Monument Valley is an area of ​​Arizona’s desert landscape that is famous for its many rock formations that stand scattered and rise from the otherwise flat land. Many will nod in recognition to Monument Valley because they have seen one or more American western movies, but the distinctive formations are, with or without western films, one of the most iconic landscapes in the western United States.

Monument Valley is centrally located on the so-called Colorado Plateau, which spreads over an area of ​​337,000 km2 around the Colorado River and some of its tributaries. The plateau form parts of the states of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado, and it is known for several well-visited sights such as the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley.

The Colorado Plateau consists mainly of a desert plateau, but there are also scattered forests. The large area is also called Red Rock Country for its red earth colors, and you can find countless geological formations here. This applies not least to the progressive erosion of the hard plateau, which is broken down into fins, in which natural arches or windows can form. These arches are subsequently broken down into earth pyramids, which can be seen, for example, in Bryce Canyon in Utah.

The formations in Monument Valley and elsewhere in the Colorado Plateau have been created in the area’s Navajo sandstone. Sandstone is deposited sand that has been compressed and hardened over time. The deposits mainly consist of feldspar and quartz, and there may be clay or silicate as a binder between the sand grains. The many formations are so-called buttes, whose name comes from the French word for small hills. A butte is characterized by its top being narrower than its height. If it is the other way around, the formation is called a mesa.

The buttes were formed by erosion and weathering, and they remained standing, so to speak, because the cover rock at the top in these particular places was much harder than in the eroded surroundings. Beneath the cap rock are less resistant, but as the cap rock is impermeable to liquids, it provides protection for the underlying rocks, thereby avoiding water erosion. In this way a butte is left standing with vertical walls, and as the top is nevertheless eroded by wear and weathering, this material falls down the sides and forms the slopes that can be seen around the buttes.

The erosion and weathering has occurred over a long geological time, where the area has been continuously covered by seas and large rivers, and the water masses, together with wind and ice, have slowly but surely created the eroded Monument Valley, which lies several hundred meters below the tops of the existing buttresses that erosion has not worn down.

Today, when you want to visit Monument Valley and see the unforgettable rock formations, you drive along Road 163 from the city of Kayenta in Arizona in the south or from Utah in the north. Along the way, you can form an impression of both buttes and mesas, and it’s easy to think back to the time of the Indian tribes on the plateau or to the iconic western movies that many probably know. However, you should take the time to visit the heart of the area, where you can see the most famous formations. You do this by taking Monument Valley Road from Road 163 to the Monument Valley Tribal Park Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center is a great place to start to learn more about Monument Valley and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. From the visitor center you can enjoy the best view in the area. It is the panoramic view of the Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte. Looking out to them and across the landscape, you can think of how the landscape has changed from a plateau to an eroded valley over approximately 50 million years. If you want to get closer to the formations, you can drive along the Loop Road, and it is recommended to take a trip from the visitor center, where you will get stories about the places and formations along the way.

Monument Valley became iconic and world famous with the help of Hollywood. It started in the 1930s, when Mike Goulding took photographs from the area to the film producers, and John Ford chose to film most of the western film Stagecoach starring John Wayne in Monument Valley. The film was a success, and with it Americans began to associate the area with the mythical Wild West. Since then, several films have been set in Monument Valley, which many will recognize from films such as Forrest Gump and Back to the Future III.

Monument Valley is located in the Navajo Nation Indian reservation, the largest reservation in the United States. The Navajo Nation is located in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, and it overlaps the original homeland of the Navajo tribe. The Navajo Nation is today home to a large part of the members of the Navajo tribe, and the approx. The 71,000 km2 area got its current borders in 1934.

The Navajo Nation, like other American Indian reservations, operates as partially self-governing territories that are not subject to the states in which they are located. The reservations belong to the federal government, which has absolute governmental authority over the reservations. In this way, the Navajo Nation and the other reservations must send all proposed laws to the US Department of the Interior. Over the years, however, a number of general agreements have been concluded on e.g. trade and rights to water.

In the Navajo Nation, the population consists of up to 90% Navajo, and in addition 6% other Indians, which is why the indigenous population is clearly dominant. The tribe’s traditional dwelling is a so-called hogan, which is a round house made of wood and stone. The Navajo Nation has its own government, its own police and its own president.