Southeast Utah

[Brian Vuillemenot]

As several have mentioned, you should not attempt do do all those locations in 5 days. There's no way you can see and enjoy them, let alone photograph them, in that short of a time. I would pick two or three, and stay 2-3 days in each. You'll get the most bang for your photographic buck in Arches, Canyonlands (the Island in the Sky district), and Monument Valley. There's quite a bit to photograph along the roads through those three parks. As for Monument Valley, you can drive the 17 mile loop road by yourself during the day, but to get close to many of the formations, as well as photograph during early morning or dusk when the light is best, you'll need to hire a guide. Guides can be hired at the visitor center, or if you do a search on this forum there are many previous threads recommending specific guides who are LF-friendly.

One more park I would highly recommend, although it's a few hours from Moab, is Capitol Reef. You really need a 4-wheel drive to explore most of it, though.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

http://www.monumentvalleyview.com/

$195/night Queen bed
$295/night King bed

John

Ouch! When I was there, I paid $10 a night to camp with the same view, and it was $5 a night in the off-season (no showers, though).

[venchka]

YIKES! Mrs. Wayne can stay at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll take my tent.

I think we should stop mentioning Capital Reef N.P. Let it stay undiscovered. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad place. Stay away.

[tgtaylor]

The "best time to go, IMO, is during the winter - say late December thru January. The crowds are non-existant, campgrounds are empty (pick your spot), good motel rooms are $26.95 - $29.95 (a quality motel room in downtown Moab cost me $26.95; a single cabin at Capitol Reef ran $20), AND, most important to me, the sky has character and lacks the haze common during the warm months (you can actually see 50+ miles in areas). The days are short - sure - but the lighting is the best.

Thomas

[rdenney]

The "best time to go, IMO, is during the winter - say late December thru January. The crowds are non-existant, campgrounds are empty (pick your spot), good motel rooms are $26.95 - $29.95 (a quality motel room in downtown Moab cost me $26.95; a single cabin at Capitol Reef ran $20), AND, most important to me, the sky has character and lacks the haze common during the warm months (you can actually see 50+ miles in areas). The days are short - sure - but the lighting is the best.

I've always wanted to make a trip out there for photography during the winter. Best would be when there is a dusting of snow. The images I've seen in those conditions have always drawn me in. And it must be wonderfully quiet.

The last time I was in Moab (2003), the prices weren't that bad but the crowds were pervasive. Maybe at relatively out-of-the-way places like the Goosenecks the crowds thin out. But I know it's going to be a long day when I see the tour buses ahead of us in the line at the gate.

In trips before that, we avoided crowds by going places crowds weren't willing to go. But it's difficult to get to those places. The last time I was at Maze Overlook, it took eight hours of determined driving to get there, from the park boundary, and that's in addition to the 90 minutes it took to get to the boundary from Hanksville. Pritchett Arch is only about half a dozen miles from Moab, but getting there in a vehicle requires a substantial commitment--the last time we were there (late 80's, I think), it took us all day to get there from Moab, via the Needles District, and then most of the evening and part of the next morning to descend back down via Pritchett Canyon (in a jeep). I think we could have hiked there and back more quickly.

Even driving in the north end of Capitol Reef saw actual traffic during that 2003 trip, and that's a jeep trail.

During the season, the best time strategy we discovered was to go into the park as soon as it opened, spend several hours making photographs, and then come back out (or hole up). My wife would take a nap and I would knock around town. Then, about four in the afternoon, we'd go back into the park and stay until dark, while others were overflowing the Moab beaneries. That works in places like Arches and Island in the Sky, but not for the more remote places like the Needles.

As long as one is limited to a regular passenger car and a tight schedule, crowds will be hard to avoid during the season. Photography makes different demands than tourism.

Beware if traveling during the winter: If you go further west in Utah into the high plateaus, you'll find real winter weather. I remember driving across the Markagunt Plateau to reach Cedar Breaks some years ago, and even in middle May the road had been freshly snowplowed. But there were still tour buses at Cedar Breaks, though I think the Brian's Head ski resort had already shut down for the season. That plateau is up in the 9000-10000' elevation. The south rim of the Grand Canyon is at 7500 feet, and even the Canyonlands rims are pretty high.

Rick "thinking the secret to avoiding crowds during the season is to look at magazine pictures from the area and then go to different places, preferably those only reachable on unpaved roads" Denney

[Alan Rabe]

When getting a guide at MV you might try joining another group and splitting the price. I went with a couple of photographers in the next campground and it only cost $50 each. There will probably be several photographers there getting guides who would be willing to split the price.

