Photo Tips USA – Zion NP – Zion Canyon, The Mesa

Motifs in Zion Canyon

The viewpoints along Scenic Drive are fairly well spread out in time over a morning. Start at the Visitor Center for sunrise, and schedule the Riverside Walk and a possible hike through part of the Narrows itself for 12:00. This will ensure that you have enough light to navigate through this narrow section.

The area around the Zion Human History Museum is one of the two best places for sunrise. From there, you’ll have a remarkable view of the Virgins formation directly behind the building, and you can take a picture similar to the one on the park brochure’s cover. The first rays of the sun make the tops of the West Temple and the Virgins glow red, and the powerful black shadow area below adds a dramatic accent. Pay attention to the contrast range and use a moderate wide-angle lens in the 35 mm range to cut out the shadow zone in the foreground. Use a light telephoto to take isolated portraits of the mountain peaks. If the sun is already slightly higher, you can use a graduated gray filter to soften the somewhat harsh contrast with the foreground, thereby enhancing both subject areas. But a good 15 minutes after sunrise, the mountain peaks are already in very bright light, and the fascinating atmosphere is gone. So work quickly, because from the front parking lot you can shoot the Watchman to the south at the same time, whose 2000 m (6,561 ft) high peak is also reached early by the sun. Again, notice the contrast with the shadowed foreground. If you walk down to the river and across the bridge, you have the opportunity to add more drama to the Watchman with the Virgin River in the foreground.

The second good sunrise location is below the Sunrise Bridge. After leaving the museum, descend to Pine Creek before the road bridge, then position yourself facing West Temple in front of the pools, hopefully filled with plenty of water, to capture their reflections in the picture.

For the points further north, you can now take your time. They all require the sun to be slightly higher in the sky to allow enough light to penetrate to the canyon floor.

After the shuttle bus turns north onto Zion Canyon Scenic Drive at the bridge over the Virgin, you will first reach Court of the Patriarchs Viewpoint on the right side of the road. To the southwest, the red sandstone formation of Streaked Wall towers; to the east, you look at the peaks of Mountain of the Sun, the Twin Brothers, as well as East Temple, and to the south, Mt Spry. Looking west, you can capture one of the park’s dominant formations: the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (from south to north), which are best photographed in the morning against a sky that is mostly deep blue in the summer. To capture them all in one picture, focal lengths of approximately 28 mm are necessary. When you cross the road, you can place the river in the foreground. Trees or branches in the foreground will frame the shot for more pronounced depth.

Next stop is the Zion Lodge. Cross a small bridge to the other side of the river and the beginning of the Emerald Pool Trail. Via the easy Lower Trail (2 km / 1.2 mi round trip, 1 hour) or the somewhat more challenging Middle Trail (3.2 km / 2 mi round trip, 2 hours), you will reach these small pools at the elevation of Behunin or Hepas Canyon. Motifs include, as at Weeping Rock, hanging gardens and wildflowers in spring and summer, and small cascades and waterfalls where the water emerges after a two-year journey through the rock. The fine curtains of water are challenging subjects; to make the drops visible, it’s best to position yourself at an angle where they reflect the sun (a darker background helps) and choose an exposure time >1/30 sec. On the drive back, in the afternoon, the sun is most favorable for this at Weeping Rock.

The following Grotto Parking Area is the best place in the late morning to capture Angels Landing to the north with the Virgin River in the foreground. The view into the canyon from Angels Landing’s centrally located high rock fin is among the very best in the park. Unfortunately, the Angels Landing Trail is also quite challenging, requiring a round trip of 8 km (5 mi, 4 hours) and an elevation gain of 453 m (1,486 ft). The trail starts at the Grotto Parking Area, and along the first ascent there are many trees growing, which make good foreground objects and give depth to the pictures of the river. The deadwood is also good for close-ups and macros. When you reach Refrigerator Canyon, you can silhouette its two flanks in a look back in front of the main canyon (expose tightly so that the shadow areas fade to black). In some places, colorful wildflowers thrive in the rocky alcoves, and the right canyon wall in particular has many soft erosional structures, driven into the soft rock by the water. On the left, green pines contrast with the red rock, which seems to glow where the sun hits it in the afternoon. Halfway up the steep switchbacks of Walters Wiggles, you pass a spruce that seems to grow out of the sheer rock. You need a focal length of 24 mm or slightly less to capture all the switchbacks from below or above. The now-reached viewpoint, Scouts Lookout, looks steeply down into the upper part of Zion Canyon, dominated by the Temple of Sinawava. If you want to climb the last steep part up to Angels Landing, you should first tighten your suspenders: Secured by thick chains, you climb the remaining 800 m (2,624 ft) along the narrow, rarely more than 3 m (10 ft) wide mountain flank. But the view to the south, to the opening of the canyon, makes up for everything! To keep the climbing equipment handy, a 24 mm and a light telephoto zoom are sufficient. However, since 2022, the National Park Service has limited the number of hikers up to Angels Landing. You now have to apply for a permit in a pilot program, which is awarded in a lottery process. There is a seasonal lottery and a next-day lottery. You can find the current details on the official park website (https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm).

Back on Scenic Drive, the Weeping Rock Parking Area is on the right side of the road in the following big loop of the Virgin River. The Weeping Rock Trail (1.6 km / 1 mi round trip, 1 hour) begins here, winding through hanging gardens (wildflowers in spring) to a jutting cliff edge that, given enough moisture, allows a curtain of fine water droplets to rain down.

The East Rim Trail (16 km / 9.9 mi round trip, 732 m / 2,400 ft elevation gain) leads from the Weeping Rock Parking Area up through Echo Canyon to the green-forested canyon rim and east across the Mesa plateau to Clear Creek on the Zion-Mt Carmel Highway. In Echo Canyon, the East Mesa Trail branches off and heads up to Observation Point, high above the bend in the Virgin River. From up there, you’ll have a similarly spectacular view of the canyon’s southern length as from Angels Landing on the other side. 12 km / 7.4 mi (655 m / 2,148 ft elevation gain, 6 hours) is the round trip from Weeping Rock Parking Area.

The Hidden Canyon Trail (3,2 km / 1 mi round trip, 259 m / 850 ft elevation gain, 3 hours) leads from Weeping Rock Parking Area into the steep cut of Hidden Canyon between Cable Mountain and Great White Throne. After 800 m (0.5 mi), you come across a natural rock bridge. From there on, the trail gets steadily more difficult and steeper, and often you actually need more than two hands to get further up. The trail remains relatively uncrowded, and the unexplored subjects make the strenuous walk with minimal equipment worthwhile.

At mile 5.5 and 5.8 on the Scenic Drive, you’ll find two vantage points from which to shoot the striking landmark of the Great White Throne with either the river or rock cliffs in the foreground. It is best in the afternoon. Since the foreground is already in shadow by then, it is indicated to shorten the exposure a bit to still get detail in the white mountaintop.

The Zion Canyon Scenic Drive ends at the Temple of Sinawava Parking Area. From here, the 1.6 km / 1 mi asphalt Riverside Walk (also: Gateway to the Narrows Trail) takes you through the already noticeably narrower canyon toward the Virgin River Narrows. The hanging gardens, adorned with Columbine, Shooting Star, and Cardinal Flowers, accompany you and offer excellent macro motifs during the summer months. For this, you should have a suitable lens, a flash, and a tripod. A light wide-angle will document the narrowness of the river’s course around noon, when enough sunlight reaches the bottom. In any case, pay attention to the contrast between the increasingly well-lit rocky peaks and the canyon floor. If necessary, use a graduated gray filter, or take two or three pictures with different exposure times that you can later stitch together on the computer into one properly exposed picture.

The well-built trail merges seamlessly into the Virgin River Narrows Trail. Encircled by 600 m (1,968 ft) high walls, the passage through the north fork of the Virgin River, in some places not more than 12 m (40 ft) wide, is among the most popular and most beautiful canyon hikes of all. However, this route is only accessible during the low water periods from late June to early July and from late September to October. The visitor center will inform you about the safety of wading up the river and the likelihood of high water. The 2.4 km (1.5 mi) section up to Orderville Canyon (4 hours round trip), where you will find the narrowest and most photogenic section of the Narrows with a width of 4-5 m (13-16 ft), is the most frequented. If you start early in the morning, you will reach this area with the good light of the high sun. Two longer options take you „away from the crowds“ through Orderville Canyon (16 km / 10 mi, 600 m / 1,968 ft) elevation gain) or the entire North Fork of the Virgin River (21 km / 13 mi, 400 m / 1,312 ft elevation gain). Most people complete these tours in two days, requiring a permit. The most important equipment for all trips into the Narrows is well-fitting shoes, which can get really wet once in a while, as well as really waterproof packing for all carried goods since it goes almost exclusively through the middle of the river (30-80 cm / 1-2 ft water depth and cold). Limit your equipment to a medium zoom and a wide angle between 20 and 24 mm. When the water level is low, you will find many solid rocks and sandbars where you can set up a tripod. To be ready to shoot even in fast-flowing water, don’t forgo fast film stock (200 ASA, push if necessary). Particular attention should be paid to contrast in this situation, as the river remains shaded except during midday. The beach-like dry sand islands and the numerous monumental rock overhangs provide excellent subjects; consider including people or a foreground for a size comparison.

A long day on and off Zion Canyon Scenic Drive then comes to a stylish end just in time for sunset (30 min before the astronomical time because of the high canyon walls) at Sunset Bridge near Canyon Junction. From this location, the view extends southward along the Virgin River, slicing through the wide canyon incision, allowing you to capture the perfect moment when the grazing light and shadows, such as those on the Watchman, perfectly complement each other.

From Watchman Campground, the Watchman Viewpoint Trail leads 1.6 km / 1 mi (112 m / 367 ft elevation gain, 2 hours round trip) to a viewpoint of lower Zion Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, and the town of Springdale. Along the way, there are good views of the West Temple massif and the Arch at Bridge Mountain.

Motifs on the Mesa

From Canyon Junction to the tunnel, Rt-9 climbs through Pine Creek Canyon about 500 m (1,640 ft) over six switchbacks and offers the best view to the east of the Great Arch at the head of the side valley from the stopping bays. Upon exiting the tunnel, you will find a parking area and the start of the Canyon Overlook Trail. This trail leads over 800 m (0.5 mi) to the eponymous viewpoint directly above the Great Arch. From this elevation, you can see the East and West Temples, along with the Virgins bathing in the soft light of the rising sun early in the morning. You can utilize a lightweight telephoto lens to steer clear of the shadowed areas. The zigzagging ribbon of road in the depths, on the other hand, doesn’t get the illumination it needs until just before noon. To the eastern park boundary, Rt-9 now follows Clear Creek Canyon across the plateau, past many photographic treats. Fantastically shaped rock spires, or the pines and spruces seemingly growing out of the pure stone, are beautiful motifs that occupy the terrain in never-ending variety. The area is well served by many stopping bays along the route. The most prominent attraction is the high Checkerboard Mesa. 24 to 28 mm focal lengths capture the mountain, composed of fossilized sand dunes, well from its base. Side lighting in the morning or afternoon works the unusual cruciform erosional structures to the greatest advantage, and a telephoto focal length adds density to the perspective if desired. Pine trees, to stagger or frame the shots, are also found in abundance.

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Next Kolob Canyons Reservoir Road, Kolob Canyons

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