Grand Canyon National Park Tonto Trail 0200 (6051275509)

Backpacker viewing the Monument along the Tonto Trail, Grand Canyon National Park. Camera is pointed north. NPS Photo by Michael Quinn.

The Monument in Monument Creek is along the Tonto Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. Just west of Mohave Point, in the side canyon formed by Monument Creek, stand several isolated rock pillars. The largest is appropriately named The Monument. It is composed of hard brown sandstone. Of similar material are the cliffs forming the canyon walls on each side of it. The unusual hardness of this sandstone enabled it to remain, while rocks about it were worn away. The Monument represents a last stand against the forces of erosion.

The dynamic interplay of soft and hard layers of stone created an open benchland at the rim of the Inner Gorge called the Tonto Platform. Easily visible from several South Rim overlooks, the greenish Tonto rocks have eroded into an obvious exception to the striking vertical cliffs that characterize most of Grand Canyon.

The Tonto Trail follows this natural transcanyon route for 95 rough, unmaintained miles, from Red Canyon on the east to Garnet Canyon on the west. All of this makes the Tonto Trail unique among Grand Canyon pathways. Most descend from the rim towards the Colorado River, but the Tonto Trail offers passage by foot up and down the canyon, parallel to the course of the river.