[2] Big Indian is situated three miles (4.8 km) north-northeast of the Monument Valley Tribal Park Visitor Center, on Navajo Nation land.

[3] Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 700 feet (213 meters) above the surrounding terrain in 0.25 mile (0.4 km).

The bottom layer is slope-forming Organ Rock Shale underlaying cliff-forming De Chelly Sandstone.

The buttes and mesas of Monument Valley are the result of the Organ Rock Shale being more easily eroded than the overlaying sandstone.

This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.