Red sandstone buttes and mesas rising from the desert on the Arizona–Utah border, protected as a Navajo Tribal Park
Monument Valley, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii or valley of the rocks in Navajo, is a wide basin of red sand and scrub scattered with isolated buttes, mesas and spires. Its best-known landmarks, the West and East Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte, stand right in front of the visitor centre, and the tribal park covers some 91,696 acres across Arizona and Utah at an elevation of around 1,700 metres.
The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, whose reservation surrounds it. Visitors can drive the 17-mile Valley Drive past a series of viewpoints, but many of the more remote arches and landmarks can only be reached with a Navajo guide.
The buttes are remnants of rock layers that once covered the whole area. Each is built of the same sequence: a base of Organ Rock Shale, sheer walls of de Chelly Sandstone and a cap of Moenkopi Formation and Shinarump Conglomerate. Iron oxide gives the rock its red colour. Uranium was mined in the southern part of the wider upwarp between 1945 and 1967.
From the 1930s the valley became one of the most familiar landscapes in cinema. Local resident Harry Goulding approached director John Ford about filming here, and Ford went on to shoot Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and The Searchers (1956) in the valley. Today it is managed by Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation as a tribal park, the Navajo equivalent of a national park.
Monument Valley is part of the Navajo Nation and considered sacred by it. Navajo tour operators run the Jeep tours, and artisans sell jewellery, crafts and food at roadside stands about a mile before the visitor centre and at markets along the Valley Drive. The area is remote with limited services, so the towns of Kayenta and Dennehotso are the nearest places for restaurants and supplies.
Most visitors start at the visitor centre, with its viewpoint, museum and shop, then drive the unpaved 17-mile Valley Drive past a series of parking areas and viewpoints; motorcycles are not allowed because of rough terrain and deep sand. To go further, Navajo tour operators run Jeep tours into areas such as Ear of the Wind and other landmarks that can only be visited with a guide, and Mystery Valley and Hunts Mesa are also guided-only. Walkers can hike the Wildcat Trail around Mitten Butte after signing in at the visitor centre. Staying overnight at The View Hotel or camping allows sunrise and sunset over the buttes.
The valley is open all year, and the buttes take on their strongest colours at sunrise and sunset. Summers are hot, with around 54 days a year above 32°C, although highs rarely exceed 38°C, and rainfall is low at about 115 millimetres a year. Opening hours are shorter in winter, and the park closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Checked against the sources on 29 October 2026. Opening times and fees can change — confirm before you go.
General guidance from our specialists, not official information.
Kayenta, to the south in Arizona, has restaurants, fuel and shops, and Dennehotso lies to the east. The community of Oljato is included in the area known as Monument Valley. Further afield on the Navajo Nation are other tribal parks, among them Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park with Antelope Canyon and the Four Corners Monument.
A national park of about 4,900 square kilometres in northern Arizona, protecting the canyon the Colorado River has carved into the Colorado Plateau over about 445 kilometres. The gorge averages around 1,200 metres deep and exposes rock layers that UNESCO describes as a geological record of some two billion years.
ExploreA town of under 10,000 people in Arizona's northern Verde Valley, set among red sandstone buttes and the Coconino National Forest. It is known for hiking and mountain biking, Jeep tours, art galleries and the canyon of Oak Creek, about two hours' drive from both Phoenix and the Grand Canyon.
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United States · 9 nights4★ HotelUnited States · 8 nights3★ LodgeThis guide was researched from the sources below and reviewed by our team on 29 October 2026. Facts under “Verified information” link to the page they were checked on; travel tips are general guidance. Photos are credited on each image. The ambient recording’s author and licence are shown in the sound player.
