Nature
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Gray Whiskers is a 6,385-foot butte in Monument Valley on Navajo Nation land in northeastern Arizona, southwest of the visitor center and visible from Highway 163. Its name, from the Navajo dághaa' libáí meaning “gray whiskers,” honors a Navajo Hataałii, or medicine man, who played an important role in creating Monument Valley Tribal Park in 1958. The butte rises steeply from the valley floor and drains into washes within the San Juan River basin. Its form preserves a geologic sequence from Permian to Triassic rock layers, with softer shale eroding faster than harder sandstone, helping create its distinctive profile in the semi-arid desert landscape.
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Arizona · United States
