Monument Valley, Arizona: Nature's Fantastic Scenery Print


If you’re interested in seeing one of the world’s most beautiful sites, visit Monument Valley. For old Western movie buffs, it is a kind of Valhalla of Hollywood immortals John Wayne and director John Ford. In 1939, Ford first brought his film crew and young actor Wayne to the Valley to make "Stagecoach".

Together they created other great movies there, including “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, “Fort Apache”, “The Searchers” and a dozen more. Other films made in the Valley include “My Darling Clementine”, “Sergeant Rutledge” and “Cheyenne Autumn”.

Monument Valley is composed of prehistoric red sandstone rock formations that tower above the Arizona desert, some as high as a thousand feet. The natural sculpture was carved by huge, fast-flowing rivers over a million years. It’s spread for hundreds of miles in Arizona, along the Utah border, beginning some 20 miles southwest of Mexican Hat, Utah, 25 miles north of Kayenta, Arizona.

The area is within the Navajo Nation Reservation, which maintains the visitor facilities and provides rides through the area by jeep and tour trucks. For more information, check Monument Valley sites on the internet.