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Why
Monument Valley
is special
Spectacular buttes as high as a 70-story building rise from the desert floor in
Arizona, as do majestic spires and mesas.
Top two highlights
 View
of the three major buttes (see photo) from the Visitor’s Center.
Totem
Pole, a spire resembling its namesake. It soars over 125 meters (400 feet).
Monument Valley
Tips & insights
The
wonder's official name is the Monument Valley Tribal Park. It lies entirely in
Navajo Indian territory - and sits into two states, Arizona (mostly) and Utah.
The
best times of the day for sightseers and photographers are early morning and
late afternoon. The sun’s low-angled rays intensify the shadows and red hues of the scenic rock formations.
If
possible, enter the park when it opens (8 a.m.) to see the reddish sunrise
effect on the rocks.
The
morning view of the same butte will look markedly different than in the afternoon
light. Try to see the major ones at both times.
You can take a self-guided private tour in your car – or a Navajo Indian
guided tour in a 4-wheel vehicle. I recommend that you take the latter because it
goes places
where private cars are prohibited – and your guide will explain Navajo
culture.
Some
roads are paved, others are dirt/gavel surfaced with bumps galore.
The
self-guided tour takes 2 to 5 hours, depending mainly on how long you linger at
the scenic viewpoints. Most guided
tours last about 4 hours, though longer ones exists.
Horseback
trips and flight-seeing tours are also available.
Many famous movies and high-budget TV commercials have been filmed using the
buttes as backdrops. The first film was Stagecoach (the 1939 classic western starring
John Wayne). Others include the Academy Award winning Forest Gump and Stanley Kubrick’s space epic 2001.
The
buttes and mesas were carved by eroding winds and rain over millions of years.
There
are no accommodations within Monument Valley. The closest accommodations are in the
nearby Indian town of Goulding, Utah.
Several
Hillman gold and bronze medal winners are within a long day's drive from
Monument Valley:
 Bryce
Canyon
 Grand
Canyon
Rainbow
Bridge
Red
Rock Country
Zion
National Park
 
American cuisine
 
 
 
 
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