Things to do nearThe Mittens & Merrick Butte Viewpoint

Monument Valley has been home to the Navajo people for centuries, and The Mittens & Merrick Butte Viewpoint stands at the heart of Tsé Bitʼaʼi, the Navajo name for the valley. The buttes are sacred landforms, and the Navajo Nation Tribal Park, established in 1958, protects them while welcoming visitors who come to witness their scale firsthand.

From the viewpoint, the two Mitten Buttes appear as enormous stone hands reaching skyward, their thumb-like spires casting long shadows across the sand. Merrick Butte rises to the southeast, broader and more solitary. The valley floor between them is open desert, threaded with dirt roads used by Navajo-guided jeep tours.

The visitor center nearby houses exhibits on Navajo history, geology, and the valley's long history as a filming location for classic Westerns. Guided tours led by Navajo residents offer context that no signboard can replicate, covering geology, oral tradition, and daily life on the land.

Few landscapes in North America carry the same immediate recognition as this one, and standing at the viewpoint confirms why it endures as a symbol of the American West.