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8-698: House Rock Valley is a valley south of Paria Plateau and the Vermilion Cliffs , east of Kaibab Plateau , and west of the Colorado River as it flows through Marble Canyon, in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. The valley was named by the John Wesley Powell Expedition after a rock formation in the valley where they spent the night in 1871. The coordinates given are for the mouth of House Rock Wash which drains much of House Rock Valley into

16-518: A sampling of wildlife. More than twenty species of raptors , including bald eagles and golden eagles , peregrine falcons , and several hawk species, have been observed. The endangered California condor was re-introduced into this region in 1996 due to its remote location and lack of human habitation. Desert bighorn sheep , pronghorns , and mountain lions make up most of the large mammals found here, with about 30 more species of smaller mammals. Several examples of rare fish species, such as

24-409: The flannelmouth sucker and the speckled dace live in the streams of the monument. The Welsh's milkweed Asclepias welshii , a threatened plant species that grows on sand dunes and helps stabilize them, is known to exist only in the monument and one other area in neighboring Utah. Human settlement in the region dates back 12,000 years, and hundreds of Native American pueblos are spread across

32-522: The 1776 Domínguez–Escalante expedition . Later, Mormon explorers searched the region during the 1860s, some of them settling on land that is now within the monument. They built one of the first ferry crossings on the Colorado River in 1871. That same year, John Wesley Powell ventured through this region during his scientific explorations of the Colorado River plateau . Below the Vermilion cliffs runs

40-471: The Colorado River. The valley is traversed by U.S. Route 89A . [REDACTED] Media related to House Rock Valley at Wikimedia Commons Vermilion Cliffs National Monument Established on November 9, 2000 by a presidential proclamation by President Bill Clinton , Vermilion Cliffs National Monument was carved from existing lands already under the management of the U.S. Government in extreme northern Coconino County, Arizona , immediately south of

48-940: The border with the state of Utah . The monument is administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management , an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior . The Vermilion Cliffs themselves run along the southern and eastern edges of the monument. Much of the monument's land consists of the Paria Plateau, a flat area extending northward from the tops of the cliffs. The Vermilion Cliffs are steep eroded escarpments consisting primarily of sandstone , siltstone , limestone , and shale which rise as much as 3,000 feet (910 m) above their bases. These sedimentary rocks have been deeply eroded for millions of years, exposing hundreds of layers of richly colored rock strata. Mesas , buttes , and large tablelands are interspersed with steep canyons, where some small streams provide enough moisture to support

56-484: The historic "Honeymoon Trail", a wagon route for Mormons who journeyed to have their marriages sealed in the temple at St. George, Utah , and then to return. The route, through remote country, was otherwise seldom used. Historical markers denote this history. Today, the region surrounding the monument is relatively unspoiled with virtually no permanent inhabitants remaining and limited road access. John Wesley Powell Too Many Requests If you report this error to

64-462: The monument. The remains of the natives' villages, with houses, granaries, burial areas, and associated ruins, can be found here. The monument also contains one of the largest number of rock art sites in any nationally protected area. Many of these petroglyphs are believed to be among the oldest in the United States. The first explorers into the region were Spanish missionaries and explorers from

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