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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.