Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

 

Location: Arizona Map

Info: (435) 727- 5870

Closed: Dec 25

Official site

Visiting center

Open: 6am- 8pm May- Sept

7am- 7pm March- Apr

Entrance Fee: USD 5

Jeep rides are allowed between 6am- 8:30 May- Sept

8am- 4:30pm Oct- Apr

Official site

 

Description of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located in a state of Arizona in USA. This iconic nature reserve became synonymous with the American West. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is one of the national symbols of the United States. It is also one of the most recognizable landscapes due to "Marlboro" advertisement world wide as well as numerous movies that were filmed here. It lies on the border between Utah and Arizona states. The territory of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park belongs to the Navajo Indian Reservation. Navajos called lands of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park simply "place between the rocks". Navajo guides also hold a monopoly to provide guided exploration of the area including visiting indigenous inhabitants of the valley that live on their ancestral lands without electricity or running water.
 
Millions of years ago these lands were covered by Mesozoic Sea inhabited by enormous sea reptiles. Sandstone formations were deposited at the bottom of this sea. After the sea receded an extensive plateau was exposed to natural erosion. For thousands of years rain and wind carved through softer geologic formation, forming bizarre and picturesque towers and columns, that are known as "mesas" ("table" in Spanish).
 
Until late 19th century Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park was out of reach for the European settlers as it was inhabited by the warlike Native American tribes of Navajo natives. Viewing platform of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is probably the best way to view this majestic landscape. You can also venture within its territory, buy you need a local native guide to let you in and show you around. Certain parts of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park are considered sacred and other parts were used for Native American cemeteries. So you don't want to show disrespect to local by venturing into their lands without permission.

 

Fees and permits

Passes and fees
Most of Monument Valley is part of Monument Valley Tribal Park, a Navajo tribal park, because Monument Valley is inside the Navajo nation. A tribal park is not the same as a United States National Park and Monument Valley Tribal Park charges a fee of $20 per car (4 persons included; each additional person $6 extra) for access to the loop road through the valley.

Because Monument Valley Tribal Park is a Navajo tribal park and not a national park, national park passes will not be accepted.

Access
Except for a few trails, individuals wishing to hike in the valley or to visit sites not on the loop road must hire a Navajo guide for an additional fee.

 

Geography and geology

Monument Valley is located in the Four Corners Region, on the border between Arizona and Utah, west of the Colorado and New Mexico state lines at an altitude of almost 1900 m and is demographically divided into the two sister areas Oljato, Arizona and Oljato, Utah . Temperatures in Monument Valley vary from −3°C in winter to an average of 30°C in summer. Precipitation averages 240mm a year and some falls as snow. Precipitation, temperature differences and the wind have contributed significantly to shaping today's landscape.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, what is now Monument Valley initially consisted of a vast lowland basin. It initially deposited layers upon layers of sediment from the early Rocky Mountains in the basin and solidified into rock, mainly limestone and softer sandstone. The oldest exposed rocks in the region date back to the Pennsylvanian, about 300 million years ago. The distinctive Table Mountain structures are composed of early Permian De Chelly Sandstone, approximately 275 million years old. During the Laramian orogeny about 70 million years ago, the surface was raised by constant pressure from below. The former basin became a 2100 m high rock plateau. Over the past 50 million years, wind, rain, and temperatures have worked to peel back the plateau's surface. The process of simply removing the alternating layers of hard and soft rock created the mighty table mountains (e.g. "Raingod Mesa", "Thunderbird Mesa"), which tower up to 300 m high above the high plateau of the Colorado Plateau and are characteristic of the landscape of the Colorado Monument Valleys are. The clearly recognizable reddish color of the rocks results from the iron oxide contained in the rock strata.

The pointed crests called Butte in English inspired characteristic proper names such as Elephant Butte, Camel Butte, Three Sisters (Three Sisters) or Totem Pole (Totem Pole). The best known are the two Mitten Buttes and the Merrick Butte.

 

History and tradition

As far as is known today, the Anasazi Indians, also known as "the ancients", were the first inhabitants of Monument Valley. They built the first rock cave dwellings more than 1500 years ago, but disappeared from the entire region in the 13th century before the arrival of the first whites. According to unsecured information from various Navajo, there are said to be Anasazi ruins in Monument Valley, ancient Pueblo dwellings that have not yet been documented.

Today, about 300 Navajo live in Monument Valley and maintain their traditions there. The Navajo use the native plants for many things, including medicine. The yucca plant provides the raw material for shoes, baskets, clothing and soap. There is a greater variety of vegetation in the valley than meets the eye and spring brings an explosion of colorful flowers and blooms.

 

Movie and TV

Monument Valley is also known as John Ford Country because this director preferred to film his Westerns (including Stage Coach with John Wayne) there before the Second World War. A rocky outcrop that has been used several times as a camera location is named after him (John Ford's Point). After the war, Ford's films showed the extraordinary rock formations in color for the first time, as in 1949's The Devil's Captain. Director Sergio Leone used Monument Valley for his western epic, A Song of Death. Later, road movies like Easy Rider continued this tradition. Scenes from the film Missouri by Blake Edwards and the two films Back to the Future III and Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis were also filmed in Monument Valley.

Both the actual Monument Valley and the similar landscapes on both sides of the highway leading there serve as a popular backdrop for advertising (cigarettes, cars, motorcycles, tourism, etc.). As a result, this area, which can hardly be used for agriculture, is now one of the best-known Wild West scenes.

 

Tourism

On-site information is available from the Visitor Center, which is also where the scenic drive through the valley starts. This dusty trail can be traversed either in your own vehicle or on a guided 4x4 tour with locals, although the guided tours allow access to parts of Monument Valley that are off-the-beaten-track for private vehicles. However, the well-known rock formations are in the generally accessible area of the valley.

The red-hot sandstone has a particularly atmospheric effect in the evening sun or when the silhouette of the rock towers emerges against the lightening sky at sunrise. In winter, the valley can also be covered with snow due to the altitude. The few Navajo dwellings at the foot of the rocks may not be photographed for religious reasons.

The accommodation options directly at Monument Valley are limited to Gouldings Lodge, a campsite and "The View Hotel" with a view of the valley. The house, located directly at the Visitor Center, is the only hotel located within Monument Valley. A few motels are located north and south of Monument Valley in Mexican Hat and Kayenta.