Hoodoos in Colorado

[RickBraveHeart]

<p>I'll be working just outside of Denver for several weeks this fall and will be adding one additional week at the end of my stay to travel and photograph landscapes within the state. I greatly enjoy discovering and photographing hoodoos, and have photographed extensively in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. I've tried the usual internet research but have only found Paint Mines in Creede CO . I'd very much welcome any other location ideas where hoodoos might be found elsewhere in Colorado. Thanks for taking the time to read this post.</p>

[kerry_grim]

<p><strong>Wheeler Geologic Area</strong></p>

<p>United States first national monument in the La Garita Mountains which was later abandoned. It is a spectacular area that will delight hoodoo aficinados.</p>

<p>Those are not my words but I found it in the following book...Photographing the Southwest Volume 3 - A guide to the natural landmarks of Colorado & New Mexico by Laurent Martres. I can not vouge for the accuracy of these series of books because I have not been to these places. But...the series of books is excellent and I would recommend anyone to look at them prior to a photo forey in the Southwest. There is even a section at the end covering scenic value, photographic interest, road difficuly, and trail difficuly for each location described previously. His coverage is thorough!</p>

<p>Colorado has so much to offer photographically, I would not know where to start.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>I have a decent library on Colorado . Included is "Colorado Byways, 80 of Colorado's best adventure roads" by Tony Huegel which is both interesting and informative. It has a section on the Wheeler geologic area. There it gives the impression that the route to Wheeler Geologic area is far from easy and indicates a round trip time from the main road of 10 hours for the 47 mile round trip. Apparently some of it is easy- it's only the last 14 (each way) miles that is rough.</p>

<p>Nonwe of which says don't do it; merely that you might want to consider how prepared you are vehicle wise, experience wise , and attitude -wise for that sort of driving, particularly alone. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>The Sci-Fi channel had a show on just the other night about hoodoo problems in an old house in a Louisiana bayou.</p>

<p>For others not into the arcane terminology of geology, you might want to look at (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_%28geology%29">link</a>), where it says</p>

<blockquote>

<p>A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of soft sedimentary rock topped by harder, less easily-eroded stone that protects each column from the elements.</p>

</blockquote>

[RickBraveHeart]

<p >Thanks Kerry and David (great to hear from you as always) for your suggestion on Wheeler Geographic area. I just found a website (<a href="http://www.sangres.com/features/wheelergeologic.htm">click here</a>) that contains a good general description of the area along with an overview map and great photo. I’m use to extended backcountry hikes thru rugged terrain for photo shoots. But, while Wheeler looks VERY interesting photographically, it also appears extremely difficult to access. Since I’ll be solo that week, I’ll give it lots more careful research and topo map analysis in the weeks ahead before deciding. Thanks so very much for this great suggestion.</p>

[Ray House]

<p>Check out Garden of the Gods, near Denver.</p>

[RickBraveHeart]

<p>Thank you Ray for mentioning Garden of the Gods. Earlier this year I'd found old posts about that Colorado Springs park and someone had mentioned its hours were dusk till dawn. Because I've always been one of those folks who love to start shooting an hour before dawn and go until an hour after sunset I'd ruled it out. But your post got me to dig a little deeper and I see on the park's website that it's open from 5am-11pm until the end of October. That makes it a great possibility. Thanks!</p>

[kerry_grim]

<p>In the book I mentioned above, there are just 2 places listed as World Class for both scenic and photographic value in Colorado. Garden of the Gods is one. The other is Maroon Bells.</p>

[photogorilla]

<p>Rick, ask in <a href="http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vf10">this forum</a>; best resource I know for anything related to nature photography in Colorado.</p>

[Ray House]

<p>Kerry, I lived in Colorado for awhile. If I had a book that stated what yours does, I throw it away!</p><div></div>

[RickBraveHeart]

<p>Photo Gorilla: Thanks for the great tip on Nature Photographers. The site looks like a super resource and I’ll be sure to check it out more in-depth later. Since it's $50/year in order to post questions though, I’ll just have to be a reader of other folks’ posts right now until the economy picks up a bit. I'm grateful you steered me to it.<br /><br />Ray: Lovely shot of Gunnison. I quite taken with how the rocks in the foreground anchor the shot while the white snow on the mountains draw my eyes upward and across the image! The Black Canyon NP is quite an amazing (and challenging) place to shoot with its narrow canyons and sheer walls, isn’t it. Thanks for including the shot. Nice!</p>

[photogorilla]

Rick -

 

Try clicking on the register/log-in link at the top of the forum page and fill out the info. You won't get the benefits of a full membership, but you should be able to use the forums.

