1.4 miles away
Agathla Peak
An eroded volcanic plug rising more than 1,500 feet south of Monument Valley, held sacred by the Navajo and visible from U.S. Route 163.
Owl Rock
A 6,547-foot sandstone summit on Navajo Nation land north of Kayenta, held sacred as a spindle left by the Holy People.
- Rank in Arizona
- #168of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 47.6 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Natural Landmark
Owl Rock is a sandstone summit of 6,547 feet on the east edge of Tyende Mesa, south of Monument Valley in north-eastern Arizona. It stands 7 miles north of Kayenta on Navajo Nation land, rising 1,000 feet above the surrounding terrain and visible from Highway 163; its nearest higher neighbour, Agathla Peak, lies 1.4 miles east-north-east on the opposite side of the road. Runoff from the formation drains into El Capitan Wash, part of the San Juan River drainage basin. The English name describes its resemblance to an owl when viewed from the east. In Navajo it is Bee 'Adizí, meaning spindle, and it is held sacred as a spindle left behind by the Holy People; a more recent name is Tsé Ts'óózí, meaning Slim Rock. Fred Beckey and Harvey Carter made the first ascent in April 1966, climbing cracks on the west face and then bolting up the smooth south nose, on a route they called Warpath.
Where it is
Owl Rock is a natural landmark near Kayenta, in Navajo County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Owl Rock, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
5.9 miles away
Ancestral Puebloan Ruins
Ruins in southern Monument Valley thought to be the largest and most intact in the valley, set in a wide, shallow rock cave.7.1 miles away
Ancestral Puebloan Ruin and Petroglyphs
A Monument Valley ruin and petroglyph site on a canyon edge, fenced since 2018 to better protect it, unusually sited on the ground.
7.8 miles away
Navajo Code Talkers exhibit
A Kayenta exhibit, in a building behind a Burger King, on how Navajo code talkers secured US military communications in the Second World War.
11 miles away
Ear of the Wind
Ear of the Wind is a rock arch in Monument Valley, Navajo County, Arizona, standing directly beside a sand dune.
11 miles away
Hunts Mesa
A 6,370-foot mesa at the south-eastern edge of Monument Valley, reached only with a Navajo guide by way of the dunes near Kayenta.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Natural Landmark
- Destination
- Kayenta
- County
- Navajo County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 47.6 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 35.2
- Significance score
- 58.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Coordinates
- 36.8206, -110.2497
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12