epicrides

Monumental Views

An icon of the American West, Monument Valley straddles the Arizona-Utah border and falls within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation reservation. Massive red sandstone buttes rise as much as 1,000 feet above the valley floor, the most famous of which are The Mittens, a pair of buttes with“ thumbs” facing inward. Monument Valley is most easily reached by riding on U. S. Route 163, either south from Mexican Hat, Utah, or north from Kayenta, Arizona. Paying the entrance fee at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park gives you access to Valley Drive, a 17- mile unpaved scenic road that winds its way around many of the buttes.

Photo by Michelle Wolter