Suggestions for a Summer Southwest US tour

[koolk2]

I'm starting plans for next years vacation. I would like to tour the southwest. Since my wife is a school teacher a late June/July time frame is required. We would most likely fly into  Las Vegas, but Phoenix is an alternative.  A must is a photo tour to one of the slot canyons. I've ordered the Southwest photo books by Laurent Martes and Joseph Lange to get me started planning. Besides touring the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam what others areas are not to be missed. Besides photo opportunities I'm looking for historical , adventure, and typical tourist sites for my wife and 12 yr old son. We'll have about 9 days for touring.

Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken

[haefnerphoto]

I've worked around the Southwest for many years and can recommend a fairly concise trip that would originate in Las Vegas and end there.  I would head northeast on I-15 towards St. George, Utah, stopping at the Valley of Fire for a look around (great red rock formations).  South and east of St. George is Zion, which I don't know well, but think a couple of days would be the minimum needed to get a feeling for the area.  From Zion head northeast to Bryce Canyon for another day of so, then south to the Page area where the slot canyons are located.  By the way, there are beautiful landscapes just north of Page at the Utah border off a dirt road that starts at Big Water.  Take the back road south from Cannonville to Hwy 89 to get to Page.  You'll go by Kodachrome Basin State Park on that route which is kind of interesting.  From Page head south and west to the Kaibab Plateau which ends at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  I've heard you need to book rooms far in advance at the lodge there.  A nice side trip on the way to the Kaibab is the road to Marble Canyon just past the bridge over the Colorado River.  After the Grand Canyon, if there's still time, stop by the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park or just head back to Vegas.  Good luck!!  Jim

[Misirlou]

I've worked around the Southwest for many years and can recommend a fairly concise trip that would originate in Las Vegas and end there.  I would head northeast on I-15 towards St. George, Utah, stopping at the Valley of Fire for a look around (great red rock formations).  South and east of St. George is Zion, which I don't know well, but think a couple of days would be the minimum needed to get a feeling for the area.  From Zion head northeast to Bryce Canyon for another day of so, then south to the Page area where the slot canyons are located.  By the way, there are beautiful landscapes just north of Page at the Utah border off a dirt road that starts at Big Water.  Take the back road south from Cannonville to Hwy 89 to get to Page.  You'll go by Kodachrome Basin State Park on that route which is kind of interesting.  From Page head south and west to the Kaibab Plateau which ends at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  I've heard you need to book rooms far in advance at the lodge there.  A nice side trip on the way to the Kaibab is the road to Marble Canyon just past the bridge over the Colorado River.  After the Grand Canyon, if there's still time, stop by the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park or just head back to Vegas.  Good luck!!  Jim
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That's a great plan. I favor the north rim myself.

Another possiblity would be to head straight to Moab, Utah and just tour the national and state parks around there. It would be hard not to take good photos in Arches, Dead Horse, and plenty of other great places nearby. Or, the Anasazi ruins that are all over the place in the 4 Corners region could keep you busy for a whole season. And of course Bryce and Zion are both spectacular.

Really, one could spend a lifetime touring the southwest, and it would be hard to say which flavor of scenery is better than the next.

[Rob C]

I'm starting plans for next years vacation. I would like to tour the southwest. Since my wife is a school teacher a late June/July time frame is required. We would most likely fly into  Las Vegas, but Phoenix is an alternative.  A must is a photo tour to one of the slot canyons. I've ordered the Southwest photo books by Laurent Martes and Joseph Lange to get me started planning. Besides touring the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam what others areas are not to be missed. Besides photo opportunities I'm looking for historical , adventure, and typical tourist sites for my wife and 12 yr old son. We'll have about 9 days for touring.

Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken
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Man, I hope your wife is an obsessed photographer too; otherwise, consider alimony costs.

Rob C

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Man, I hope your wife is an obsessed photographer too; otherwise, consider alimony costs.

Rob C
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Whenever my wife and I go on vacations, I make sure she has some good books along to keep her busy while I photograph (Proust, Anna Karenina, etc.)

In return, I try to work fairly quickly. And sometimes I go out for an early shoot while she sleeps in. All it takes is proper training of the spouse.    

Eric

[Rob C]

All it takes is proper training of the spouse.   

Eric
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Which is even more difficult than the photography!

Rob C

[Ken Bennett]

We spent three weeks in the Southwest in 2006. My spouse is also a teacher, so we had a similar schedule.

