I’m having a few issues with my Lightroom catalog so for now I’m digging back into the archives and I’ll have some new stuff hopefully coming very soon as well as what I’ve learned from my experiences.
As I’ve mentioned in an older post, Dead Horse Point State Park is one of my favorite places to camp near Moab, Utah. The views over the Colorado River are astounding and it’s a highly underestimated place to stay. This shot was taken after dark from the main overlook.
I am going to Moab in a couple of weeks and would like to do night photography from along the rim similar to view from Dead Horse Point. I have a 4×4 pickup and would like to spend the night at the location. Do you know of a spot along a dirt road outside the park boundary that has a good view and would be a good place to spend the night shooting?
Hi Grant, While I’m not quite as familiar with the area as I’d like, I do remember a few good potential spots. The roads up near Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands – Island in the Sky district are all BLM roads as long as you’re outside the parks. The only catch is that there’s also unfortunately a lot of oil and gas drilling there too these days. There’s also White Rim Road which pops in and out of Canyonlands in that area, though I haven’t driven out that way, but I know I’ve heard a lot of people rave about it. A bit more out of the way is Hatch Point. Here are some directions to access a nearby campsite which can put you on the right road and out toward an overlook: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab/recreation/campgrounds/canyon_rims_recreation/HatchPoint.html
This is basically right across the Colorado River from Dead Horse Point. There are also plenty of BLM roads there to explore as well. There’s also a road that branches off the main road to the left almost as soon as you enter Canyonlands Island in the Sky district. That will also take you down a canyon and outside the park boundaries.
Hope that helps! I’m actually heading back later this fall as well to get more acquainted with the area.
Thanks a lot for the information. I’m pretty excited about getting out there and it would be great if I could find an overlook where I could shoot into the night and then just climb into the back of my pickup to sleep. If I have any good results I’ll be posting them on 500px if you want to take a look. I’ll be out there on the week of Oct 3rd-7th.
Awesome! Good luck. Hopefully you get something useful out of what I was able to offer. I’ll be leaving for my trip right around the time you’ll be down there and don’t plan on being over by Moab till that time November or so. Looking forward to seeing what you get!