Grand Circle USA - Midday and winter locations

I'm planning a trip around the Utah/Arizona grand circle with a side trip to Tuscon for around this Christmas/New Year.
There are plenty of photo opportunities but being landscapes, nearly all are best at the start and end of the day. Does anyone have suggestions for locations that are good or acceptable during the day ? It will help with planning out our driving route options.

Part of the reason for doing this trip at this time of year is that we have another USA trip planned in August 2017 and figure that there are some places we'd prefer when it's cold rather than when it's hot. eg Tuscon. Similarly, we plan to just drive through Zion on this trip and spend some time there in 2017.

Are there places in this region that are must see in winter, rather than fall ? Bryce is an obvious one. Any other suggestions ?

Thanks.

Not quite sure what the grand circle is, but the La Sal mountains make a nice backdrop for shots in Arches in the winter, with the snow cover that is.

Thanks. Arches is definitely on the list. I just have to decide which arch for which time.

The Grand Circle is a collective term for the parks etc around the Arizona/Utah border that you can do as a loop roadtrip from say, Las Vegas.
It includes places like Grand Canyon, Arches, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Monument Valley and Page.

SteveInNZ wrote in post #17633758
Thanks. Arches is definitely on the list. I just have to decide which arch for which time.

The Grand Circle is a collective term for the parks etc around the Arizona/Utah border that you can do as a loop roadtrip from say, Las Vegas.
It includes places like Grand Canyon, Arches, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Monument Valley and Page.

This collection of parks is also known as the Mighty 5

Traveling this during the winter will give you more flexibility vs summer in regards to how high the sun will be.

I went to Arches in Feb. last year, far fewer people than late spring, and also room rates are probably half of what you would find in May, so those are some nice advantages. Hopefully you get a nice storm instead of one of those boring clear days when you are out there.

The Mighty Five are the National Parks in southern Utah (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion). The Grand Circle is an area that encompasses southern Utah, northern Arizona, southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico; the following link should take you to a map of the Grand Circle:

http://www.powellguide​.com …info/grand_circ​le_map.htm

Arches and Bryce are two of my favorites. But there are a lot of great places to see throughout the desert southwest. There are a lot of interesting slot canyons and you can shoot in these at any time of day, I think. Little Wild Horse slot canyon, near Goblin Valley State Park (north of Hanksville, UT, on route 24) is beautiful. For that matter, Goblin Valley is a pretty cool place. Lots of options.

Thanks OhioHick. I'm familiar with your stuff on TripAdvisor. Very helpful.
Good point about the slot canyons. I hadn't thought of that and Goblin doesn't seem to get mentioned as often as perhaps it should. Thanks.

You may find these three books helpful:

http://www.amazon.com …Arizona-2nd/dp/0916189139

http://www.amazon.com …ern-Edition/dp/0916189236

http://www.amazon.com …do-Soutwest/dp/0916189147


They are very high quality with all color photos and heavy page stock with a lot of really useful information, including what time of day at what time of year to shoot at the various sites. I also have the Oregon, Washington, and N. California books in the series and they are fantastic as well.

Thanks, Steve. Glad you found my contributions on TA to be useful. It's been a very busy year so I've not been as active there for the past several months.

Great suggestion from Bcaps. I've used the southern UT book of the series quite a bit. It is a VERY useful guide.

I was about to recommend Photographing the Southwest, but Dave beat me to it. They are excellent books and will be of great help to you. There are so many interesting things to photograph on the Colorado Plateau...one could photograph that area for 10 years straight. This book will help you narrow it down to the things that interest you the most.

Have fun, it's going to be a great trip!

Bryan

I'd already ordered Volumes 1 and 2 and they've now arrived. Wow ! I'm not sure if they narrow it down or make the list longer.
It's good to know that the others are just as good (for the next trip).

I did not know there were books covering Oregon and northern CA, so I'll have to get those volumes as I'm planning a trip there (mostly looking at the National Parks, but I'm sure these books will provide some other interesting gems!).

Slot canyons are perfect for midday. Buckskin Gulch in between Page and Kanab is one of my favorites. Although I don't know what conditions are like in the winter time - I've only been in spring time.

We were in Arches a few Novembers ago when it snowed - so beautiful!