Muley Point on Cedar Mesa

Cedar Mesa is a million-acre table of land that sits sits at about 6,000 feet of elevation in southeastern Utah. The landscape here holds breathtaking scenery, and visitors can discover many traces of the ancient Puebloan people who lived here until about 750 years ago. Muley Point is on the very south edge of Cedar Mesa, and it overlooks the Valley of the Gods and Arizona's Monument Valley in the distance. When visiting any of the other excellent destinations in the area such as Natural Bridges National Monument (25 miles away) or Road Canyon (12 miles away), the mostly paved drive to Muley Point is worth the effort (note that the last 5 miles is a good gravel road).

After reaching the end of the paved road and a partial vista to the south, continue down the steep gravel road for about a quarter of a mile to the large turnout and marvelous viewpoint. This unpaved road, the Mokey Dugway, was built in the 1950s for the use of the local uranium mines, and it drops 1,000 feet in just 3 miles of sharp switchbacks to reach the plain below. The route is definitely not for RVs or trailers! To reach Muley Point, head back up the dirt road to the pavement and take an immediate left on the dirt road to Muley Point. There is a viewpoint at 3.7 miles and another at 5 miles. Both of these give different views of the goosenecks of the San Juan River and Monument Valley down below.