Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Monument Valley and Mystery Valley are located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona. The valleys lie within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation. The Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii' Ndzisgaii (Valley of the Rocks).
The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide. The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone. The valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun.
Monument Valley and Mystery Valley are side by side and are the ancient home of the Anasazi who were a prehistoric Native American civilization, the ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples, including the Hopi, Zuni and the Pueblo. The Navajo and the modern Hopi call them "Hisatsinom" (People of Long Ago). The word “Anasazi” is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy."
Read MoreThe area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide. The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone. The valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun.
Monument Valley and Mystery Valley are side by side and are the ancient home of the Anasazi who were a prehistoric Native American civilization, the ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples, including the Hopi, Zuni and the Pueblo. The Navajo and the modern Hopi call them "Hisatsinom" (People of Long Ago). The word “Anasazi” is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy."
Monument Valley, The Three Sisters
