The Dramatic Beauty of Monument Valley
Gorgeous red rock formations in all shapes and sizes, from buttes to narrow spires dot the landscape in the place we call Monument Valley, but vegetation is scarce to nonexistent. Issue #27
Dear Reader!
I’m sure you’ve all seen photos of Monument Valley, the background, or rather protagonist in numerous old Western movies, home of the Diné (Navajo) people.
For us, this landscape was part of the reason we fell in love with the US Southwest. We recently revisited the park, and drove the scenic dirt road for a closer look at the famous rock formations.
Called Tse’Bii’Ndzisgaii by the Diné who live there, Monument Valley is recognized by the dramatic sandstone rock formations towering between 400 to 1,000 feet above the valley floor. Combined with the surrounding mesas, buttes, and high desert environment, it truly is one of the natural wonders of the world.
Its unique beauty was recognized by Hollywood film directors, and used as a backdrop for many classic old Western movies, and more recent years, Forrest Gump, making the landscape world famous., and a symbol of the American Southwest.
What most people who only know this landscape from movies might not realize (until they want to visit and start researching it) is that Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park, contained within the land of the Navajo Nation and stretches 91,696 acres through two US states, Arizona and Utah.
We visited this gorgeous landscape several times over the years, and, as everywhere, we noticed the change in the number of people who visit this wonder. The first time we stopped - and camped - in Monument Valley, only a handful of outsiders (read non-Diné) wandered through the site.
During our latest visit, we drove the 17-mile loop on the rough dirt road through the Valley once again. As we drove into the park, we talked about all the changes we’ve seen over the decades.
Thirty-two years ago, the Navajo Nation didn’t charge an entrance fee, and the only place to stay was a campground where now The View hotel stands. A handful of shaded structures protected several Diné artisans selling their craft. We still have a hand-painted bowl we bought from one of them.
As of sleeping there though, to this day I remember it as the windiest campground we ever spent a night in. We had to get out of the tent. It felt like the howling wind was ripping it apart; so we ended up sleeping in the car. However, we looked up into some of the darkest skies and experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises.
We never camped there again, but stopped by a few times over the years. Even drove the scenic loop several times.
When we drove into the canyon so many years ago, we were the only car on the loop road. Now, we ran into something we considered traffic on the rough dirt road. On a Wednesday morning in September, most cars were rentals though, most visitors were Europeans.
The changes in the number of visitors or the way the Navajo Nation set up the park entrance may have changed a bit, but the landscape remains the same.
Not a valley at all, but a a wide, flat landscape interrupted by colorful red buttes and spires rising hundreds of feet into the air, Monument Valley showcases millions of years of nature’s power of creation.
Starting long before humans existed, layers upon beautiful layers of sandstone, siltstone and shale were deposited and cemented in the basin. Buried for millennia, they eventually lifted and folded to become a plateau, the Colorado Plateau.
Wind and rain did the rest, slowly removing the softer materials, chipping it away like an artist, to create the amazing sandstone sculptures we see today.
But this is not an end product, just a stop along the creation process. These same natural forces are still at work, slowly eroding the spires, buttes, and all the formations we know and love, into different shapes. We won’t see another version, but are lucky to enjoy the present shapes and colors.
However, this gorgeous piece of art seems like it’s only meant to be admired, not lived in. Vegetation is scarce in this high desert landscape. So scarce, it’s hard to believe anything - let alone anyone - can live here. It is a place fit for gods who love the beauty but need no food, water, or shelter from the scorching sun.
And yet, people live here. Not many, to be fair, but a few Diné families live in Monument Valley. When I look at the landscape, I don’t know how.
Juniper trees find enough soil and moisture to live in the shade of the towering rocks, but you don’t find many trees beside them. Purple sage, cliffrose, rabbitbrush and snakewood pepper the landscape, but not much else.
Scarce vegetation offers food and shelter to few animals, mostly lizards and snakes, but somehow jackrabbits, and even mountain lions find a way to survive here. And the Diné who live there found a way to raise sheep and horses here. This desert landscape is not as inhospitable as it seems.
And yet, it is still barren land. But it is exactly the lack of vegetation that makes its beauty possible, exposing the colorful landscape and showcasing the gorgeous red buttes and spires.
As we drive the 17-mile dirt road, so rough in some places, we barely make it over ditches without hitting the bottom of our SUV, we marvel at the surrounding rock formations, and stop at each viewpoint.
We start with the Three Sisters I remember from one of our earliest visits. It’s easy to recognize the three spires, carved from a larger butte.
On the other side of the same viewpoint I have trouble seeing the elephant in the Elephant Rock formation. Maybe we should be there in the afternoon to see that. I learned from multiple visits to this land that rock formations look different in morning and afternoon light.
We drive on, along smoother road now after reaching the bottom of the valley.
As the day progresses, it gets hot enough to warrant turning the air conditioner on in the car, even though it’s mid-September. When I get out of the car for a new viewpoint, I am looking for nonexistent shade.
So, we don’t linger much, even when we reach the most popular stop, where local Diné have tables set up selling their crafts. I see many visitors here, they make a few sales even in the short time we are there. This landscape might be all about beauty and not much else, but it is still helping the tribe.
Years ago when we visited, no one was there - and no one was trying to sell anything, either. The only reason we knew people lived there were the tiny roads forking from the main scenic road, with signs of do no enter, not part of the tour, and the lights of cars driving down the road late at night after the road closed.
My favorite stop was farther along though. I found a few stunted junipers that nevertheless offered some shade.
But the best part was the view of the vast valley, with the spires and butted jotting up from the colorful bottom.
By the time we drove through and got out of the valley, it was past lunch time. They say you can do the drive in about two hours. The restaurant of The View hotel had closed until dinner time, so we drove back to our campsite about half hour away, in the pinyon-juniper forest above the valley where the ancient ruins of Betatakin lay.
As always, thank you for reading Letters from a Wanderer!
Wishing you happy travels and all the best,
Emese
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Beautiful photos! Someday I’ll get out west and see those views.
These photos are surreal and majestic ! Amazing to see nature’s art shaped over millions of years, and how tough those desert plants are. The towering buttes and tiny cars really show how small we are in nature.