Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a famous region located on the Colorado Plateau.

It sits near the border of Utah and Arizona. The land is within the Navajo Nation reservation. The Navajo people consider this entire area to be sacred. The region covers approximately 30,000 acres of land. Much of this area is managed as the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

This park is a Navajo Nation equivalent to a national park.

The geography of the valley is defined by unique rock structures. These structures are known as sandstone buttes. A butte is a large, isolated hill with steep sides. Some of these buttes reach heights of 1,000 feet.

The valley floor consists mostly of siltstone. This siltstone comes from the Cutler Group. It was deposited by meandering rivers that once carved the valley. The vivid red color of the rocks comes from iron oxide. This chemical is exposed through the process of weathering. Some darker rocks appear blue-gray due to manganese oxide.

The buttes show clear geological stratification. This means the rocks are arranged in distinct layers. There are three principal layers in these formations. The lowest layer is called the Organ Rock Shale. The middle layer is the de Chelly Sandstone. The top layer is the Moenkopi Formation. This top layer is capped by the Shinarump Conglomerate. This specific rock layer is important for local mineral history. Between 1945 and 1967, people mined the southern Monument Upwarp for uranium. They also found deposits of vanadium and copper in some areas.

Many individual rock formations have unique names. The West and East Mitten Buttes are very famous. Other notable formations include Merrick Butte and Eagle Mesa. You can also find Sentinel Mesa and Mitchell Mesa.

Some formations are very thin due to erosion. The Totem Pole is a notable example of a highly eroded butte remanent. There are also large stone structures like the Eye of the Sun. Other shapes include Elephant Butte and Camel Butte. These names help describe the diverse shapes found in the desert.

The climate in Monument Valley is a desert climate. It features hot summers and cold winters. The high altitude helps temper the summer heat. On average, there are 54 days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit annually. However, summer highs rarely exceed 100 degrees. Summer nights are often comfortably cool. Temperatures drop very quickly after the sun sets. Winters are cold but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Temperatures below zero are uncommon but possible. Occasional light snow falls in the winter. This snow usually melts within a day or two.

Movies have played a huge role in the fame of this place. Director John Ford used the valley for many Western films. He began filming there in the 1930s. He used the location for Stagecoach in 1939. He also filmed My Darling Clementine in 1946. Other films include Fort Apache and The Searchers.

Ford liked the remoteness of the location. It was hundreds of miles away from civilization. This helped keep producers from interfering with his work. His films helped create the iconic image of the American West.

Other directors have also used the valley for their work. Sergio Leone filmed Once Upon a Time in the West here in 1968. This was the first Spaghetti Western filmed outside of Europe. More recently, Gore Verbinski filmed The Lone Ranger in 2013. The landscape remains a powerful symbol in visual media. It appears in many computer games and print works as well. The valley continues to be a major site for tourism and cultural significance.