American state with Monument Valley. Natural attractions of the USA

Monument Valley is a strange and magically beautiful geological phenomenon on the border of Utah and Arizona. Cowboy films have been filmed here so often that this landscape is familiar even to those who have never heard such a name.

The valley is part of the Colorado high plateau. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the sea splashed here, and soft rocks from the surrounding mountains were deposited at its bottom. Then tectonic forces raised this area, and wind and water over 50 million years eroded the layers compressed by time. But - unevenly: soft deposits were easily weathered, hard deposits resisted natural forces. As a result, colossal formations of fantastic shapes rose hundreds of meters above the valley floor.

The lower part of these remains is composed of loose shale and has a cone shape. Above rise huge vertical colonnades made of harder sandstone. The combination of these forms gives rise to amazing and solemn rock architecture: monstrous “temples”, “fortresses”, “human figures”. Some rocks have their own names: Eastern and Western Mittens, Three Sisters. In addition, huge boulders of various shapes are scattered in the valley, sometimes giving the impression of being very unstable.

The Martian colors of the valley are incredible: its soft rocks contain a lot of iron oxide, which makes the stone deposits bright red. Darker blue-gray rocks, remnants of manganese oxide shades, harmonize with them. The valley makes the strongest impression when the sun is low, at sunset and at sunrise: then it is crossed by sharp shadows stretching for hundreds of meters. The colors of rocks and soil can vary greatly: they depend on the angle of incidence of the sun's rays.

The master of this genre, John Ford, filmed his westerns here - one of the observation decks is named after him. A film critic wrote: Ford's "five square miles" convinced audiences for decades that this was what the Wild West looked like. Stanley Kubrick found landscapes of another planet here for the great “Space Odyssey.” The hero of the film “Forrest Gump” finished his run here. In the fifties of the last century, the courageous cowboy John Wayne posed here for Marlboro advertising posters. Such frequent use in popular culture has turned the valley into one of the national symbols of the United States.

The valley is located on the land of the Navajo tribe. It is a semi-autonomous Indian territory with its own government and its own legislation. The Monument Valley park itself belongs to the Navajo people, they set the rules here. Indian guides take those interested in cars along the ring road that spans the valley. Entry by car into the park is paid.

Americans have a strange, enthusiastic attitude towards deserts. This country has a good two dozen National Parks and Nature Reserves protecting desert and semi-desert landscapes, which, in general, are not threatened by anyone.

For comparison: in the former USSR, on a territory two and a half times larger, out of one hundred and sixty reserves, only ten protected desert areas, and the rest were located in forests, steppes, tundra and mountain ranges.

Among the many natural reserves lying in the vast deserts of the southern and western United States are the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River and two other parks in the valley of this river.

Joshua Tree Park (giant cacti) on the border of Mexico and California, Organ Pipes Cactus Park in Arizona, Death Valley, White Sands Desert, Carlsbad Caverns, Petrified Forest Park, and a number of others.

But the most popular of them and known to any tourist, at least by hearsay, is the famous Monument Valley.

Among the hundreds of thousands of travelers who visit this amazing place every year, there are many guests from abroad, who sometimes travel enormous distances to see this miracle of nature.

And Monument Valley is worth it. It is unlikely that anywhere else on Earth you can find so many gigantic stone remains of the most fantastic forms, looking especially impressive in the dry and clear air of the desert.

This natural phenomenon is located in the valley of the San Juan River, a tributary of the mighty Colorado, flowing along the border of the states of Utah and Arizona in the southwestern United States.

Unfortunately, black and white photographs are not able to convey the unique charm of the landscape of this corner of America, where colors, shapes, shadows and the viewer’s imagination form a striking fusion, giving birth to fabulous visions that change their appearance every hour throughout the entire time from sunrise to sunset.

When you approach Monument Valley along the only highway leading to it through the Arizona desert, it seems that some amazing country is appearing on the horizon, where ancient castles and oriental temples alternate with modern skyscrapers and abstract sculptures.

Here grandeur and threat, humor and revived good fantasy, heroic impulse and mournful mourning coexist.

The lifeless, sagebrush-covered plain serves as an ideal neutral backdrop for the fullest perception of the natural monuments of this valley of stone wonders.

