Page 536 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

534  THE SOUTHWEST

n Monument Valley
From scenic Highway 163, which crosses the border
of Utah and Arizona, it is possible to see the famous
buttes and mesas of Monument Valley. These ancient
rocks, soaring upward from a seemingly boundless
desert, have come to symbolize the American West,
since they have been used as a backdrop for count­
less movies and TV shows. The area’s visitor center
sits within the boundary of Monument Valley Tribal
Park, but many of the valley’s spectacular rock Guided Tours
formations and other sites are found just outside A row of kiosks at the visitor center
offer Navajo-guided 4WD tours of
the park boundary. the valley. The marketing tactics can
be aggressive, but the tours offer an
excellent way to see places in the
Three Sisters park that are otherwise inaccessible.
One of several
distinctive pinnacle rock
formations at the valley,
the closest view of the
Three Sisters can be
seen from John Ford’s Left Mitten
Point, and is one of the
most photographed
sights here.

Art & Ruins
Petroglyphs such as
this bighorn sheep
can be seen on
Navajo-guided tours
of rock art sites, which
are dotted around the
valley’s ancient ruins.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is not really a valley. The
tops of the mesas mark what was once a flat
plain. Millions of years ago, this plain was
cracked by upheavals within the earth. The
cracks widened and eroded, leaving the
formations rising from the desert floor.

Exploring the Valley Mitchell Blanding Left Mitten
Butte
The awe-inspiring beauty of Merrick Butte
Monument Valley’s buttes Right Mitten
and mesas can be viewed
by travelers from Highway UTAH
163. Visitors can also pay ARIZONA
a fee to travel on a 17-mile
(27-km) self-guided drive MONUMENT 0 kilometers 20
along a well-marked dirt VALLEY NAVAJO 0 miles 20
road. (Fees are collected TRIBAL PARK
at the visitor center.) Key
Alternatively, Navajo guides
may be hired for hiking, Elephant Major highway
horseback, or 4WD tours Kayenta Highway
to fascinating and less- Butte National Park boundary
visited parts of the valley. Shiprock Gouldings John Ford’s
Lodge Point State boundary
For keys to symbols see back flap

534-535_EW_USA.indd 534 11/2/16 2:47 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 24th April 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm