Photographing Arches National Park
- Chris Cotton
- Sep 14, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 9
After finishing up our time in Grand Junction with some awesome hikes and beautiful views, we head west to explore the epic parks of Southern Utah! Our first stop in Utah is the ever popular and incredible Arches National Park!
From our campsite at Colorado National Monument, we drove west as the early morning sun rose above the Book Cliffs in the distance. After filling the car up and filling ourselves with the obligatory road trip coffee, we had a 2 hour drive to our final destination for the day, Arches! But as most of you know, the journey is almost always as good as, if not better than, the destination. And that was especially true that morning as we took the Scenic Byway down Highway 128 shortly after entering Utah.
The Scenic Byway started mild, with "only" sweeping grasslands and the distant La Sal Mountains looming in front of us. But, it quickly turned into a picture perfect postcard of the American West. Just imagine, driving through a canyon with large red rock cliffs, Buttes and spires surround you in all directions, and "Toy Story" like clouds hanging in the early morning sky. We followed this picturesque route all the way into Moab, UT, the heart of everything outdoors in Southeastern Utah. From Moab, Arches was only a few miles away!
The sun was beginning to beat down as we entered the park, with the clear blue sky providing a drastic contrast to the red rocks that surrounded us. Thanks to the new timed entry system, the park was much less crowded than we expected (though it was still full of tourists, us included). As we drove to our campsite at the far reaches of the park, we made sure to make some stops along the way, my favorite of which was Sand Dune Arch Trail. The trail itself is no more than 0.1 miles each way, but for the adventurous spirit, you can continue to climb past the arch within the red rock ridges to your heart's desire!
After setting up our campsite at the Devil's Garden Campground, we travelled back into Moab to spend the hottest hours of the day in some cool AC. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow, with an early hike and late night adventures planned, so taking rest when we could was crucial for us to survive the desert.
Before we officially ended our first day in Arches, we took some time to explore around the campsite as the sun was setting. One of my favorite parts about visiting Arches was the endless adventuring that was possible. From our campsite, we were only a short walk from a plethora of tall red rock spires to climb on. And it was around our campsite that I captured some of my favorite shots from the trip, including the following two photos from before and after the sun set.
One of my motivations for planning this trip was to be able to witness the dark skies of Utah. There are very few places left in America where you can see the Milky Way as clearly as you can in the Desert Southwest and experiencing the stillness of a night in the desert is unlike any other experience I've had. It was both calming and inspiring looking out into the cosmos at the thousands and thousands of stars overhead. I can only imagine how the original inhabitants of this land felt staring up at the skies at night before any light pollution was introduced to the west.
Our second day started very early. Our goal: to see Delicate Arch at sunrise! We knew this hike would be the most popular one of our trip, so we had to start early to beat the crowds! By the time we got to the trailhead at 5 am, we were one of the first few cars there. With our headlamps on, we started the ascent up to the arch. The hike was a slow and brutal climb, with few breaks in the grade of the trail. But, the prize was very much worth the pain of the hike! We made it to the Arch with plenty of time to spare before the sun crested the horizon to the east! This gave me ample time to take photos in the blue light of dawn and in the golden light of sunrise. Here are some of my favorites...
Although it's one of the most popular destinations in all of the National Parks, I still think the hike to, and view of, Delicate Arch is absolutely worth the hype. By the time we started back down the trail though, it started to get much busier, with streams of tourists lining up to get their shot with the famous rock formation.
Our next big excursion wouldn't take place until after the sun set in the evening, with another night of Milky Way star gazing! After getting some practice the night before, I was excited to take my camera out again and capture some more epic photos among the incredible rock formations in Arches. We arrived at our shooting location for the night, the Window Arches, in complete darkness after the sun had set. But waiting for us at the arch was something totally unexpected! Crowds and crowds of people, ironically more than at Delicate Arch that morning, were covering the trail and watching the stars! This made capturing the serene desert night a bit more difficult as flashlights and phones interrupted the scene. But we were committed to capturing some more epic photos so we ventured out beyond the thick crowds and found ourselves looking at the arch below...
With the help of a little head lamp light, I was able to capture Turret Arch with Milky Way rising in the distance and the glow of Moab in the valley below. Although we whiffed on Window Arch, this scene turned out much better than I could've imagined!
On our way back to the car I decided to snap one more shot of the Milky Way and came out with probably my favorite shot from the night below...
The adventure is far from over! Next time I'll share my favorite images from our visit to Canyonlands National Park and our drive back into Colorado. Be sure to subscribe below if you haven't already to stay up to date on newsletters that I release after all my travels. Until next time!
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