The height of the giant rock outcrops, composed of red, brown and yellow sandstones, reaches three hundred meters. The incredible diversity and bizarre appearance of the rocks gave rise to their unusual names, most of which were born in the 19th century, when the first white people appeared in the valley.

However, in those years, a few daredevils managed to get into this inhospitable desert region, moreover, inhabited by warlike Navajo Indians.

This tribe, by the way, is one of the largest in the United States (now the Navajos are about a quarter of a million people) and one of the few that have been able to benefit from communicating with pale-faced people.

Back in the 17th century, they adopted the skills of handling sheep brought here from the Spaniards and soon completely changed their economic life, becoming real sheep breeders. This allowed them to successfully exist in the harsh desert conditions.

The Navajo continue to maintain their new way of life today, constantly improving the quality and style of their wool products. And it must be said that skillfully woven blankets and rugs with Navajo ritual designs cause a real stir among tourists.

Mass visits to Monument Valley began after 1870, when the Indian Wars ended, and especially since the second half of the 20th century, when the United States was swept by a tourist boom.

The endless expanses of the valley, the flat terrain and the enormous size of the rocks allow you to view most of the monuments directly from your car.

However, a traveler will get a truly strong, almost real feeling of being in a fantasy world if he climbs onto one of the outcrops and admires the landscape from a bird's eye view.

From above, the “Castle” looks especially majestic - a mighty three-hundred-meter massif with a flat, crenellated top.

“Rukavichki” looks somehow childishly playful - two symmetrical rocks with turrets sticking out from the sides, looking like protruding fingers.

In the distance rise the “Three Nuns”, headed by the tall (245 meters) “Abbess”. And not far from the “Mittens” the portly “Nestka” sat on a nest.

The vagaries of natural forces have turned some rocks into the likeness of giant mushrooms, and some remains resemble gigantic stumps, cacti or cypress trees.

The history of the emergence of this amazing landscape is, in general, traditional for such remnant groups. For millions of years, on the site of the current plain, the waves of a shallow Mesozoic sea splashed, at the bottom of which layers of sandstones were deposited.

At the end of the Cretaceous period, as a result of the uplift of the earth's crust, a vast sandstone plateau was formed in place of the sea, which was subsequently eroded by rain and destroyed by frost and wind until it was dissected into separate mesas, and then into scattered towers and columns.

It must be said that nature did not skimp on stone miracles for the southwestern states of the USA.

Just to the west of Monument Valley, at the confluence of the San Juan and the Colorado, over the drying-up Bridge Creek, the beautiful, absolutely symmetrical arch of the Rainbow Bridge soared into the sky.

This amazing natural bridge has long been known to white residents of the United States only from Navajo legends, who told their “pale-faced brothers” about a mysterious “petrified rainbow” hidden in their native mountains.

Interested in this legend, three daredevils ventured in 1909 to climb deep into the inaccessible desert mountains, to where the sacred Navajo Mountain rises above San Juan.

Having arrived at the foot of the mountain, they descended into the gorge and... gasped with delight: a gigantic almost hundred-meter arch of sandstone shimmering with pink, bluish and red-brown shades rose above the rocky canyon.

It was so perfect that it was hard to believe that it was not the work of human hands. Rising from a rock fused to its base, the arch flies through a canyon eighty-five meters wide, rising to a height of about ninety meters above the river.

The Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower or the Ivan the Great Bell Tower could easily fit under it. The arch reaches thirteen meters in thickness and ten meters in width, so the natural bridge could easily accommodate a two-lane highway.

The Navajo Indians have long considered the “stone rainbow” sacred and flock to it every year to worship. But getting to these places along mountain paths was very difficult.

Only after the construction of the dam on the Colorado River in 1963 and the formation of Lake Powell Reservoir, it became possible to easily get to the Rainbow Bridge on a regular pleasure boat, and masses of tourists were able to see the amazing creation of nature not only in photographs.

Natural stone arch bridges are found in various areas of our planet. They are in China, the Middle East, and Armenia. But Utah was the luckiest state.

