Shiprock is named after the nearby Shiprock rock formation. It is home to the annual Northern Navajo Fair, held every October. It is also home to a campus of Diné College, a tribally controlled community college with seven other campuses across the Navajo Nation. It is the site of a Chapter House for the Navajo, a Bureau of Indian Affairs agency, an Indian Health Service hospital, and a branch of Farmington Public Library.

I spent several weeks here doing surgery at their very modern hospital. Despite the dessert climate, there was a beautiful display of wildflowers when I visited here. I attended on of the Navajo flea markets and was treated to some fry bread, a local delicacy.