Zion

<p>Hi everyone<br>

Im a photographer from the United Kingdom and I'm planning a trip to some National parks and then Las Vegas (Sep 27th - Oct 13th) Only spending about 2 nights at each parks which will be Zion and Bryce, and Arches There are some shots Ive seen and would like to capture a couple of the must have shots! ( The subway,the watchmen etc..) and of course search out shots of my own.<br>

In the UK we have these maps( http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ ) which are detailed and I was interested in finding out if I could buy something in advance to try and plan my routes etc... as I will be limited to time etc and want to make the most of my trip I will be staying at Zion Lodge and not yet made plans for my other accommodation if any one has any recommendations would be great. I have lots of questions mainly routes of how to get to locations etc...<br>

If anyone is so kind to help me I would really appreciate it<br>

Kind regards<br>

Dominic<br>

Contact me if you wish<br>

Dominic333@btinternet.com</p>

<p>At the entrance to Bryce is a lodge called Ruby's...it has been there forever and is a great place to stay...nice folks, big facility, hearty meals.</p>

<p>Thanks Stephen, looks great.<br>

Dominic</p>

<p>Delorme Topo program lets you print topo maps of any place in the US (maybe the world). I use it any time I am traveling to scope out locations, sunrise-sunset, etc. A great way to scout ahead.<br>

In Zion, go to the Kolob Terrace area. The road is out of Virgin Utah, before springdale. It is also worth going over to the Kolob Canyons area off the interstate in the NW corner of the part. The finger canyons are beautiful, and many can be accessed with a 30 minute walk. Finally, going up through the tunnel toward Grand Canyon takes you to some beautiful high canyons areas. Just past the tunnel you can park and hike back to overlook the canyon you just ascended. Beautiful overlook. I have a few pictures on my web site here.</p>

<p>You don't say how you are traveling? I would assume you are renting (hiring) a car? Bryce and Zion are conveniently near each other in Utah's SW, and are easily gotten to from Las Vegas. Zion is about 150 miles from Vegas, and Bryce is another 75 miles or so.</p>

<p>Arches, on the other hand is a haul from anywhere that you'll be. It is at least 275 miles from Bryce by the north Interstate hwy (I-70) route, and probably closer to 350 if you go around from the south on routes 89 and 191. This southern route is a very long all day ride, but an amazing one! You'll think you are in a John Ford western movie.</p>

<p>If you go to Arches NP, you will be right next to the town of Moab,UT. Which has numerous lodging ,food and other amenities. It is also the staging area for waterborne and wheel borne adventures into Canyonlands NP. Which is certainly worth a look if you can squeeze the time. It is possible to shoot Dead Horse Point in Canyonlands at sunrise, and make it to "delicate arch" in Arches NP by sunset. I also suggest at last a 1/2 day raft trip into some of the canyons. This is available in Moab.</p><div></div>

<p>Hi Steve<br>

Yes sorry I did forget to mention about travel! Yes I will be hiring a car or truck not sure yet.This is a quick reply as I need to pop out but will be back later. Thanks for the information and I can't wait to actually visit the NP.</p>

<p>Steve, that is rather a fantastic location!</p>

<p>If you happen to be interested in music, Moab, Utah has an annual music festival. I haven't attended the music festival, but it is supposed to be very good.</p>

<p>http://www.moabmusicfest.org/Home</p>

<p>Also, Cedar City has an award winning Shakespeare festival that runs all summer and into the fall. It is more that just Shakespeare and is a lot of fun.</p>

<p>http://www.bard.org/</p>

<p>Cedar city is not too far from Bryce and Zion, and could serve as a a base of operations. By the way, I like Bryce better, but some people prefer Zion.</p>

<p>I personally do not like Las Vegas very much. It reminds me of a hybrid between the Holodeck of the Starship Enterprise and Sodom and Gomorrha, which is not my cup of tea, but some people like it. However, it can be a bargain with respect to lodging, food, and and shows compared to some vacation spots.</p>

