The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies.

Film critic Keith Phipps wrote that "its five square miles [13 km2] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West".

The floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler Group, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley.

[citation needed] Visitors may pay an access fee and drive through the park on a 17-mile (27 km) dirt road.

Although the valley experiences an average of 54 days above 90 °F (32 °C) annually, summer highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C).

[citation needed] Monument Valley has been featured in numerous computer games, in print, and in motion pictures, including multiple Westerns directed by John Ford that influenced audiences' view of the American West, such as: Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and The Searchers (1956).