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Fondest memory: Monument Valley is one of the most spectacular landscapes in an area full of amazing ones. The combination of the incredible buttes and mesas when seen in an otherwise completely flat terrain is mind boggling. Add to that the “I've seen that before” feeling induced by watching John Ford's films as a kid and the overall effect is magical. As the sun goes down and the formations take on a red hue, the park's inadequacies fade away from thought and you are left in awe of an obviously magnificent piece of natural beauty. All that is missing to make this an even more special place is an infrastructure that enhances it by education and demonstration. By making visitors acutely aware of what this sacred place meant to the people who called it home, their descendants would not only and appropriately glorify them but would endear them to all visitors, as links with our common American past. (concluded below in Fondest Memory)
Written Aug 10, 2009
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Fondest memory: It being midday, we went looking for a place to escape the sun and learn a bit about the sacred Monument Valley. Unfortunately, the new Visitor Center was a good year away from completion and what had previously passed as one was embarrassing. For a building that big, it seemed a cafeteria and gift shop was all they were providing for their entrance fee. We decided to leave the park and visit nearby Gouldings Lodge, famed homestead of original white settlers in the area and shrine to John Wayne. This hotel is a commercial enterprise but features a free museum and a well orchestrated recreation of pioneer life as well as some insight into the life of Native Americans of that time. While a bit one-sided, it was more interesting than anything Monument Valley was serving up and it's free on top of it. There is a nice view of the valley from there as well and imagine some of the tour bus crowd make due with a stop here rather than going into the park itself. (continued below in Fondest Memory)
Updated Aug 10, 2009
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Fondest memory: Monument Valley looks immediately and oddly familiar the first time you see it. It creeps into deep childhood memories like so many spaghetti westerns and then it dawns on you; this place is in many of those westerns you grew up with. So, it comes perhaps as no surprise that you find yourself thinking about cowboys and Indians first in terms of the kid games you once played, then as the true conflicts between very real people, and finally as the current struggle of Native Americans to not only lay claim to ancestral grounds but how to manage them once garnered. Having arrived on the heels of visits to other Native American based sites that are part of the National Park system, it was hard not to compare how similar historical sites are being managed. Mesa Verde, a typical National Park, seemed much better so than the more Native Canyon de Chelly. This was my second visit to Monument Valley and to be honest, the first visit left a bad taste in my mouth. But this was a fresh visit and I was determined to give it a fair shake. It was fifteen years later and my hope was it would be not only a more warm welcome, but a show of progress of the park's management. (continued below in Fondest Memory)
Written Aug 10, 2009
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Favorite thing: I enjoyed taking pictures of the jumpingfamily with the nice rock formations at Monuement Valley. But if you are going to use these photos for commercial purposes, a permit is required. Contact Dept of Broadcast Services PO Box 308 Window Rock, AZ 86515 Phone 928-871-6656.
Also, respect the privacy of the Navajo people when taking these shots.
Written Jun 21, 2009
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Favorite thing:
At the very beginning of my Monument Valley page, I have written the poetry of Navajo Nation –
May you walk in Beauty.
.
Whenever you are in Monument Valley, at whichever time in the year, at whichever weather – take time for yourself, walk away from the crowds, sit there, breath slowly and immerse into that overwhelming tranquility of the scenery and feel the magic of Monument Valley.
.
And finally you will understand the poem:
May it be beautiful before me.
May is be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May I walk in beauty
Fondest memory: While adding these tips into my Monument Valley page, Richard Wagner and his Ride of the Valkyries is all around me – this and the pictures adding beams me back into Monument Valley, and tonight I will sleep walking in beauty :-)
Updated Apr 16, 2009
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Favorite thing: Fires are permitted in grills only or fireplaces. No open fires are allowed in the campground.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Scenic Drive Hours
Summer (May-Sept) 6:00am - 8:30pm
Winter (Oct - Apr) 8:00am - 4:30pm
Camping fees - $10/night plus Entryfees $5/person
General Admission - $5.00
Ages 9 or under - Free
Monument Valley UT 84536
From Flagstaff, AZ, take U.S. Highway 89 north, 67 miles to U.S. Highway 160. Continue northeast on Route 160 for 62 miles to Kayenta, AZ. Monument Valley is 22 miles north of Kayenta Arizona, along U.S. Highway 163.
