Arguably one of the
USA's and the world’s most recognisable landscapes, Monument Valley instantly evokes the spirit of the Wild West and the sunbaked desert frontier. Breathtaking in its majestic simplicity and the stark contrast of the vast and wild red desert and the huge, deep blue sky this is a place that featured in numerous early motion pictures, particularly the Westerns of John Ford.
The dramatic and expansive vistas were carved by wind, water and time, the most famous monoliths, called The Mittens, looming over 300 metres tall over the desert plain. Straddling the Arizona- Utah state border, the valley is part of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, sovereign territory of the Navajo Nation and is preserved and managed directly by the community. It remains a stronghold of Navajo culture, deeply tied to the spiritual world, a sacred geography that is an essential element of Navajo emergence stories and a symbol of the endurance of past tribulations.