<p>Some off roads in North Grand Canyon are only accessible via off-road vehicles. If you rent a car, try to select one of higher suspension and 4-wheel drive.<br>

However, perhaps you will not have much spare time to wonder on unpaved roads anyhow.</p>

<p>You mention the subway in Zion National Park - this isn't an easily accessible spot. There are two hiking trails, both are around 9 miles long; only one of them will return you to the same spot you started; and both need permits. It's also at least an hour drive from Zion Lodge to get to either trailhead - probably even longer.<br /> <br /> From Zion to Bryce - expect at least a 2 hour drive from Zion Lodge; 3 hours is often more realistic. You do not want to miss sunrise in Bryce Canyon - to me the best spot ironically is Sunset Point. Bryce Canyon is at about 3000m elevation - something that needs a little getting used to; you may need some warm clothes too for October.<br /> <br /> The quickest (and least scenic) route from Bryce to Arches is north via 89 and I70 and then 191 - about 4-5 hours. More scenic is 12 and 24 through Capitol Reef National Park - expect to spend the day driving. The southern route through Kanab, Page and the Monument Valley is substantially longer and you may want to stop for the night someplace along the way.</p>

<p>For detailed topographical maps, you can visit this place: http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/%28xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&layout=6_1_61_75&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=%24ROOT%29/.do</p>

<p>In the limited time that you will have in each park, you will probably be able to make the most of your visit by exploring the established viewpoints and walking trails, particularly for your first visit. The established trails are quite extensive and would certainly take you more than two or three days to see them all at each park. Those are well detailed in the brochures and online information from the National Park Service, which generally show clear maps of the trails, with information on distances, degree of difficulty and what sights are to be seen:<br>

<a href="http://www.nps.gov/zion/parknews/newspaper.htm">http://www.nps.gov/zion/parknews/newspaper.htm</a><br>

<a href="http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/hiking.htm">http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/hiking.htm</a><br>

<a href="http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/brochures.htm">http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/brochures.htm</a></p>

<p>For more detailed maps, you can do a search on Amazon for Maps and the name of the park. The Trails Illustrated maps from National Geographic are usually quite good.</p>

<p>For information specific to photographic locations, you might want to order a copy of Photographing the Southwest, Vol 1. Southern Utah by Laurent Martres, available from Amazon.</p>

<p>The hike to the Subway is a backcountry trail that will take most of a day. Information on that hike can be found with a Google search.</p>

 

<p>Hi Everyone<br>

I would like to say thank you for all your replies and comments so far you have given me some good information. I have ordered the book Photographing the Southwest, Vol 1. Southern Utah by Laurent Martres as recommended. So far I've decided to give the subway in Zion a miss as its going to take up a lot of my time up. So Ive decided to capture the sunset at the watchmen. Still not sure how far I have to go to get there from Zion Lodge though.</p>

<p>Bryce canyon I will prob go to sunset point for sunrise and then spend the rest of my time horse riding and general looking around unless there's a must go location?</p>

<p>Canyon Lands well I've always wanted to go and see horseshoe bend and photograph is, I still cant work out if its a sunset or sunrise shot or is it both?</p>

<p>Thanks again and will look forward to reading more replies from you with more amazing information<br>

Kind regards<br>

Dominic </p>

<p>My website if you wish to have a look<br>

www.dominicfletcherphotography.com<br>

www.cloud9weddingphotography.com</p>

<p>You get around the main canyon in Zion by shuttle bus (except during the winter). It is just a few minutes' ride on the bus from the lodge to the bridge where the classic shots of the Watchman are taken. Expect to find other photographers there. There is also a trail from the visitor center that takes you closer to the Watchman for some nice views. A less frequently photographed view of the Watchman is from the Sand Bench area, which is a couple hours' walk from the lodge on a trail that is used for horse rides in the summer, looking down on the bridge and river where the popular shots are taken.</p>

<p>Morning view from The Watchman Trail:<br>

<img src="http://jdemott.smugmug.com/Travel/Zion-2010/zion015/800374229_XTTSf-M-1.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Anyone else have any ideas?</p>