Monument Valley91,696-acre Navajo Tribal Park on the Utah-Arizona line — the Mittens, John Ford's Point, and the 17-mile Valley Drive past the West's most cinematic skyline

Monument Valley, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii in Navajo (the valley of the rocks), is a 91,696-acre Navajo Tribal Park on the Colorado Plateau straddling the Utah–Arizona border. The Navajo Nation established the park in 1958 — making it a tribal-managed parks system that predates the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department's similar designations elsewhere — and it is administered separately from the National Park Service. The park's iconic buttes are stratified Organ Rock Shale at the base, de Chelly Sandstone in the middle, and Moenkopi Formation capped by Shinarump Conglomerate; the deep red comes from iron oxide weathered out of the siltstone, the darker blue-gray streaks from manganese oxide.

The 17-mile dirt Valley Drive is the park's centerpiece — a self-drive loop from the visitor center past 11 numbered overlooks: West Mitten Butte and East Mitten Butte (the park's emblem), Merrick Butte, the Three Sisters formation, John Ford's Point (the angle from Stagecoach and The Searchers), Camel Butte, the 380-foot Totem Pole, Artist's Point, and the North Window. Standard sedans handle the loop in dry weather in 2–3 hours; the road is rough but passable. The 3.2-mile Wildcat Trail loops the West Mitten and is the only self-guided hike in the park. Off-loop destinations — Mystery Valley with its 30+ ancestral Puebloan ruins and natural arches, Hunts Mesa for top-down panoramas, Teardrop Arch, Ear of the Wind — are accessible only with a Navajo guide booked through the outfitters in the visitor center plaza ($80–$200 per person depending on route).

Plan a half-day for the Valley Drive and one Navajo-guided tour, a full day if you stay through sunset. The park is 24 miles north of Kayenta, AZ on US-163 and 24 miles south of Mexican Hat, UT — there is one hotel inside the park (The View, perched on the Mittens overlook) and two outside (Goulding's Lodge two miles west, plus options in Kayenta, Mexican Hat, and Bluff). The Navajo Nation observes Daylight Saving Time year-round, so during winter the park clock is one hour ahead of surrounding Arizona — confirm with the visitor center when you arrive. Sunrise from the visitor center balcony is the marketing pitch and worth it; arrive 45 minutes before dawn for an unobstructed spot.