Monument Valley: the red buttes of Navajo country

Red sandstone buttes standing on a vast plain, straddling Utah and Arizona: Monument Valley is the Western backdrop everyone has in mind. The valley is not a national park. It belongs to the Navajo Nation, which manages it and still lives there. You can see it in half a day on a dirt track, but it’s by staying the night, facing the buttes at sunrise, that you get the most out of it.

History and origins

Monument Valley lies on the territory of the Navajo Nation (the Diné). The Navajo have lived in the region for centuries, after other, far older peoples. They manage the site themselves, as a tribal park.

The buttes are the remains of an ancient plateau. Erosion ate away at it for millions of years and left only the hardest rock standing. The two best known, the Mittens, look like mittens with the thumb sticking out.

It was the cinema that made the valley famous. In 1938, in the middle of the Great Depression, Harry Goulding, who ran a trading post there, set off for Hollywood with photos under his arm. He wanted to persuade the director John Ford to come and film here, to give work to the Navajo, who had been hit hard by the crisis. Ford agreed and shot Stagecoach 🎬, released in 1939. The film launched John Wayne’s career and made Monument Valley the very image of the American West.

What to do there

• The Mittens 📷West Mitten, East Mitten and Merrick Butte at daybreak: West Mitten, East Mitten and Merrick Butte, the three buttes of the postcard. You can see them from the visitor centre and The View Hotel, without even taking the track.
• The Valley Drive 📷The Valley Drive track between the buttes: a 27 km loop on a dirt track, at the foot of the buttes. You can drive it in your own car in dry weather, taking it slowly. Allow two to three hours with stops.
• John Ford’s Point 📷The promontory of John Ford's Point, facing the Three Sisters: the best-known viewpoint on the track, on a rocky spur facing the Three Sisters. You could walk out onto it on our first visit. Having been back recently, we found that a barrier now closes it off. A Navajo horseman poses there in traditional dress, and you can pay to get on the horse for a photo: it’s not something we go along with, and we don’t recommend it.
• A Navajo guided tour: a large part of the valley, such as Mystery Valley, can only be reached with a Navajo guide. It’s also a chance to talk about the culture and history of the place with the people who live there.
• A hogan 📷The inside of a Navajo log hogan: the traditional Navajo dwelling, round, made of logs and earth. Its door always faces east, to greet the rising sun.
• The Wildcat Trail: the only hike you can do without a guide. It circles West Mitten, starting from the visitor centre.
• Sunrise and sunset 📷The sun rising beside West Mitten: the sand and the buttes turn orange. In the morning, the sun rises right behind the Mittens.
• Forrest Gump Point 📷US-163 running towards the buttes of Monument Valley: on US-163, about twenty minutes to the north, the straight stretch where Forrest stops running in Forrest Gump 🎬. Everyone wants their photo in the middle of the road: it’s a real road, with trucks, so look behind you.
• Goulding’s Museum: Harry Goulding’s old trading post, opposite the park, tells the story of John Ford’s shoots.

Stories and good to know

• In Navajo, the valley is called Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, “valley of the rocks”. The English name, with its “monuments”, came much later.
• The 1938 shoot supported dozens of Navajo families at a time of great poverty. Tourism is still one of the region’s main sources of income today.
• In stormy weather, the sky above the buttes becomes spectacular 📷Monument Valley under a stormy sky. We finished the track in the rain, with no difficulty driving.
• Drones are banned across the whole Navajo Nation, and you don’t climb on the buttes.
• The valley is lived in and sacred. Stay on the permitted tracks, and always ask permission before photographing someone.

Practical information for your road trip

• Time: the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time, unlike the rest of Arizona. From March to November, Monument Valley is therefore an hour ahead of Page and the Grand Canyon. Keep it in mind for a guided tour or a sunrise.
• Getting there: Monument Valley is about 2 hours 15 from Page, 3 hours 30 from the Grand Canyon (South Rim), 2 hours 45 from Moab and 6 hours 30 from Las Vegas.
• The track: it is dirt, with bumps and sand. An ordinary rental car gets through in dry weather, better still with a bit of ground clearance. After rain, ask at the entrance. The small open-sided tour trucks do the same loop, in the dust.
• Where to stay: The View is the only hotel inside the park, with every room facing the Mittens. Its cabins 📷A cabin at The View Hotel at nightfall are cheaper than the rooms and have the same view. Otherwise, Goulding’s Lodge is right opposite the park, and Kayenta half an hour away.
• Combine it with: Valley of the Gods, half an hour to the north, has the same red buttes without the crowds or the ticket booth. Goosenecks State Park is right next to it.

Our experience in Monument Valley

We spent two nights there in May 2024, during our road trip 1, at The View Hotel: the first in a cabin facing the Mittens, the second in a room.

⏳ Our day-by-day journals are coming soon.