(435)727-5874/5870
Navajo Nation Parks
Updated Dec 31, 2008
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Favorite thing: Please keep the park clean. If you pack it in, pack it out! Respect the environment for future generations to come.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Scenic Drive Hours
Summer (May-Sept) 6:00am - 8:30pm
Winter (Oct - Apr) 8:00am - 4:30pm
Camping fees - $10/night plus Entryfees $5/person
General Admission - $5.00
Ages 9 or under - Free
Monument Valley UT 84536
From Flagstaff, AZ, take U.S. Highway 89 north, 67 miles to U.S. Highway 160. Continue northeast on Route 160 for 62 miles to Kayenta, AZ. Monument Valley is 22 miles north of Kayenta Arizona, along U.S. Highway 163.
(435)727-5874/5870
Navajo Nation Parks
Written Dec 31, 2008
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Favorite thing: Stay on the road that is marked unless your on a guided tour. There are other roads, but these are roads for residence only. You can easily get lost if your not familar with this area.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Scenic Drive Hours
Summer (May-Sept) 6:00am - 8:30pm
Winter (Oct - Apr) 8:00am - 4:30pm
Camping fees - $10/night plus Entryfees $5/person
General Admission - $5.00
Ages 9 or under - Free
Monument Valley UT 84536
From Flagstaff, AZ, take U.S. Highway 89 north, 67 miles to U.S. Highway 160. Continue northeast on Route 160 for 62 miles to Kayenta, AZ. Monument Valley is 22 miles north of Kayenta Arizona, along U.S. Highway 163.
(435)727-5874/5870
Navajo Nation Parks
Updated Dec 31, 2008
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Favorite thing: These red-rock formations began as sandy sediments in a Permian ocean two hundred and seventy million years ago. Faulting and folding uplifted the strata along an upwarp one hundred miles long. The relentless blasting of wind and rain wear away the softer layers, creating these marvelous monoliths standing proud reminding us that time does endure and that being imperfect is beautiful.
The reddish hues come from iron oxide, and the black streaks of desert varnish on the cliff faces, from manganese oxide. An erosion-resistant layer of shale caps the pinnacles and delays the weathering of the softer layers below and creating such wonderful sculpture of nature.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
PO Box 360289
Monument Valley, Utah 84536
(435)727-5874/5870 or (435)727-5875
Written Dec 29, 2008
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Favorite thing: The incredible deep red color of the lowest layer in Monument Valley is called Organ Rock Shale. Again, if we wouldn't try the scientific approach of explanation, we could easily assume that someone poured red paint all over the sand and rock.
But...
Cutler Red Bed or Organ Rock Shale is the "earliest" layer that deposited once upon a time in the ancient seabed. The deep red, reddish brown and purple colors do contain a high amount of iron oxide.
But why that red ?
Depending on the "positioning" of iron containing minerals of rock layers in the sea water, they undergo "heavy" or "not so heavy" oxidation processes when exposed to oxygen.
The deeper they are located, the less oxygen is present, the less oxydation happens, the less red they get.
Remember - what is now Monument Valley, once was a shallow sea. This the sandstone, which was also porous, was close enough to the air and could undergo heavy oxydation processes - to turn into that red.
In addition, the porous Organ Rock shale is much easier "to grind" into fine sand(stone) particles than if it would be more packed as in deChelly Sandstone. So, the high amount of fine red sand particles of Organ Rock shale, also leads to this intense red - which is simply an effect of light refraction processes on fine particles (versus solid rock).
Updated Mar 30, 2006
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