Postcards From the West: Monument Valley

Photographers and spectators are dazzled by the shadow play as the sun begins to set and the colors to saturate. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Sept. 27, 2013 12:50 PM PT

The valley’s most famous mesas, buttes and spires stand within the boundaries of the tribal park. And you, my fellow Americans, should go to see them.

Highway 163 stretches into Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park like a giant runway leading to the red buttes, mesas and grand vistas. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Monument Valley sits along the Utah-Arizona border on land in the Navajo Nation reservation. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A caravan of tourists, driven by their Navajo guides, head out for an evening drive along the bumpy, unpaved 17-mile loop around Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Two of the drivers at the Navajo-owned Guided Vehicle Tours booth wait for customers at daybreak in Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The iconic buttes of Monument Valley and the surrounding areas are enhanced by the clouds from a passing storm. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors to Monument Valley walk along the flat shelf known as John Ford’s Point where the legendary director shot several of his epic western films. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The sun rises over the buttes and mesas of Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Photographers with all types of cameras stop at sunset to capture their own personal views of Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Two visitors to Monument Valley pose on the red sandstone rock formations while a friend takes their picture just after sunset. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The sun sets over Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Totem Pole formation juts above an old set of footprints on the red sand dunes in Monument Valley while a storm approaches from the east. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A bird pokes around for food in the rocks near the View Hotel in Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A perfectly good sunset is obscured by the clouds of a passing storm. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Pools of water from a recent storm mix with red sand to create great reflecting ponds. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A puddle left by a passing storm reflects the buttes in Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Navajos call this rock formation the Teardrop, a shape that gracefully frames the buttes and mesas of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Another look through the Teardrop rock formation framing the buttes of Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors to the Navajo-owned View Hotel enjoy a snack on the observation deck with a million-dollar view of Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors to the View Hotel relax in the lobby next to a western-themed statue. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

One of the buttes in Monument Valley is reflected in the windows of the View Hotel. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Goulding’s Lodge is one of the oldest in Monument Valley with a trading post, restaurant and hotel. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An alternative to the lodging in Monument Valley, the Kayenta Monument Valley Inn is a 45-minute drive away in neighboring Kayenta, Ariz. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

If you get tired of the food being served in Monument Valley, the Blue Coffee Pot Restaurant is an alternative in neighboring Kayenta, Ariz. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Navajo tribal member Ned Black sells authentic, hand-made Navajo jewelry for his family members from a stand at John Ford’s Point in Monument Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Navajo Adrian Jackson with his trusty horse, Pistol, awaits the next group of tourists eager to snap pictures at John Ford’s Point. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Navajo Adrian Jackson sits atop Pistol at John Ford’s Point. Jackson charges $5 for tourists to sit on his horse and to take pictures with a backdrop that legendary movie director John Ford used in several of his epic westerns. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A visitor to John Ford’s Point taking a picture atop a Navajo horse with the vistas of Monument Valley providing a backdrop. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Navajo matriarch Linda Jackson talks about raising her children, losing a son to a lightning strike and living off the land in Monument Valley. Jackson and her family sell food, mostly to tourists from her sandstone-colored trailer near John Ford’s Point. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)