Trail of the Ancients - Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Utah - National Scenic Byways on Waymarking.com

From America's Byways:

The Trail of the Ancients in Colorado and Utah takes you back to a time long before the United States existed, long before Spaniards came north from what is today Central America. Amazingly, some regions of the Colorado Plateau remain today much as they must have been in the 13th and 14th Centuries. Arid and mostly uninhabited, the terrain along the byway conceals secrets of bygone populations, vibrant people who came and went like snow in warm spring sunshine or tumbleweeds at the front of a desert storm. The byway travels through some of our country's most beautiful yet austere country, and it lends itself to contemplation and rejuvenation as well as recreational adventures.

The native people knew how to choose a neighborhood. Their "backyard" is diverse and breathtaking. Monument Valley in Utah was John Ford and John Wayne's favorite movie location. As John Wayne said, "This is where God put the West." Monument Valley is the West at its finest, with huge vistas, marvelous sunsets, bright red and orange sandstone of any shade Georgia O'Keefe or Henry Matisse could ever desire. The individual is dwarfed in the shadow of such natural grandeur. It is here that Native Americans have survived and thrived in centuries past, where it rains just a handful of inches a year, where the ecosystem is fragile and fierce.

Monument Valley is home to the Navajo people. The park visitor center highlights their lifestyle, history, and traditions. The landscape of the valley is overwhelming in both beauty and size: fragile, sandstone pinnacles are matched only by the mesas and broad vistas in the valley. Some of the rock formations can be easily viewed from US-163, but to view others one must travel off the road with a Navajo guide.

Program: America's Byways Website: [Web Link] Official Name: Trail of the Ancients, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, UT

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