Zion National Park may get all the press when it comes to photographing fall colors in the desert, but it isn’t the only hot spot that offers brilliant foliage and striking panoramas.  The high desert landscape around Moab isn’t lacking for colorful trees and plants, nor is it void of dramatic scenery.  What it does lack during the autumn season is tourists.  Unlike Zion, where you’re likely to compete with many others for compositions of the iconic locations, Moab is a virtual ghost town.  Sound inviting?  Read on to learn a few of my favorite locations for fall photography in Moab.

Kane Creek Road

Kane Creek Road starts out paved and turns to good, graded dirt after a couple of miles.  It is easily navigable by a 2 wheel drive passenger car when dry.  The road enters a canyon as soon it turns to dirt and views of ominously named but impressive Tombstones immediately come into view on your left at a right bend in the road.  Below on the right, lining Kane Creek, are colorful cottonwood trees that make a fantastic foreground.  You’ll also find tamarisk mixed in with the cottonwoods and the combination makes for some fantastic intimate landscapes (image above).

Farther down the road you’ll find Hunter Canyon (image at left).  Hike up the canyon and you’ll find cottonwoods and gambel oaks lining the small creek.  Look for reflected light illuminating sandstone spires above the colorful foliage.  There is no real trail in the canyon but if you follow the creek you’ll never have to worry about getting lost.

Courthouse Wash

Inside Arches NP is a lovely little canyon hike alongside a small, perennial creek supporting an abundance of cottonwood trees.  I recommend arranging for a shuttle and hiking from the bridge inside the park to Highway 191 along the creekbed.  You’ll have to cross the creek several times and you may even discover some quicksand along the way, but the colorful single leaf ash, cottonwood trees, poison ivy and gambel oak you’ll photograph will be well worth the effort.

Negro Bill Canyon

Never mind the seemingly derogatory name, this is one of the prettiest canyons in all of Moab.  A perennial creek flows below the towering walls of sandstone beautifully streaked with desert varnish.  In the canyon you’ll find cottonwood trees, abundant poison ivy (which turns vibrant shades of red and orange in autumn) and some other trees I’ve yet to identify.  I’ve heard them referred to as water birch but haven’t confirmed this.  At any rate, you’ll find some lovely little cascades, plenty of colorful foliage, relative solitude in autumn and if you’re good at blending exposures, some nice scenes of colorful foliage with the aforementioned walls of sandstone looming overhead.

The La Sal Mountains

Saving the best for last, the La Sal Mountains are filled with aspens, a few maples and an abundancy of gambel oak rivaling anything you’ll find in the Rockies.  Intimate scenes are most popular here as there is rarely snow on the peaks and they’re just not all that attractive when they aren’t snowcapped.  You’ll find massive aspen stands around Warner Lake and along the Geyser Pass Road.  Hike from Oowah Lake to Clark Lake and you’ll spend most of the trip scraping your jaw off the trail as it’s nothing short of stunning.  Plan a lot longer than you think you’ll need for the short hike because you will be stopping often to make photographs.  A wildfire in Miner’s Basin a couple of years ago left behind charred areas that are now recovering.  You’ll find colorful gambel oaks and aspens mixed in with the black landscape and the contrast is striking.

And now you know a few of my favorite spots around Moab for autumn color photography.  Thumb your nose at Zion and head to Moab this year. You won’t regret it!

Wandering around Goblin Valley State Park in the winter is likely about as close as one can get to taking a stroll on Mars.  It’s cold, desolate, weird, red and you’ll feel like you’re the only person on the entire planet.  It’s a strange feeling but give it some time and you’ll settle into it.

The park derives its name from thousands of whimsical sandstone hoodoos, or goblins, of various shapes and sizes that haunt a long, narrow desert valley in the San Rafael Swell.  There is no trail through the goblins.  You leave the parking lot, with Wild Horse Butte towering behind, and descend a steep but short bluff into the alien landscape.  From there, you’re free to roam at will.  While the formations near the trailhead are interesting, you’ll find the most fascinating and photogenic scenes at either end of the valley.

