Known from may great western movies, Monument Valley is a spectacular place to visit. Driving up to it is already an adventure. We took a tour with a native Navajo guide and saw all the scenic sights and quite a bit of back country too.
Monument Valley was created as material eroded from the ancestral Rocky
Mountains, and was deposited and cemented into sandstone. The formations
you see in the valley were left over after the forces of erosion worked
their magic on the sandstone. A geologic uplift caused the surface to
bulge and crack. Wind and water then eroded the land, and the cracks
deepened and widened into gullies and canyons, which eventually became
the scenery you see today. Natural forces continue to slowly shape the
land.
Below is a map of the park. Click the image to zoom in.