Monument Valley, COLORADO (U.S.A Utah)

Monument Valley, COLORADO (U.S.A Utah)

Where Is Monument Valley?

Good question. Maps aren’t exactly all-caps-ing its name. And part of part of Monument Valley’s charm is its remoteness, about 60 miles west of the zero-dimensional Utah–New Mexico border on Highway 163.

History & Culture

The earliest people to mark the area were the Anasazi, or Ancestral Puebloans, who settled in around 1200 BCE. Their art and building structures remain, hinting at an ancient resourcefulness that found promise in a foreboding desert.

The Navajo culture took root centuries before Spaniards entered the area in 1581, and 250,000 of their descendants still live on the 16-million-acre Navajo Nation. Monument Valley is a window into their culture. Explore their history, their way of life, their cuisine and their art. You can even take a little home in the form of handmade jewelry or a dyed wool rug.

Monument Valley captured a larger audience’s attention via director John Ford’s Westerns. Beginning with 1939’s Stagecoach, starring John Wayne, Ford’s many happy returns to Monument Valley, Utah, shaped how much of the outside world pictures the American West.

Monument Valley isn't a national park. It's not even a national monument. But it's as American as it gets.