[JDMvW]

<p>Anyway, it's only $25 a year for an actual membership, but the site has always allowed registered persons to participate, not least, because there's a realization that paying even that is difficult for some people like students and people overseas.</p>

[RickBraveHeart]

<p>JDM and PHOTO GORILLA: Thanks for the suggestion to keep trying. Before I'd replied here yesterday I had registered and tried creating a post, but immediately received a message saying only members could post in the forum. Then it sent me to membership page with the $49 fee. Today I tried to post again and this time it worked great. I'm guessing I tried posting too soon after registering. Thanks</p>

[darren_kilgore]

<p>The paint mines are near Colorado Springs; Wheeler is the one near Creede, as discussed already. That's probably what you meant. There is so much blatantly incorrect information on the Web from the main sites you'll get search results from regarding the access road. I think they say what they do to try to keep traffic down. It certainly does not require 4WD, or not really even even high clearance. I suspect some sedans can make the trip, but any cross-over based 2WD vehicle and better would be fine.</p>

<p>For reference, my fastest times were 16 minutes to go the initial 10 miles to Hansons Mill, and 59:17 to go the 14 ("4WD") miles to the end. This was running at 8-10 PSI. If your tires are at street pressure, you can probably tack on a good 30 minutes to that last time. The road is all dirt with the exception of a short small-talus stretch of about 50 yards near the beginning. Otherwise, there are a buch of rolling whoop-de-doos and a few areas with some dirt ruts made when it has been wet. Don't let the other stories scare you--it is a standard Colorado forest road.</p>

<p>If interested, I have some additional pictures of the area starting with the linked picture here: <a href="<a href=">http://mycolorado.org/landscapes/san_juans/content/su_wheeler_4255_large.html</a> Subsequent Wheeler pictures follow. The formations don't receive early or late direct light, so keep that in mind if you choose to go.</p>

<p>I'm not really aware of any other hoodoo locations.</p>

[darren_kilgore]

<p>To illustrate my point on the Wheeler road, the first picture is the roughest section from the driver's point of view. Not much for a sense of scale, but the rocks are small and pose no clearance issues to anything. They're just bumpy and chatty. I misspoke earlier about it being a talus section. The second picture is really the only other rocky section, which is at the eastern apex of the road at the East Bellows Creek (shallow) crossing due north of Pool Table Mountain. The last two show what the road is like the vast majority of the time.</p>

 

<p >http://www.mycolorado.org/images/NPC/wheeler_road/IMG_3717.jpg</p>

<p >http://www.mycolorado.org/images/NPC/wheeler_road/IMG_3879.jpg</p>

<p >http://www.mycolorado.org/images/NPC/wheeler_road/IMG_3736.jpg</p>

<p >http://www.mycolorado.org/images/NPC/wheeler_road/IMG_3873.jpg</p>

[RickBraveHeart]

<p>Darren - your comments, thoughts and even better, your visuals of the road in to Wheeler have convinced me this place IS accessible and definitely worthy of doing a several day shoot in late August. In fact, the thought of all those whoop-de-doos got my heart beating with excitement. Thanks so much! Also, you are correct -- there is a WIDE variety of suggestions in the books and websites about how long it takes to make the trip in (Some suggest 4 hours or more). Yesterday I heard from a couple who spend a week each year out there and they told me to plan no more than 2 hours. And, your comments confirm that. Looks like I'd do well to rent a high clearance 4WD though. <br /><br />BTW, the photos on your own website were a joy to look at, especially for a landscape shooter like me who spends extensive time in the Colorado Plateau. Well done. And, thanks again.</p>

[darren_kilgore]

<p>Glad that was helpful, Rick. No problem! I figured pictures would be more descriptive than words. I hope you get some good pictures on your trip and enjoy your time out here.</p>

<p>Thanks for the compliments on my stuff. I appreciate that! Take care.</p>

[darren_kilgore]

<p>Glad that was helpful, Rick. No problem! I figured pictures would be more descriptive than words. I hope you get some good pictures on your trip and enjoy your time out here.</p>

<p>Thanks for the compliments on my stuff. I appreciate that! Take care.</p>

[MattB.Net]

<p>Ray, your Gunnison photo caught my eye. I live in Gunnison and thought it all looked pretty familiar! Nice shot. That reminds me I need to get over to the canyon as I haven't in quite some time.<br>

Rick, if you happen to come through the town of Gunnison, we have some nice Hoodoo types of formations on the backside of the ridge the Palisades are on. The Palisades are the big eroded formation just West of town and the backside is accessed via Antelope Hills Dr. I think it's mostly or all private but a lot of the formations are close to the road.<br>

A really easily accessed public area is Hartman Rocks recreation area which is a couple of Miles South of town on Gold Basin Rd. This is typical Hartman Rocks scenery:<br>

<a href=" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4644075756_f18e4559b7.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>