The southwest end of the valley provides views toward the Henry Mountains, which are typically snowcapped from November through April, and can be framed through windows in or between the goblins.   The northeast section is a shorter walk and I find it to be the most interesting part of the park.  The valley abruptly dead ends at a cliff where your only options are to go back the way you came or scramble down a small pouroff that leads to a trail taking you back to the parking lot.  At this end of the valley you’ll find amazing views of a prominent butte named Molly’s Castle rising from a small but pretty section of badlands.  Some of the taller goblins also reside here and they make fantastic subjects for silhouettes against a colorful sunset sky.  Just don’t stick around too long as I’m convinced those goblins spring to life when the lights go out and march all around their domain!  Seriously though, this would be a great area to practice your light painting and star trail technique.

The Three Sisters is the most popular formation in the park, and with good reason.  Visible from the road that leads from the entrance center or campground to the main parking area, the Three Sisters offer numerous options for photography.  I visited in the winter and foreground subjects were few and far between.  However, I saw evidence of very large mules ear plants whose prolific yellow flowers would be amazing foregrounds in the spring.  I still managed to eke out a couple workable foregrounds as I found a well placed clump of Indian Ricegrass in one spot, and some fascinating ribbed rocks in another.  On the evening I photographed this formation I had some fairly dramatic storm light early in the afternoon and an insanely awesome sky at sunset.

I was in Goblin Valley on assignment, creating photographs that will illustrate a new naturalists guide and a welcome sign at the visitor center.  I wasn’t there to make my own images.  I had only two days and my client needed more “grand landscapes” than “intimate landscapes”.  Still, when the opportunity presented itself, I had to give in to the impulse and photograph some intimate landscapes.  Several small sand dune areas offer some interesting opportunities but my favorite image from my time amongst the goblins was found within a small wash, where patterns in the sandy mud practically begged for camera time.  A little black and white conversion and voila – an abstract, somewhat surreal vision comes to life.

Wild Horse Butte borders the western edge of the park and makes for an interesting subject when the right conditions collide.  Sweet light (at sunrise or sunset), a killer sky and perhaps some colorful wildflowers would make for an ideal situation.  Even without this trifecta, you might find workable compositions from within the valley, using a couple goblins to frame the striated form of Wild Horse Butte looming above.

As wonderful as the park is, don’t forget you’re in the San Rafael Swell, which is chock full of slot canyons.  The most popular, Little Wild Horse Canyon, can be combined with Bell Canyon for a challenging hike that requires some scrambling to successfully navigate the entire loop.  Some areas of Little Wild Horse Canyon are so narrow that you can’t even stand with you feet side by side!  As with all slot canyons, the best light is found mid-day when the sun is high and light bounces from wall to wall, getting warmer and more intensely colored as it reaches deeper into the canyon.  Every one of these slot canyons is subject to flash flooding.  Be sure to check the weather forecast for the area up-canyon before beginning any canyon hike in the Swell.

Nearby is Temple Mountain and the Temple Mountain Town Site, which now consists of a few old buildings in various stages of disrepair.  You’ll also find some interesting Native American rock art if you know where to look.  By now you’ve probably determined that there is no shortage of subjects to photograph in the area.  If so, you’d be right.  And, this isn’t even an exhaustive guide.  Just be sure to arrive with fully charged camera batteries and a couple extra memory cards.  You’re gonna need ‘em!

Dan and I are almost finished building iFotoGuide: Grand Canyon!  We were fortunate to partner with tremendously talented photographer, former Artist-in-Residence at the Grand Canyon, and all around nice guy Adam Schallau to produce this guide.  Adam’s intimate knowledge of the Canyon’s many moods and locations combined with his breathtaking photos have allowed us to create a photography guide that virtually guarantees you’ll make amazing images on your next trip to the Grand Canyon.

We expect iFotoGuide: Grand Canyon to be available for download for $4.99 in the Apple iTunes App Store in late June.  This price includes lifetime updates that will include new locations, discounts on photo gear and services from some of the biggest names in the industry, and more.  All iFotoGuide apps function on the iPhone and iPod Touch.  You can learn more about iFotoGuide here.

Currently available in the Apple iTunes App Store are iFotoGuide: Arches (on sale for $2.99) and iFotoGuide: Yosemite ($4.99).

Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve been up to over the last few weeks.