Monument Valley is perhaps the most famous example of the classic American West landscape, located within the Navajo Nation on the border of Arizona and Utah. The valley has been the backdrop for numerous western movies, ranging from the films of John Wayne to Back to the Future 3 and Forrest Gump. Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast and iconic sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor.
It is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona, near the Four Corners area. The valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation, and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163. The Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii' Ndzisgaii (Valley of the Rocks). The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone. The valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun.Between 1948 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument Upwarp was mined for uranium, which occurs in scattered areas of the Shinarump siltstone; vanadium and copper are associated with uranium in some deposits.
Monument Valley is officially a large area which includes much of the area surrounding Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Nation equivalent to a national park. Oljato, for example, is also within the area designated as Monument Valley. At the Park there is a visitor center, and a small convenience/souvenir shop and a restaurant. Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal park (not a USA National Park) and charges a fee of $5 per person (children 9 and under free) for access to the loop road through the valley. National park passes will not be accepted. While many incredible formations can be seen from the main roads, the best views can be had from the 17-mile loop road that runs through the valley. The road is open 6AM-8:30PM in the summer (May - Sep) and 8AM-4:30PM in the winter (Oct - Apr). The loop is not paved and can be quite rough and dusty, but most vehicles should be able to manage. You are not permitted to deviate from the loop drive without a native guide present. The loop drive can be done in as little as 30-40 minutes, but most visitors will take several hours to enjoy the scenery. There is no shortage of native guides eager to take you (for a fee, of course!) to the restricted areas. Tours are available, and the fee varies between about $40 and $100 per person depending on the services provided and route. There are parts of Monument Valley which are only accessible by guided tour, such as Mystery Valley and Hunt's Mesa. Horseback rides are also available from various establishments both inside the park and in the general Monument Valley area, and rates vary widely depending on the length of the ride. Rides may be only an hour, or overnight camping trips. Additionally, hot air balloon flights are available May 1 through October 31, and small airplane flights are sometimes available. Monument Valley is part of the Grand Circle, which includes the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges National Monument, Hovenweep, Arches National Park, and many other attractions. Wiki
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