Monument Valley, a red-sand desert region on the Arizona-Utah border, is known for the towering sandstone buttes of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. It is said that the Anasazi are likely the ancestors of the Navajo Indians who have lived in Monument Valley since before Columbus landed in the Americas.

Formed during the Permian period, this patch of land once formed part of a seafloor where sediments and sandstone piled up in layers for millions of years. The three main formations that form the monuments are the Organ Rock Formation, De Chelly Formation and the Moenkopi Formation.

The Navajo name for the area is Tse Bii’ Ndzisgaii, which means ‘valley of the rocks.’ Monument Valley’s isolated rock formations are eroded remains of their Rocky Mountain ancestors, formed by sandstone deposits and geologic uplift and then shaped by wind and water. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located on the Navajo Nation.

I left the Moab area and heading toward Monument Valley. As I traveled down Highway 163 in Northern Arizona the first sandstone butte appears, I was entering Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, valley of the rocks in the Navajo language. To go off road into restricted areas you needed to hire a hire a Navajo guide. I hired a Navajo guide from Phillips Photography Tours. I signed up for the Sunset Photo Tour- 3:30pm-7pm and the Night Photo Tour- 9pm-12am. on October 1st, 2019.

During the Sunset tour we visited ancient ruins, petroglyphs, and pictographs left behind by Anasazi people who lived in the area 800 plus years ago. The tour ended with a visit to Tear Drop Arch.

We stayed in the RV park near the View hotel in our Sprinter Van Tiny. We had a beautiful vista of Monument Valley.