There was even a Stone Arches National Park established here, three hundred kilometers north of the Rainbow Bridge, in an area famous for its many bizarre rocks and stone bridges of various shapes.

They are given poetic and sometimes humorous names: “Dark Angel”, “Ship Pine”, “Farewell”, “Vault of Heaven”, “Landscape” and even “Old Maid’s Robe”.

And in the Painted Desert, located south of Monument Valley, a century and a half ago, American Army Lieutenant Sitgreaves, who came here, discovered the remains of a truly unprecedented forest.

The stumps and logs that somehow ended up in the middle of the desert looked exactly like the real thing: with bark, twigs and annual rings. But they were not made of wood, but of the strongest stone, as if an unknown wizard had turned them to stone with his spells.

The Indians who visited these places believed that the arrows of the Thunder God were lying in the rocky desert. In fact, here in Arizona, on the left bank of the Colorado River, the largest fossilized forest known on the planet was discovered.

It has been preserved since the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era, when dinosaurs roamed the mighty coniferous forests surrounding the swampy valley.

As scientists have established, the height of ancient trees averaged thirty meters, and their diameter reached two meters. However, other giants were twice as tall and thick.

True, these days almost all the logs have fallen apart into several pieces, but this allows you to see the whole variety of quartz crystals and its varieties, which replaced rotted wood during the crystallization process.

Stone copies of trees on sections sparkle with crystals of pink amethyst, black morion, transparent rock crystal and fine white quartz, shimmer with whimsical patterns of chalcedony, jasper, onyx and carnelian.

The largest concentrations of unique logs in this stone thicket received special names depending on the appearance of the trunks found: “Blue Mountain”, “Crystal Forest”, “Rainbow Forest”, “Black Forest” and “Jasper Forest”.

And on the outskirts of this amazing corner of the desert, many centuries ago the Indians built a sanctuary from especially beautiful stone trunks and called it the “Agate House”.

This area, like much of Arizona, is a desert that receives only about two hundred millimeters of precipitation per year, but precipitation falls on the ground, usually in the form of torrential downpours that wash away up to three centimeters of soil.

And each such rain washes out of the ground new, previously hidden treasures of the petrified forest.

This country of stone castles, bridges and forests literally fascinates the traveler with its bizarre outlines of palaces and towers in the rays of dawn and the pink semicircle of the arch over the desert canyon.

If suddenly on your TV screen you see two brutal guys standing opposite each other and ready to grab a Colt from a leather holster and put their opponent down with lightning speed right in front of the saloon, just waiting for the slightest reason, you already know that this film is from the Western genre. Dashing cowboys rush across the prairies, catching up with the Indians (well, or vice versa), the leader of the redskins smokes a peace pipe and buries the hatchet, all this action is accompanied by music familiar from childhood and ... classic landscapes of the wild, wild West. With a high degree of probability, in these films in the background you will see one of the largest, most famous and simply beautiful sights in America - Monument Valley.

Just don't say that you haven't watched Westerns and haven't seen these landscapes.

This is not a set, this is a real place. Monument Valley is located in two American states of Arizona and Utah directly on their border, on the territory of the Navajo Indians. The Indians themselves called this territory “The place between the rocks where there are no trees.” The rocks are part of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which is owned by the Navajo Tribe.

Monument Valley on the map

• Geographic coordinates 36.979380, -110.086430
• The distance from the US capital Washington is about 2900 km in a straight line
• The nearest airport, Monument Valley Airport, is approximately 11 km away, but it is not capable of handling large aircraft, it is more of a small airfield for light recreational aircraft
• The nearest airport is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 430 km away. further south

Monument Valley is made up of rocks left over from the endless weathering of parts of the Colorado Plateau. The softer rocks have been eroded over time, but the denser red sandstone cliffs now rise above the prairie. Geologists call these rocks remnants. But they are also subject to destruction. Look, around the rocks you can see characteristic rubble of sand and rock fragments.

The process of formation of such mountains is most similar to the process of the appearance of giant stone mushrooms in the Akkurum tract in Altai.

The huge rocks in the middle of a plain covered with sparse vegetation look stunning and unreal.
Monument Valley's most famous rocks even have their own names. These are the Three Sisters, Eastern and Western Mittens. If you look at these mittens from a distance, you get the feeling that they are a mirror image of each other.

