The Utah Parks in December?

I'm heading up to the south Utah parks this late December to see if I can get some great cold-weather shots. I will be hitting Canyonlands and Bryce, and probably Arches NP too.

Any pointers on where to go and on what type of images to get there? I'm hoping there will be snow :p From what I've read on average temperatures it will definitely be cold enough (average low is something like 11 F in Dec).

GB

It's sort of a gamble. You may or may not get lucky with the snow. The last few days the highs have been in the low 50's and the lows - at night - just below freezing. It's really dry there so even though it's cold, there's not a hell of a lot of precipitation. Anyway, you just have to go and hope you get lucky. I drove through St George a few years ago and it dumped. I was on my way home but stayed an extra day to get snowy Zion photos. It had to be done :)

Pointers. Hmm. The latest I've been there is November and there was snow on the mountains. No matter what you'll be able to get those photos - red rock in the foreground with snowy La Salles in the background. Castle Valley is a little off the beaten path for tourists and you could get some nice views of the slickrock cliffs there with the mountains in the background. It's a nice drive along the river, too. And even if there's no snow, you have to go to Arches. It's right there, almost in town. And you can definitely get good views of the La Salles with cool stuff in the foreground.

Honestly, it's hard to fail at photos around Moab. There's so much there and it's all so exotic. If you haven't been there the best thing to do is just explore. I usually see it from the mountain bike so I might know about some stuff regular photographers wouldn't. Maybe go to a bike shop and ask them about the road to the Slickrock Trail as well as Aamasa Back trail. Both of those trails are great places to take pictures.

Looking forward to seeing your photos. I'll have my fingers crossed for you. And I'll be four hours northwest, playing in the snow :)

Thanks John. Yeah the snow is a crap shoot and I saw online that they really don't get a lot of precipitation on average; indeed, most of the images I saw of south Utah in winter had little to no snow at all. But regardless, the cool winter skies and low-angle sun should make it a fun outing anyway.

Yeah I've been to Arches about 7 years ago and really like it and the little town of Moab. What was great about Arches is that it doesn't close!.. you can drive in at any time in the night if you want. I'll have to check out Slickrock Trail and Aamasa Back trail. La Salles? I was curious what that meant in Spanish but it didn't translate (but neither does Las Vegas), and I don't see any reference to it on Google.

Anyway, I'm hoping that it will be snowy but not so cold that I don't want to get up before dawn to get my shots :) (I plan on sleeping in the back of my truck a few of the nights).

I'll probably stop in Vegas too on the way back and see if I can snag a few night shots of the strip.

G

If you're driving you should consider taking the extra time to drive through Zion and up Hwy 89. That's a really nice drive and you might get lucky with some snow photos in Zion. Snow or no snow, you're gonna have a great trip and have plenty of great photo opportunities!

"La salles" is french means rooms according to google translation

If you can find time you HAVE to make it to Monument Valley. Bryce and Zion are beautiful. I think Bryce would be would be better in the snow.

PJ, I was in Zion two years ago for fall colors (end of Oct, early Nov). Nice place.

Thanks Armando. I know zero French, but should have noticed that if it were Spanish it would be las salles.

frog4gators, I was in MV a number of years ago, even camped out there for the night. Great place for sure and I'd like to catch it in the snow, if that's something that happens (I see you like it so much you made it your avatar). Maybe I can zip over there too.

G

Not sure when you were planning to head out to Moab but I checked with a friend who lives there and she said it's been raining a ton. She said there's no snow at Arches but lots in the mountains. It's supposed to warm up over the next few days here in SLC - up to 40 at the ski resorts (bummer). That will mean even warmer weather down south. A new storm is supposed to come in sometime next week and we're expecting more snow in the mountains here. Whether or not that might mean snow for Moab is hard to say. We have had no shortage of snow up here in the north, though.

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

Not sure when you were planning to head out to Moab but I checked with a friend who lives there and she said it's been raining a ton. She said there's no snow at Arches but lots in the mountains. It's supposed to warm up over the next few days here in SLC - up to 40 at the ski resorts (bummer). That will mean even warmer weather down south. A new storm is supposed to come in sometime next week and we're expecting more snow in the mountains here. Whether or not that might mean snow for Moab is hard to say. We have had no shortage of snow up here in the north, though.

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Thanks PJ. I'll probably take off Sunday morning and stop in Page AZ for the night, see that on Monday and then head out to Utah. I should be out there all week, so if another storm hits I should see it. Snow in the mtns is better than no snow. I was going to check out Vegas on the way back, but .... thinking of how crowded that place will be on/around NYE ...:eek: ... Maybe I can think of an angle on that.

G

My first ex was from Emery Utah, right smack dab in the middle of the state. I was fortunate enough to travel throughout the state and the parks, hunting, fishing, skiing, just traveling. Utah is an undiscovered gem photographically. The area up around Logan is breathtaking.

Mark