[al olson]

John,

Some thoughts on your itinerary. I would rule out Bisti for all of the other things you are trying to do in 5 days. Bisti is about 30-35 miles south of Farmington on 371. The entrance is faintly marked on the left just before the road makes a wide sweeping curve to the left. To photograph the hoodoos you want the early morning or late afternoon light. It will take a good piece of the day out of your schedule.

I would also endorse staying in Bluff over Mexican Hat. I would recommend the Desert Rose as someone has mentioned before as a reasonable, presentable motel.

Valley of the Gods is a short drive from Bluff. If you go up to Natural Bridges you will also pass through the Mokee Dugway. Personally, I like photographing in Valley of the Gods. The area is compact, but the vegetation and formations are very striking in black and white. The nice part is that you won't find many tourists in your photographs.

I have done Monument Valley three times, twice with guides and once without. I highly recommend getting a guide. Contact Tom Phillips. He runs a guide service. Ask to be scheduled into a group for one of his photo tours. Guides are the only way you will get into Monument Valley in the off hours such as before sunrise for predawn shooting and after sunset. They are knowledgable about the light and positioning of the sunrise and/or moonrise.

If you have the time (and money) drop into a nearby airport at Kayenta or Durango and hire a pilot to fly you over MV. There are some great aerial opportunities.

Frankly I don't care much for Mesa Verde. It is a long drive (1.5 hours??) off US 160 and there are too many tourists in the way. The Park Service likes to put orange cones around the sites to guide the tourist traffic which really stand out if you are doing color. There are other less visited ruins in the area that are just as photogenic. Even Chaco Canyon is less congested.

Something to think about. I just returned today from three days at Hovenweep. The no-see-ums are just coming out and I have welts all over my arms from their bites. They will be a problem until mid-July. They don't exist everywhere the Four Corners area, but it would be worthwhile to call the visitors' centers to inquire about their prevalence and perhaps use this information to make adjustments to your itinerary.

These are my thoughts.

[John Jarosz]

I would rule out Bisti for all of the other things you are trying to do in 5 days.

Yeah, that will have to wait for another trip.

I would also endorse staying in Bluff over Mexican Hat. I would recommend the Desert Rose

I switched to the Desert Rose in Bluff. I did the Google Street View in Mexican Hat and I can see that there's no town there. Bluff looks like a real place.

Valley of the Gods and Natural Bridges are my prime photo destinations. I do want to avoid crowds. Goosenecks too. I've got to go to Arches. I suppose that's where the challenge from the crowds will be.

I'll drive thru M.V., but that's not gonna be a photo objective. I want to see where all the movies were made and simply see the vistas.

If you have the time (and money) drop into a nearby airport at Kayenta or Durango and hire a pilot to fly you over MV. There are some great aerial opportunities.

WITH MY 8X20? :-) Sorry, couldn't resist.......

Al, and everyone else:

Thanks for all your postings. You've all been a big help. I have altered some of my plans based on all your thoughts.

John

[Drew Wiley]

Whenever another photographer asks me where to go in that part of the world, I say, study all the picture books, all the websites, all the postcards, and when you get there turn around and go the opposite direction! I'll agree that Moab has become
an obnoxious tourist trap, but you can be fifteeen minutes from there, start walking, and probably have complete solitude. The mountain bikers have established routes
which are easy to avoid. But frankly, I'm not about to start talking about my favorite
spots, 'cause I've spent up to a week in certain spectacular canyons without seeing anyone else. With five days you could car shuttle between Arches/Canyonlands and
Mexican Hat and have plenty to see, or just as easily spend five days in one spot.
I think Capitol Reef is one of the most unspoiled Natl Parks in the area, but slightly
off course for your plans (that is, until you see the ghost town of Torrey to the west
of it, with about twenty big boarded-up motels right at the park border, a testament
to the sheer callousness of american enterprise toward natural beauty! - or the
mindless ATV tracks all over the fabulous Cainville buttes to the east). Big country,
and very hard to go wrong with a camera. Just head out. The locals are the typical
Utah mix of either friendly or downright hostile, depending on their attitude toward outsiders (photographers tend to be identified as "environmentalists"- but the east
side of Utah is generally a lot like western Colorado and a lot more friendly than the
Salt Lake, Kanab, and Wasatch areas). I always like to breakfast at some little neighboorhood hole-in-the wall and chat with the local ranchers and Indians. If they are comfortable with you, you can learn about a lot of interesting places to go, at least on the next trip!

[Chauncey Walden]

Chaco Canyon has an astronomical observatory and the back block of Pueblo Bonito at sunset would be stunning on an 8x20. Heed Al's warning about the no-see-ums well. Those little black flies will create welts that will drive you crazy for a week after. I'll second Kerry on the Recapture Lodge and the Twin Rocks Cafe in Bluff. Agreed on January in Moab also. The room that is $25 then will be $85 now and the view from Arches of the snowy La Sal mountains makes for some gorgeous scenery.