Spearhead Mesa

Spearhead Mesa is a prominent summit in Monument Valley on Navajo Nation land in northeastern Arizona, rising steeply from the desert with a notably abrupt profile. Located near the Monument Valley visitor center, it takes its name from a sandstone spire above Artist Point that resembles a spear point. Its runoff flows into Gypsum Creek, a tributary of the San Juan River. The mesa is composed of layered rock formations from the Permian to the Late Triassic, including Organ Rock Shale, De Chelly Sandstone, Moenkopi Formation, and Shinarump Conglomerate. The contrast between softer shale and resistant sandstone helps create the isolated buttes and mesas that characterize this semi-arid landscape.

Arizona · United States