Kodachrome Basin was disappointing when we were there in late June -- hot, dry, and not all that photogenic. Bryce Canon, just a few miles up the road, was much better. (The elevation gain made most of the difference, I think.) Spectacular views at sunrise and sunset, and great hiking in the canyon.

I would highly recommend the North Rim of GCNP. Higher elevation, fewer people and cars, more remote feel.

We liked Moab; Arches National Park is very cool for sunrise photography, and the town is worth a visit. Mesa Verde was cool, but very touristy in the summer. Not sure what you can shoot there.

I know we missed far more than we saw -- I could spend the rest of my life mucking about that area, and it would be time well spent. Have fun.

[peteh]

We spent three weeks in the Southwest in 2006. My spouse is also a teacher, so we had a similar schedule.

Kodachrome Basin was disappointing when we were there in late June -- hot, dry, and not all that photogenic. Bryce Canon, just a few miles up the road, was much better. (The elevation gain made most of the difference, I think.) Spectacular views at sunrise and sunset, and great hiking in the canyon.

I would highly recommend the North Rim of GCNP. Higher elevation, fewer people and cars, more remote feel.

We liked Moab; Arches National Park is very cool for sunrise photography, and the town is worth a visit. Mesa Verde was cool, but very touristy in the summer. Not sure what you can shoot there.

I know we missed far more than we saw -- I could spend the rest of my life mucking about that area, and it would be time well spent. Have fun.
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I did not think Zion was that great.Some people like it.I would do Bryce Canyon,And LONG DRIVE though, North Rim of Grand Canyon.I have not been there but hear it's Awesome,I think you have to go 80 miles and back to get there,though.Also I liked Sedona AZ. And not to far from Sedona is Montezuma Wells and Castle.It's an Old Indian Cliff Dwelling.Not as big as Mesa Verde.You might try meteor crater if you can fit in the time 35 miles East of Flagstaff.I have not been to meteor crater, or the North Rim.It is very Red Rock in Bryce, South of Bryce, around the Utah and Arizona border it was beautiful.

[Denis K]

We spent three weeks in the Southwest in 2006. My spouse is also a teacher, so we had a similar schedule.

Kodachrome Basin was disappointing when we were there in late June -- hot, dry, and not all that photogenic. Bryce Canon, just a few miles up the road, was much better. (The elevation gain made most of the difference, I think.) Spectacular views at sunrise and sunset, and great hiking in the canyon.

Let me put in a good word here for Kodachrome Basin as I thought it complemented Brice.  Some keys for KB are:

1. Go late in the day when the heat and light are nice (I know, I know - that could be said about any place.)

2. Drive in as far as you can get yourself to go.  When I was there you could drive into the back areas and see some neat places without haveing to lug in all of your equipment.

3. KB is all about looking up whereas much of Brice is about looking down.  Both are nice, but IMHO photos of viewscapes where you are looking out and down make the viewer feel like a spectator whereas looking up on the same geo-features gives the viewer more of a feeling of belonging.  Imagine the difference between photo's you have seen of the Grand Canyon and those of Monument Valley.  When I see a picture of the Grand Canyon I think to myself, "Oh, I see you were there."  When I see a photo of Monument Valley I feel like I am down there in a Conostoga Wagon.  I suspect it has something to do with the fact that most of us live in the valleys and that forms our visual point of reference.  It's not that you can't get the same photos in Brice, but you often have to hike further to do so.

4. Brice is crawling with people whereas the KB was empty when I was there.

5. Hey - it's called Kodachrome - are you going to say you drove by without at least taking a look !

[JeffKohn]

We toured that area the last week of June in 2007. We drove across NM from TX rather than flying in. After a stop in Farmington NM to visit the Bisti Badlands, we visited Monument Valley, then Page AZ for the slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend. Then we went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and camped there. After that went to Bryce Canyon. We skipped Zion, figuring it'd be too hot for much hiking that time of year. The nice thing about the North Rim and Bryce Canyon is that the higher elevations meant cooler temperatures, it was actually excellent camping weather.

At Bryce the canyon viewpoints were somewhat crowded, but if you hike down into the canyon there are much fewer people. The North Rim wasn't very crowded at all (probably because there's only one hotel there, and the next nearest lodging is something like 60 miles away).

Moab is pretty far out of the way, I'd save that for a separate trip as you can easily spend a week there (which we did the following year).