Much of this area is tribal land and tribal guides are the only way to see part of the land and its formations. But another part of Monument Valley is a 360,000-acre Bureau of Land Management land called Cedar Mesa Cultural and Recreational Management Area. Today we’ll be driving along a 17-mile loop through the Valley of the Gods (not to be confused with the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs).
history and current use
Some call the freestanding sandstone monoliths and pinnacles a Miniature Monument Valley, and we have to agree. Many of the formations have been given names to describe them. Navajoes believe the rock formations have spirits residing in them and so are places of power they can appeal to for protection.
Both this area and Moki Dugway have been popular places for filming locations for both still shots and movies. Commercial ads, major motion pictures, promotions for recreational events such as Marlboro Adventure team and hot air balloon rides and even background shots for a Play Station game have taken place here. See if you can recognize any, especially the last 2 pictures.
The features in the Valley of the Gods are all sculpted from Cedar Mesa sandstone dating back some 250 million years ago. The 1200-foot thick sandstone was cemented by calcium carbonate mixed with red siltstone and then deposited in huge sand dunes near the shores of an ancient sea. Erosion by water, wind, and ice over millions of years chiseled these rock formations into the shapes we see today.
Let’s start driving and see what you’d name these formations.
One of the popular features is called the Mitten, but we didn’t find it. The 17-mile graded gravel and clay surface road was a challenge to drive on with its few sharp turns. If storms had gone through the area and the road was wet, we could have been in trouble when we crossed a number of deep washes. A few times we drove right next to a feature where large boulders had fallen next to the road way. I wanted to take a picture, but was concerned that a boulder would fall on us as I clicked my camera.
Forest Gump road
One of the movies filmed in Monument Valley was the running scene in Forest Gump. The manager at our KOA campground said we should look for a group of people standing in the middle of the road. We found it!
The next post has more information about this area and how we came to know about it.
