Utah Road Trip- The Big 5 (Utah National Parks) and More

Michelle and I took a road trip to Utah at the end of September into October. We covered 2,500 miles of driving, hiked 70 miles, visited 6 National Parks, 2 National Monuments and 1 State Park during our trip. We traveled from Austin north through New Mexico, into Colorado and west to Moab, Utah. We had nice stops in Clovis, NM, Pagosa Springs, CO, and a quick stop for breakfast in Durango, CO. We dined at the Foxy Drive Inn in Clovis which has been around since the 1950’s. Yes, as greasy and good as it sounds. Next stop was Pagosa Springs, CO. What a great little town to walk around. There are many shops and restaurants. We tried Kip’s Grill, recommended by friends. Kip’s is a great sidewalk grill with yummy street tacos and local brew. We drove to Moab the next day, with a stop in Durango for breakfast. We found a nice neighborhood restaurant called College Drive Cafe. What a great breakfast!

Driving to Moab we drove past Mesa Verde National Park. Being so close, we decided to stop. Most of the ranger guided tours were sold out but we were able to drive the loop and see some of the archaeological sites and cliff dwellings. On to Moab..

We arrived in Moab in the afternoon, ate a late lunch and drove into Arches National Park. The park is very close to the north edge of town. We stopped at the visitor’s center and then into the park. The entrance to Arches is grand, you drive up a switch back road that climbs about 500 feet. After the climb, Scenic Drive opens up into a bit of a plateau and you begin to see the sandstone formations. The first night we photographed from the La Sal Mountains viewpoint which faces south from the park. We spent the next day in Arches starting at the Windows section at dawn, photographing Turret Arch and North and South windows. Next we moved to Double Arch where a thunderstorm came in. Yes, it always rains when we are in the desert! I photographed a rainbow over the Double Arch area while Michelle somehow found a rabbit in the the desert. After Double Arch, the skies cleared a bit and we visited Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch and Fiery Furnace. I got some shots of park visitors leaving the park on Park Avenue at sunset then we finished the day at the Windows after dark. I had planned on doing some astrophotography on this trip but timing (full moon) and clouds didn’t cooperate. I did get a chance to experiment using a low level lighting technique on an interesting tree near the Windows section. I lit up the tree using video lighting set to a very low intensity with light filters over the lights. (image right)

The next day we set out to Dead Horse State Park and Canyonlands National Park Islands in the Sky area. Dead Horse State Park is just outside the entrance to Canyonlands, so we were able to catch sunrise at Dead Horse and make it to Canyonlands to catch the morning colors. Dead Horse State Park’s Dead Horse Point is 2,000 foot above a gooseneck in the Colorado River. This view has been used in a number of movies. We had to move fairly quickly to get to Canyonlands National Park to get a shot of the morning sun glowing on Mesa Arch.(image left) After Mesa Arch we hiked a little known trail called the False Kiva Trail. This trail follows a ravine that ends up with great views of Holeman Spring Basin. We hiked out to Grand View Point Overlook to wrap up the day.

After all of the hiking in Canyonlands, we decided to take the La Sal Mountain loop scenic drive the next day. This loop has scenic views over the Moab Valley and Canyonlands. It climbs in elevation and has a number of trailheads. We drove up to the top of the mountain pass and then to a picnic lunch at Warner Lake campgrounds.(Warner Lake on the right) On the return trip we drove along the Colorado River Road going back into Moab. It was a nice way to spend my birthday!

After four days in Moab, it was time to head to the Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase-Escalante area. We detoured to Capitol Reef National Park and spent the morning hiking the Gorge Trail and photographing. We then drove south through Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante to Tropic Utah, a small community in between Bryce and Cannonville. The next morning we hit Bryce Canyon National Park at sunrise. We started at Sunrise point and then hiked the Queens Garden and Navaho Loop trails. These are two truly breath taking trails into the canyon. Having to wear a jacket on a cool morning in the canyon was soul refreshing after the hot summer in Austin. We visited all of the overlooks in Bryce Canyon the following day. I ventured into Grand Staircase- Escalante to hike and photograph a slot cannon outside Cannonville the next day. The Willis Creek trail was incredible. Watch the minute video to get the feel of walking through the slots. Be sure to turn up the sound, hearing the running water while hiking this trail will put anyone in their Zen place.

After four days in Tropic, it was time to move to Zion National Park. We stayed in Springdale, Utah which connects to the entrance of the Park. Zion is a very busy park with about 4.5 million visitors a year. Because of the number of visitors you have to use the shuttle system to move around the park. This shuttle extends out through Springdale. We were pleasantly surprised that it was very efficient and allowed us to have more time on the trails and less looking for parking spaces. Weather was a little challenging for photography but didn’t stop us from enjoying the hiking trails. We hiked the Pa’us, Temple of Sinawava, Weeping Rock, into the entrance of the Narrows, and the Watchman trails.

All good things must come to an end. We returned to Texas by driving through Arizona, into New Mexico and made a stop in Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock has a Prairie Dog Town in a city park. How could we resist photographing prairie dogs?

We returned to Austin safely. The trip was amazing! The size and scale of these parks is tough to translate through photos. All were beautiful in their own right and each was uniquely different. I tried to capture the views that made me say “wow!”. This happened so many times during the trip that I lost count. The contrast between the sky and the dark canyons presented us, the photographers, some real challenges. I hope you enjoy the photography and get the feel for how it is to visit these wonderful parks. Trip images..

Thanks for looking,
Brad

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Janet James

    26 Nov 2018

    Just got a chance to go through this carefully and read, watch and look at everything. Awesome photos and incredible landscape!
    Thx for sending 😊Janet

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