The Four Corners Area - American Southwest - page 119

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Part of the hotel's dining room is designed to look like an Ancestral Puebloan ruin, and
the menu offers both American and Navajo cuisine.
U.S. 160 and U.S. 163 (P.O. Box 307), Kayenta, AZ 86033. & 888/465-4329 or 928/697-3221. Fax 928/697-
3349. www.holidayinnkayenta.com. 164 units. Nov-Apr $69-$109 double, $79-$119 suite; May-June
and Sept-Oct $139-$169 double, $159-$189 suite; July-Aug $159-$189 double, $179-$209 suite. Chil-
dren 18 and under stay free in parent's room; children 12 and under eat free. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Ameni-
ties: Restaurant; exercise room; small outdoor pool; room service. In room: A/C, TV, hair dryer, Wi-Fi.

The View Hotel This Navajo-owned hotel inside Monument Valley Navajo
Tribal Park is the newest and most luxurious hotel in the region, and it's the only hotel
actually inside the park. As such, it should be your first choice for accommodations in
the area. The hotel's name, as appropriate as it is, does little to convey how breathtaking
the views are from windows and balconies of this hotel. With the park's most famous and
picturesque buttes right there, you need do nothing more than sit back and watch the
play of light on red rock pinnacles. The rooms themselves are also quite comfortable and
sport Native American touches in their decor.
P.O. Box 360457, Monument Valley Tribal Park, UT 84436. & 435/727-5556. Fax [phone]. www.
monumentvalleyview.com. 96 units. Mid-Mar to Nov $75-$215 double, $185-$350 suite; Dec to mid-Mar
$50-$115 double, $135-$195 suite. Children 8 and under stay free in parent's room. AE, DISC, MC, V.
Amenities: Restaurant; exercise room; Wi-Fi. In room: A/C, TV, fridge.

Campgrounds
If you're headed to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, you can camp at Goulding's
Campground ( & 435/727-3231; www.gouldings.com), which charges $25 to $42 per
night. There are also small cabins that go for $74 per night. This campground is open
year-round (limited services Nov to mid-Mar) and has an indoor pool, hot showers, a
playground, a coin-op laundry, and Wi-Fi.

6

12 LAKE POWELL & PAGE

272 miles N of Phoenix; 130 miles E of Grand Canyon North Rim; 130 miles NE of Grand Canyon South
Rim
Had the early Spanish explorers of Arizona suddenly come upon Lake Powell after traips-
ing for months across desolate desert, they would have either taken it for a mirage or
fallen to their knees and rejoiced. Imagine the Grand Canyon filled with water, and you
have a pretty good picture of Lake Powell. Surrounded by hundreds of miles of parched
desert, this reservoir, created by the damming of the Colorado River at Glen Canyon,
seems unreal when first glimpsed. Yet real it is, and it draws everyone in the region toward
its promise of relief from the heat.
Construction of the Glen Canyon Dam came about despite the angry outcry of many
who felt that this canyon was even more beautiful than the Grand Canyon and should
be preserved in its natural state. Preservationists lost the battle, and construction of the
dam began in 1960, with completion in 1963. It took another 17 years for Lake Powell
to fill to capacity. Today, the lake is a watery powerboat playground, and houseboats and
water-skiers cruise where once only bird songs and the splashing of waterfalls filled the
canyon air. These days most people seem to agree, though, that Lake Powell is as amazing
a sight as the Grand Canyon, and it draws almost as many visitors each year as its down-
river neighbor. In the past few years, however, Lake Powell has lost some of its luster as
a prolonged drought in the Southwest has left the lake's water level down by almost 100