This tribal park in Arizona was just voted the only "worth it" U.S. attraction in the world

When you're shelling out for admission tickets, battling crowds and spending hours getting somewhere, there's one question every traveler eventually asks (if they dare): was it worth it?

According to a new analysis of nearly 3 million online travel reviews, there is only one American destination that received an affirmative answer: Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

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The iconic tribal park, known for its towering sandstone buttes rising from the desert along the Arizona-Utah border, was the only U.S. attraction to crack the global top 20 in a new ranking from InsureandGo. Researchers analyzed review language for some of the world's most famous, expensive and difficult-to-reach destinations, tracking how often travelers explicitly described their visit as "worth it."

Monument Valley landed at No. 20 worldwide, making it America's sole representative among the attractions visitors most frequently felt justified the effort, cost and travel time. The study found that 12 percent of reviews used the phrase "worth it" when describing a visit. The full methodology and rankings are available in the report.

If you've ever driven through Monument Valley, the result probably won't come as a surprise. The landscape has served as the backdrop for countless Westerns, road-trip movies and advertising campaigns, yet visitors routinely describe being stunned by its scale in person. Operated by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation, the park offers scenic drives, guided backcountry tours and some of the most recognizable desert vistas in North America.

Globally, Australia's Kings Canyon Lookout took the top spot, followed by Ireland's Skellig Michael Monastery and New Zealand's Franz Josef Glacier Viewpoint. All three destinations share something with Monument Valley: They're relatively remote, require some effort to reach and reward visitors with scenery that photos struggle to capture.

The rankings also delivered some humbling news for a pair of New York City's biggest tourist magnets. Empire State Building Observatory and Top of the Rock Observation Deck were among the attractions least likely to be described as "worth it," with fewer than 1.2 percent of reviews using the phrase. Barcelona's Sagrada Família ranked last overall, appearing in just 0.56 percent of reviews.

Of course, "worth it" is about as subjective as travel gets. But if you're looking for an American destination that travelers overwhelmingly agree lives up to its reputation, Monument Valley just earned one of the strongest endorsements possible: People came, saw and left satisfied.