Monument Valley

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View of Monument Valley in Utah, looking south on highway 163 from 13 miles north of the Arizona/Utah State line.

Monument Valley is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona (around 36°59′N, 110°6′W). 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).

1 Geology
2 The Valley in media
3 Tourism
4 Lodging
5 See also
6 External links
7 Gallery

[edit] Geology

Totem Pole formation in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

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 (see Uranium mining in Arizona).

[edit] The Valley in media

The twin buttes of the Valley ("the Mittens"), the "Totem Pole," and the Ear of the Wind arch, among other features, have developed iconic status. They have appeared in many television programs, commercials, and Hollywood movies, especially Westerns.

Monument Valley Panorama, taken from the Visitor Center and showing the "Mittens" and the road which makes a loop-tour through the Park

[edit] Film

John Ford's Point in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

Director John Ford's 1939 film Stagecoach, starring John Wayne, has had an enduring influence in making the Valley famous. After that first experience, Ford returned nine times to shoot Westerns — even when the films were not set in Arizona or Utah (see The Searchers, set in Texas, but filmed here). A popular lookout point is named in his honor as "John Ford Point." It was used by Ford in a scene from The Searchers where an American Indian village is attacked.

The Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey features footage of Monument Valley. This footage is used as the surface of an alien planet to which protagonist Dave Bowman travels through a stargate.
1969's counter-culture classic Easy Rider includes some footage of Monument Valley towards its beginning.
Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, although shot for the most part in Spain and Italy, features two scenes shot on location in Monument Valley.
Clint Eastwood's movie The Eiger Sanction was partly filmed in Monument Valley and both Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy were filmed on top of the "Totem Pole", which has been off-bounds to climbers since the movie was filmed here.
During the 'Sorter shoot-out' scene in Guy Ritchie's 2005 film, Revolver, there is a picture of Monument Valley on the wall behind where Dorothy Macha's henchmen have parked their cars outside the house of Jake Green's elder brother.
In Back to the Future III, Marty McFly drives from 1955 to 1885 from a drive-in theatre set at the Valley's base.
In National Lampoon's Vacation the Griswold's station wagon falls apart in the Valley.
In Forrest Gump, Forrest ends his cross-country run here. He is running north on U.S. Route 163 before he stops running.
Godfrey Reggio's documentary Koyaanisqatsi features footage of Monument Valley.
Ron Fricke's IMAX film Chronos features several scenes of the Monument Valley landscape.
Ridley Scott's 1991 film Thelma & Louise features some shots of Monument Valley, as well as Canyonlands National Park, in its latter half.
The opening shots of Mission: Impossible II feature Tom Cruise climbing in Monument Valley.
Electra Glide in Blue 1973 (film) starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona was filmed in Monument Valley.

[edit] Television

The implied association with John Wayne's tough, macho character made the buttes a natural choice as the background for the Marlboro Man in the marketing of Marlboro-brand cigarettes from the 1950s.
In the 1980s American action/espionage television series Airwolf, a hollowed butte is portrayed as the secret hiding place ("The Lair") of the eponymous high-tech military helicopter. Monument Valley is renamed the "Valley of the Gods" in this series. The actual Valley of the Gods is a few miles north in Utah. The shots of The Lair were actually a mix of matte paintings and shots from three locations within close proximity of each other.
The MacGyver episode "Eagles" (Season 2, Episode 8) has shots in the Valley. MacGyver is gathering eggs from an eagle's nest on top of a butte.
The Dutch clown Bassie, of the duo Bassie en Adriaan, performed a rain dance in front of The Three Sisters in their Dutch television series.
In the made-for-TV movie 10.5: Apocalypse, Monument Valley is flooded from seismic activity.

[edit] Music

The 2003 Led Zeppelin DVD features the West Mitten of Monument Valley on the cover.
The video for "I Disappear" by Metallica was partially shot in Monument Valley. The song was featured on the soundtrack to MI:2.
French band Air's 2001 album, 10 000 Hz Legend, features Monument Valley on its cover and throughout the LP's artwork.
American band Drive-By Truckers' 2008 CD, Brighter Than Creation's Dark ends with "The Monument Valley", a song with references to film making and movie director John Ford.
Rock band Soulfly shot their music video "Prophecy" in Monument Valley.
The cover for the 2002 book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart of the band Rush shows a picture that Neil took of his motorcycle in Monument Valley.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Album Twenty is a fictional picture of the mittens
The cover of American Water by the Silver Jews is a stylised painting of Monument Valley by Chris Kysor.

[edit] Print

In the manga Bio Booster Armor Guyver, the global headquarters of the Cronos organization is concealed within a hollowed-out butte in Monument Valley.
Garth Ennis's Preacher series of comic books features a scene in which the Valley is destroyed by a massive nuclear weapon in an attempt to destroy the Saint of Killers.
The cover for the 2002 book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart of the band Rush shows a picture that Neil took of his motorcycle in Monument Valley.

[edit] Computer

There is stage that features Monument Valley in the video game Tekken.
The video game AeroWings for the Dreamcast console has a stage set in Monument Valley.
In the video game The King of Fighters '96, the Art of Fighting Team stage is set in Monument Valley.
The Playstation 3 video game Motorstorm is a racing game set in Monument Valley in which a festival of rally races involving a series of vehicles and obstacles takes place.
A Monument Valley photo was used in Windows Vista Beta 2 as wallpaper.

[edit] Tourism

Monument Valley from the valley floor.

Monument Valley is a large area, but the most scenic locations are within Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Nation equivalent to a national park. A visitor center, and small convenience/souvenir shop stands on the rim of the valley, and includes a restaurant. Visitors can pay an access fee and drive through the park on a 17-mile dirt road (a 2-3 hour trip). Tours are also 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 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 over this magnificient area are 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, Hovenweep, Arches National Park, and many other attractions.

[edit] Lodging

Interior of a "male" style Navajo hogan, with a stove made from a 55 gallon barrel

It is often difficult to find a place to stay near Monument Valley during the peak tourist season (between May and October). Places to stay include Goulding's Lodge, which includes a swimming pool, gift shop, and restaurant, located about 10 miles from the park, and Bed and Breakfast establishments such as FireTree Bed and Breakfast, where guests can sleep in a traditionally built Navajo hogan. Campgrounds are also available, including Goulding's campground, and a campground near the rim of the Valley operated by Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. There are also lodgings further from the park, in Bluff (50 miles), Mexican Hat (22 miles) and Kayenta (about 25 miles). Each small town has several motels, such as the Desert Rose Inn in Bluff, the Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn in Kayenta, and the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat, located on a ledge above the San Juan River.

[edit] See also

Amateur video of Monument Valley (4 minutes, German and English) — documents rock formations and a Navajo hogan with a Native American spinning yarn and weaving cloth.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Monument Valley

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park website
Map of Monument Valley
American Southwest Guide
Energy Information Administration notes on uranium mining and its decommissioning
Monument Valley Photos - CapturedLights.com
Photos of Monument Valley - Terra Galleria
IMDb list of movies with scenes in Monument Valley
Monument Valley Pictures at Monument Gallery
Column from PopMatters.com on Monument Valley in film
Gallery Photos of Monument Valley - Monument Valley Hot Air Balloon Company

[edit] Gallery

East Mitten and West Mitten Buttes	View from John Ford's Point	The North Window	The North Window
The Totem Pole	The Thumb	Three Sisters	View from the Visitor's Center