Gray Whiskers is situated 1.6 miles (2.6 km) southwest of the Monument Valley visitor center on Navajo Nation land and can be seen from Highway 163.

Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over 800 feet (244 meters) above the surrounding terrain in 0.15 mile (0.24 km).

[4] The butte is named after a Navajo Hataałii (medicine man) who was instrumental in creating the Monument Valley Tribal Park in 1958.

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.