Monument Valley

This article is about the region of the Colorado Plateau. For other uses, see Monument Valley (disambiguation).

Monument Valley
Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii
View of West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte, and Merrick Butte in northeastern Arizona
Highest point
Elevation	5,000 to 6,000 ft (1,500 to 1,800 m)
Coordinates	36°59′N 110°6′W
Naming
Native name	Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii (Navajo)
Geography
Monument Valley Location within Arizona Monument Valley Location within the United States
Location	Arizona, United States
Geology
Mountain type	Butte
Rock type	Siltstone

View of Monument Valley in Utah, looking south on U.S. Route 163 from 13 miles (21 km) north of the Utah–Arizona state line

Mitchell Mesa from the View Hotel.

Monument Valley (Navajo: Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, pronounced [tsʰépìːʔ ǹtsɪ̀skɑ̀ìː], meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line. The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies.

Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Famed director John Ford used the location for a number of his Westerns. Film critic Keith Phipps wrote that "its five square miles [13 km²] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West".