Eastern and Western Mittens (left and center)
Three sisters. Most likely the youngest is in the center

If you visit the valley, you should pay attention to one more attraction. 30 kilometers to the northeast lies one of the most unusual natural sculptures in the world - the Mexican Hat (Mexican hat, or simply Sombrero). This amazing formation weighs tens of tons and balances practically on the end of a needle, defying the laws of gravity for hundreds of years. Mexican Hat measures approximately 18 meters wide and up to 3.7 meters thick. This formation is located in the area of ​​the town of the same name.

Settlers were able to see and visit Monument Valley only in the second half of the 19th century, when the bloody wars with the Indians were coming to an end. But the whole world learned about this attraction only in the first half of the 20th century. At that time, Harry Goulding settled in these places and organized a small company. He hoped that the beauty of the valley would attract travelers. But things were going badly. For 10 years, Harry was practically marking time. But one day he took the plunge and went to Hollywood with photographs of Monument Valley. It wasn't long before the directors liked them. Harry, along with his photographs, was constantly sent to different offices until he came to the attention of director John Ford. He liked the photos of Monument Valley, and as a result, in 1938 a Western called Stagecoach appeared. Since then, the fame of the attraction has spread across the planet, and Harry Goulding’s business has gone uphill.

Later, not only classic westerns were filmed here, but also scenes from such famous films as “McKenna’s Gold”, the second and third parts of “Back to the Future”, Forest Gump and many others. Music and advertising videos were filmed several times.

Since the lands and park belong to the Indians, you will have to pay for the right to visit there.
The park is actually open to tourists all year round, but has certain opening hours. In summer, from May to September from 8 am to 8 pm. In winter, from October to April from 8 am to 5 pm.

You can explore Monument Valley on foot; there is a short route for this. Riding a horse, feeling like a cowboy or an Indian. But the best option is to take a car ride. There is a road through the park with parking lots at the most famous and remarkable rocks. You can walk through the valley on your own or as part of an organized tourist group with a guide.

Rules for visiting Monument Valley

• It is mandatory to comply with all signs and signs installed in the park
• It is forbidden to deviate or leave the route (but sometimes this is allowed for groups accompanied by a guide)
• To take professional photos and videos, you must obtain permission. This does not apply to ordinary tourists, but professionals are provided with a tripod and expensive photo and video equipment
• You can visit the park with pets, but they must be kept on a leash
• consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited
• Mountaineering is not allowed
• you cannot take away stones and plants
• Local residents cannot be photographed without permission

Monument Valley photo

– Sunset at Mile 13 of Highway 163, Monument Valley

Getting to know America

Road to Monument Valley

Western icon

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park- This is a desert valley, on the border of the States of Utah and Arizona, with monolithic blocks and flat mountains. She is known all over the world thanks to Western films. After all, the landscape Monument Valley It is one of the 100 most famous natural wonders, making this place a very busy tourist attraction. Standing alone in the flat sandy desert, the huge red mesas, sharp peaks and steep slopes, have been filmed countless times and have been photographed in colorful magazines.

We considered it a must to be in the states and visit this place. Plus, it's on the road from Moab to Reg. At 13:30 we entered the park.

– Setting Hen rock formation

– Parking in front of the Navajo Tribal Center

The parking lot was full and tours left every 15 minutes. As we found out, the last round began at 8:00. If you look at the map that I provide at the end of the post, the tour indicated by the red line cost $75 USD, and the black one - $85 USD. But first, we decided to visit the information center, buy souvenirs and take a little break from the road. The hotel lobby, which is connected to the information center, was quiet, cozy and had a wonderful view of the valley.

– The View Hotel, Monument Valley

– Hotel lobby

– Classic view from the Navajo Tribal Center, Monument Valley. Rock formations West Mitten Butte (right), East Mitten (center), Merrick Butte (left)

If you wish, you can skip paying $75 USD for a small circle around the valley and take a ride in your own car. It will take about two hours, but after that the whole car will be covered in red dust, like in the two photos below. We didn’t want to drive in a crowd of cars and take already blurry pictures of “Mittens” from lower angles. We decided to ask the guides if it was possible to do an individual tour with an overnight stay.

