The Valley of the Gods is a scenic

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

valley near Mexican Hat in San Juan County, southeastern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, United States. Part of

Bears Ears National Monument Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects of public land s ...

, the Valley of the Gods is located north of

Monument Valley Monument Valley ( nv, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, , meaning ''valley of the rocks'') is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the Utah-Arizona ...

across the San Juan River and has rock formations similar to those in Monument Valley with tall, reddish brown

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

and mushroom rocks, remnants of an ancient landscape. On December 4, 2017, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

issued a proclamation that reduced the area of Bears Ears National Monument, proclaimed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

on December 28, 2016, with new monument boundaries that exclude the Valley of the Gods. The area remains protected public land administered as an

Area of Critical Environmental Concern Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a conservation ecology program in the Western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act ( ...

and managed by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's ...

, as it was before the monument designation.

Overview

The Valley of the Gods may be toured via a gravel road (San Juan County Road 242) that winds around the formations. The road is rather steep and bumpy in parts but is passable by non-

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

vehicles in dry weather. The western end joins Utah State Route 261 shortly before its ascent up Cedar Mesa at Moki Dugway, while the eastern end starts from the town of Mexican Hat along

U.S. Route 163 U.S. Route 163 (also U.S. Highway 163, US 163) is a U.S. Highway that runs from US 160 northward to US 191 in the U.S. states of Arizona and Utah. The southernmost of its length are within the Navajo Nation. The highway forms part of the Tr ...

and heads north, initially crossing flat, open land and following the course of Lime Creek, a seasonal wash, before turning west toward the buttes and pinnacles. In addition to the gravel road, the area is also crisscrossed by off-road dirt trails. Valley of the Gods in the snow, nov 2019.jpg, Valley of the Gods in the snow in November 2019 Valley of the Gods stones.jpg, Sandstone towers Valley of the Gods, UT.JPG, Valley of the Gods, 2019 The valley is public land managed by the

. No entrance fee is charged and no services are provided in the valley.

Dispersed camping Dispersed Camping is the term given to camping in the United States on public land other than in designated campsites. This type of camping is most common on national forest and Bureau of Land Management land. Designated campsites often offer s ...

is permitted at previously disturbed sites, though campfires are not allowed."Valley of the Gods"
''blm.gov''. BLM. Retrieved December 9, 2017.

In popular culture

The valley has been used as the backdrop for various movies, commercials and television shows including: * Several Western movies * In the ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series that centers on a high-technology military helicopter, code-named ''Airwolf'', and its crew. The show follows them as they undertake various exotic missions, many involving e ...

'' (1984–1986) television series, the titular helicopter Airwolf lair is located in the valley (although actually filming was done in

). * In 2011, two episodes of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' TV show: "

The Impossible Astronaut "The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was written by show runner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. It was first broadcast on 23 ...

" and "

Day of the Moon "Day of the Moon" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 on ...

", the second of which includes an explicit on-screen reference to the filming location. * The valley is the titular location in Lech Majewski's 2019 film of the same name.

References

External links

Official BLM site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valley Of The Gods Colorado Plateau Landforms of San Juan County, Utah Rock formations of Utah Tourist attractions in San Juan County, Utah Valleys of Utah