Monument Valley is perhaps the most famous example of the classic American West landscape. In the Navajo Nation on the border of Arizona and Utah, the valley has been the backdrop for many movies and advertisements, ranging from Marlboro cigarette ads to the films of John Ford to Back to the Future 3 and Forrest Gump. In cinema and television, its landscapes are often used to represent the Old West of the cowboy era. The valley lies mostly in northern Arizona, but the northern part of the park is in Utah. The nearest town is Kayenta, about 20 mi (32 km) to the south.

The Navajo Nation and the State of Utah observe Mountain Daylight Saving Time from April through October, however Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so when you are in the State of Arizona and are not within the Navajo Nation, the time will be one hour earlier.

The distances are vast in the United States, and many people do not allow sufficient travel time, especially when they are used to the shorter distances in European and Asian countries. Many of Monument Valley's visitors are European and Japanese, and it is difficult for them to comprehend the distances you have to travel between destinations. If you travel from Las Vegas or Phoenix, your trip will take almost the entire day. You cannot see Monument Valley and also go further than the Grand Canyon to the south, and Moab to the north in the same day. Even staying at the Monument Valley for one night is cutting your stay extremely short relative to what there is to see in this part of the Navajo Nation.

- Wikivoyage