Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park
(30,000 acres) established in 1958 and located on the border of Arizona and Utah with in the 16 million-acre Navajo Reservation. The Park is about 5,500 feet above seal level and accessible year-round.
Before human existence, the Park was once a vast lowland basin. For hundreds of millions
of years, materials that eroded from the early Rock Mountains deposited layer upon layer of sediments which cemented a slow and gentle uplift generated by ceaseless pressure from below the surface, elevating these horizontal strata quite uniformly one to three miles above sea level. What was once a basin became a plateau. Natural forces of wind and water that eroded the land spent the last 50 million years cutting in to and peeling away at the surface of the plateau.
The simple wearing down of altering layers of soft and hard rock slowly revealed the natural wonders of Monument Valley today.
The Monument Valley area is huge and diverse, with landscapes ranging from sandy desert to forested mountains and deep canyons. Hiking opportunities here are also diverse. Many trails do have one thing in common - they lead to impressive ancient Anasazi structures and
rock art.
Famous actors and actresses rode horseback over the trails here, as they filmed classic western movies. Now you can ride the same trails as you participate in guided or unguided horseback rides.
In Monument Valley and along access roads, Navajo wranglers set up corrals with horses ready and waiting to take you on the ride of a lifetime.
You can often make spur of the moment arrangements, but if you come during the busy season you may want to make advanced reservations through one of the businesses listed below.
Campgrounds near monument valley area:
The Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park maintains a visitor center, campground, and restaurant. Tours deep into the valley with Navajo guides are recommended and operate from the visitor center or from Goulding's Lodge. Visit a Hogan, the traditional Navajo dwelling, and travel into areas of the valley not accessible to private autos. Monument Valley has been the location for over 16 major movies and scores of commercials. A 14-mile graded dirt loop road within Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park allows easy viewing of the most well known monuments.
Experience the wonder of discovery among the buttes, mesas, canyons, and free standing rock formations that fill Monument Valley. The tranquility of the land, culture, and traditions infuse the valley with a uniquely Navajo flavor.
