 22nd: Meet at The View Hotel parking lot by 6:15 AM. We'll join our Monument Valley Safari driver guides, mount up in our vehicles, and head out to our first photo site. Catching sunrise over the desert will never tire you. The sun's first rays spring over the horizon, slowly bathing our red rock surroundings in fiery brilliance. We typically visit the Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei spires first. The sun illuminating the red sand rippled dunes is something you'll never forget. Keep in mind our guides intimately understand Monument Valley and its surroundings like no one else. They will direct us to the best locations for our conditions each day.

Following our sunrise, we'll explore more iconic locations, such as Big Hogan, Ear of the Wind, Sun's Eye, and others, until we conclude our morning at approximately 10:30. We'll then make our way back to our rooms to download, recharge, and fuel our bodies as we prepare for our next stop.

11:30 Meet at Monument Valley Safari offices. Transfer to our vehicles for lunch with Peter McDonald, one of only 2 living World War II Navajo Code Talkers. We'll drive 20 minutes to Kayenta, Arizona, for a delicious lunch while learning from Peter's tales of the Code Talkers' courageous contribution to the US's Pacific victory during World War II. Following lunch, we'll meet up at our vehicles to start our amazing and somewhat hair-raising trip through the desert to Hunt's Mesa. Many photographers consider this the highlight of our weekend—traveling via rough 4-wheel-drive mining roads to the top of the world at an iconic sunset, overlooking Monument Valley's expansive beauty. As the setting sun closes out our day, we return to our lodging by approximately 9:00 PM.

Friday, October 23rd

6:15 AM Sunrise Location to be determined by conditions. More brilliant Monument Valley sunrise locations await us. Following sunrise, we'll join Don Mose for great regalia shots in an authentic Navajo eagle-feathered headdress. Afterward, we'll capture more exciting western landscape photo opportunities, finishing up by approximately 11:30, when we'll return to our lodging to set up for our afternoon shoots.

1:00 PM  Another exciting afternoon awaits us as we meet at Monument Valley Safari's offices for our trip to Corkscrew Canyon and Oljato's stunning petroglyph panel. Subtle light shading and graceful sandstone sculptures abound in our own, "private," slot canyon. I recommend superwide lenses to capture the width and breadth of this hidden gem location. We'll have this opportunity virtually to ourselves. You can take your time while exercising your composition skills as well as learning HDR techniques. Following Corkscrew Canyon, we'll visit Oljato's stunning petroglyph panel. Among the largest I've ever seen, this magnificent and detailed panel exhibits a wide variety of its creator's artistic skills. Photograph its exquisite detail or its massive scale.

Time permitting, we'll stop at Honeymoon Arch, House of Many Hands, and other Monument Valley locations.

Sunset is always a great photo opportunity at Monument Valley. This afternoon, we'll return to the Mittens overlook to capture a sunlight delight as its rays slowly migrate up The Mittens, closing out the daylight portion of our weekend with blazing redrock color. After the sun sets, we'll return to our cabins to prep for our astrophotography excursion. 

8:00 PM - Meet at Monument Valley Safari's offices to board transportation to our final photography opportunity, capturing the beautiful Milky Way galaxy as it backgrounds more Monument Valley features. At approximately 11:00 PM, this will conclude our Monument Valley adventure. Some of our guests will take the long way home, enjoying the beauty of Southern Utah. Others take a leisurely return drive..

Guests will ask, "Do I need to be a professional photographer to enjoy this trip?" While experienced photographers accompany us, most guests are new to photography. Neil's Great Photography Adventures' experienced staff offers guidance and instruction to anyone and everyone on request during our excursions.

We're often asked about hiking. Except for our Corkscrew Canyon excursion(where we provide ladders to ease hiking requirements) the longest hike is about 300 yards round trip.

Won't you join us on this exciting western adventure?