Top 5 Best Landscape Photography Locations in Southern Utah
Have you been looking to explore Utah, but can’t decide where you should focus on for your photography? Well, you are in luck! In this article I am going to break down my 5 (personal) favorite locations you should visit on your next Utah adventure. Ranging from Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, all the way to Kanab and the crazy landscapes you can experience!
1 | Coyote Butte South - Kanab, UT
PERMIT REQUIRED: Advanced Permit | Daily Lottery Permit
Without a doubt, if you are a landscape photographer you have heard of The Wave (Coyote Butte North). While The Wave is breath taking (and I will get into that more below), its southern neighbor is equally as unique in its own right.
GETTING THERE
If you have a high-clearance 4x4 vehicle and have driven in sand before, you should have no problem as long as it is dry. If you do not, you will have 2 options: either you are going to have to park further away and hike a longer distance in, or you are going to have to rent one that can get you out there. As for the hike, I will refer you to this article that is very detailed.
If you are looking for a good rental vehicle company to use, we got ours from Roam Outdoor Adventure Co and it handled perfectly for getting to the furthest point in.
2 | Valley of the Gods
Valley of the Gods is such a great place to visit if you can swing it. It is a bit out of the way, and just north of Monument Valley in Arizona, but such a unique place that is far less visited than Monument. Another great thing about Valley of the Gods is it is all BLM land, so you can go at your own time and pace, plus you are able to camp in any of the pullouts along the main road.
GETTING THERE
Valley of the Gods is fairly accessible when it is dry out (a common theme in Southern Utah), but there are two slightly rough spots that could cause some issue with a very low clearance vehicle, or very large RV. All that is to say I got through with no issues using a Chevy Equinox, and I saw RVs, Cars, and everything in between back on the road.
3 | The Wave - Kanab, UT
PERMIT REQUIRED: Advanced Permit | Daily Lottery Permit
The Wave is a photographers dream for a reason, it is absolutely incredible. Don’t get your hopes too high if you are planning on the Daily Lottery though - your average odds of winning the lottery are roughly 2-5% depending on the season. Every day they get hundreds of applications, and only accept 4 groups in. If you are lucky enough to win these permits, you will not be sorry. As a small piece of advice, I would highly recommend hiking up here for sunrise - we got here before the sun came up and got to do some astronomy photography which was incredible.
GETTING THERE
Luckily The Wave is much more accessible than Coyote Butte South. You can use just about any vehicle if it is dry to get to the trail head, which is located at the Wire Pass Trailhead. Once you get here, I would highly recommend using AllTrails and following the route directly - once you get about 1/3 of the way into the hike it can get difficult to navigate without it. Use this link for the trail on AllTrails. It shows the hike as 6.7 Miles, however, if you are only hiking to the wave it is more like 5.2 Miles. It is not easy, with a lot of up and downs, but I would rate it as a moderate hike, nothing too crazy!
4 | Factory Butte - Hanksville, UT
Factory Butte pops up out of nowhere when you come around the bend, but it is such a unique place to see with your own eyes. Being in Hanksville, it is often not nearly as visited as the National Parks nearby, but don’t be fooled, it is well worth the visit. Photographing it is perfect for both sunrise and sunset, but at sunset you get the darker tones to show more clearly (as you see in the photo above). A big bonus shooting here is having a drone, as you have endless compositions you can capture. Nearby you also have so many unique places, but I will be saving those for another article.
GETTING THERE
Factory Butte is extremely easy to get to, and does not require anything more than a basic car. You will drive over some small bumps and wash board in the road, but you can drive around the entire southern/eastern portion of it with ease. If you want to drive on the northern and western side of it, you are going to need something with a little but of clearance and 4x4 - I ended up turning around with my Equinox because it got a bit too rough for it.
5 | The Bonneville Salt Flats
The Salt Flats near Salt Lake City are a great option that requires minimal hiking to get some really neat photos. If you use the rest stop on the West bound side of the highway you can park and walk right out. You can get some really fun and creative images here with a camera, but a drone just opens it up to so many more possibilities. Another quick tidbit, walk out about .5 to .75 miles to get away from all the people, and you’ll be welcomed by some clear images without having the worry of removing people from them in post processing.
GETTING THERE
Another really simple spot to visit. If you are going to the Salt Flats, all you need to do is drive West out of Salt Lake City, and a little while later you will arrive at the pull out! You can also drive around and get to more secluded places that you’re able to drive onto, but the rest stop is just to easy and good to pass up.