Shiprock in the Navajo Nation of New Mexico
© Wild Horizon/Getty Images
Shiprock in the Navajo Nation of New Mexico
Millions of years ago, a mountain shrouded Shiprock from view. The volcanic plug—a hardened magma plug that stops up a volcano—formed and after millions of years of erosion, the mountain washed away, leaving Shiprock exposed. The Navajo people call it the ‘winged rock’, as their creation myth includes the tale of giant supernatural birds, one of which landed atop Shiprock. Europeans called it Shiprock because of the rock’s resemblance to a 19th-century clipper. That natural stone wall leading to Shiprock is the volcanic ‘throat’ that once channelled molten rock to the crater.
Related Images
The village of Aguerd Oudad and the larger town of Tafraout in Morocco
Bath, Somerset, England
Firefall at Horsetail Fall, Yosemite National Park, California
Ysios Winery in La Rioja, Spain
The National Wallace Monument overlooking Stirling in Scotland
Mua Caves in the Ninh Bình province of Vietnam
Sunset at Counts Point in West MacDonnell Ranges, Northern Territory, Australia
A walkway through a mountain peak in Chamonix, France
Bing Today Images
Harbour and longtail boats at Ko Samui, Thailand
Mar 02, 2026
Modica, Sicily, Italy
Mar 02, 2024
Lake Negratin, Granada, Spain
Mar 02, 2023
Cougar in the Andes of north-west Argentina
Mar 02, 2018
