The breathtaking ride up or down the Moki Dugway is an experience not soon forgotten. Stunning views open from the Dugway as it winds its way 1,200 feet from Cedar Mesa to the Valley of the Gods. The Dugway descends a steep 11% grade from the mesa top to the valley floor.
The road twists and turns through switchbacks allowing views to the north and south. From the overlook near the top, you can see much of the Four Corners region of the Southwest. On the horizon to the east lies Sleeping Ute Mountain near Cortez, Colorado; to the southeast is Shiprock in New Mexico; to the south you can see the Carrizo Mountains which straddle the New Mexico/Arizona border; and, to the southwest is Monument Valley, which sits across the Utah/Arizona border.
Closer to the Dugway, and to the east, you can see, from north to south, Pyramid Peak, Rooster Butte, Setting Hen Butte, and the Seven Sailors. Visible to the southeast are Sugarloaf and the Raplee Anticline, wavy striations in a purple/gray hillside.
To the south, Alhambra Rock rises as a dark brown monolith. The anticline is also called the Navajo Tapestry or Rug. Alhambra is an igneous plug of hard volcanic material which was pushed up through overlying sandstone. When the softer sandstone eroded, the plug was left standing. Plugs like this are found throughout the Four Corners region.
As you view the bottom of the Moki Dugway you see Bell Butte to the southeast, and the Valley of the Gods. This area is also known as the Cedar Mesa Cultural and Recreational Management area.
The Moki Dugway was built in the 1950s by Texas Zinc Minerals to haul ore from the Happy Jack Mine on Cedar Mesa to the mill in Halchita, near Mexican Hat.
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| Directions: |
A three-mile graded and graveled section of Utah Highway 261, north of Mexican Hat.
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| Coordinates: |
Map coordinates: 37 16.499N; 109 56.272W. |
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