It turned out that you can do such a tour if you wish, but it will not cost a lot of money. We made an assessment of our strength and time, after which we decided not to damage the car on the off-road valley, spare the strength of the only driver, and limited ourselves to shooting from easily accessible vantage points.

– Find out the price for an individual tour

– This is where cars return from a self-guided tour along Velley Road

In the photo below, behind the people, you see excursion cars. They are open. Those. After a tour in such a car, you yourself will return in red dust, and what will happen to the photographic equipment is not clear.

- Today's Indians have iron horses for off-road use.

– “You are trustworthy” – local dog in the parking lot

– Indian girl in national clothes. Upon request for photography.
– Another classic sunset view from the Navajo Tribal Center.

As it turns out, the viewing platforms are also interesting here. People order photos with Indians in national costumes. I managed to photograph one such model after a photo session.

– We are leaving Monument Valley. Brigham's Tomb rock formation

The sun is setting and we need to reach mile 13 on Highway 163. We planned to shoot the sunset from there.

– Last rays of sunset at milepost 13 of Highway 163, Monument Valley. Rock formations from right to left - Brigham's Tomb, The King on his Throne, Stagecoach, Bear and Rabbit and Gray Whiskers (Gray Whiskers).

– Outline map of Monument Valley

To be continued.

Getting to know America
part 1 -
part 2 -
part 3 – Colorado Plateau
–
– Bryce Canyon –

Monument Valley is no less attractive place in the USA than the well-known one. It is located approximately 300 kilometers from it, so you should not neglect this natural attraction when driving through Arizona. The rock formations are located in the northeast of the state, on the border with Utah. Officially, this territory belongs to the Navajo Indian tribe, but undoubtedly it is the property of the country, and is also included in the hundred amazing natural beauties.

How Monument Valley was formed

The natural attraction is a desert plain on which mountain formations of remarkable shape rise. They often have steep slopes, almost perpendicular to the ground, making the figures seem as if they were created by human hand. But this is not at all true; you just need to find out how the famous valley was formed.

Previously, this territory was located in the sea, at the bottom of which there was sandstone. Due to changes in the geological features of the planet millions of years ago, the water left here, and the porous rock began to be compressed into shale. Under the influence of the sun, precipitation, and winds, most of the territory turned into a desert plain, and only small growths were still preserved and took on an unusual shape.

At the moment, natural factors are still affecting the porous ledges, but it will take thousands of years for the natural landmark to be leveled. Most mountains are so unusual in their shape that they are given interesting names. The most popular are Mittens, Three Sisters, Mother Superior, Mother Hen, Elephant, Big Indian.

Journey to a natural heritage

In America, many people strive to see with their own eyes the beauty that stretches for tens of kilometers. They look picturesque in photos, but nothing beats a tour of Monument Valley. It is recommended to arrange a guide in advance, who will tell you many amazing legends about the rock formations. Otherwise, the trip around the area will end quite quickly, because walking is not allowed here.

There is a route along the plain, which can be covered by car. Several stops are allowed in strictly limited places. In addition, there are a number of prohibitions on the territory of the Indian reservation, namely:

• climb rocks;
• leave the route;
• enter houses;
• film Indians;
• bring alcoholic drinks.

On average, a tour of the local expanses lasts about an hour, but it will be remembered for a long time, since such a picturesque place cannot be found anywhere else.

Interest for popular culture

The natural beauty of this place is appreciated by filmmakers, as most Westerns cannot do without filming on a desert plain with rock formations. The territory is imbued with the spirit of cowboys, so you can often see Monument Valley in movies, videos, and in photographs of fashion magazines.

In many ways, this popularity among representatives of show business also adds to the fame of the shale plain. Tourists from different countries strive to visit the natural heritage and plunge into the atmosphere of a western. The effect is further enhanced by the fact that among the local residents there are mainly Indians who still maintain their culture.

Nature can create unique beauties, and the desert valley with intricate rocks is one of the extraordinary places. Of course, the slate mountains will not soon change their appearance, but until this happens, it is worth visiting this place and touching the miracle that has been created over millennia.