I just moved here and am looking for fellow photographers for a discussion of locations for landscape and/or wildlife pictures and perhaps meetup. If you have any suggestions, that would be great.
Little Finland. A bit of a drive but much more solitude. At least that used to be the case 10 years ago when I was last there.
Great Basin National Park - one of the least visited national parks. If you have a 4x4 and reasonable off-road driving skills check the single track dirt road to Mt. Washington. It is on National Park land, you will not see a living soul up there. And it is nice and cool when Henderson is 100F+. Warning - there are multiple highly exposed switchbacks on the way up. Nothing too dramatic but requires some care.
When you drive up I15 and take the only exit in the middle of the Virgin River Gorge (there is a sign for some recreation area if I recall correctly), there is a dirt road that goes up into the hills. Nice sunrise shots.
GroovyGeek wrote:
Little Finland. A bit of a drive but much more solitude. At least that used to be the case 10 years ago when I was last there.
Great Basin National Park - one of the least visited national parks. If you have a 4x4 and reasonable off-road driving skills check the single track dirt road to Mt. Washington. It is on National Park land, you will not see a living soul up there. And it is nice and cool when Henderson is 100F+. Warning - there are multiple highly exposed switchbacks on the way up. Nothing too dramatic but requires some care.
When you drive up I15 and take the only exit in the middle of the Virgin River Gorge (there is a sign for some recreation area if I recall correctly), there is a dirt road that goes up into the hills. Nice sunrise shots....Show more →
I’d like to add something to Groovy’s useful post. He’s right about the 4x4 roads — I’ve driven some of them and they were wonderful. But don’t be scared off if you don’t have 4x4, since there is a fine main road into the park that takes you to the caves and to the high peaks. And some of the gravel roads are also accessible to vehicles somewhat less capable than full-on 4x4.
It is a wonderful and under-appreciated (and remote!) park.
Thanks for the suggestions. I don't have anything resembling a 4x4 anymore so with little ground clearance, it's good to hear that I can get to many places.
Joel
gdanmitchell wrote:
I’d like to add something to Groovy’s useful post. He’s right about the 4x4 roads — I’ve driven some of them and they were wonderful. But don’t be scared off if you don’t have 4x4, since there is a fine main road into the park that takes you to the caves and to the high peaks. And some of the gravel roads are also accessible to vehicles somewhat less capable than full-on 4x4.
It is a wonderful and under-appreciated (and remote!) park.
Yes, the main park is very nice too. The campground is beautiful. But it is (was?) first come first serve. Last time I was there was ~2016 and it was impossible to get a spot even mid week in the summer. Covid has probably only made this worse. The good news is that there is BLM land not too far away, so you can get to the top every day with a 15ish mile drive. It should be mentioned that GBNP is the only other place in the world other than the White Mountains that has bristlecone pines. Not as impressive as the one east of the 395 and on the CA-NV border but still quite photogenic under the right circumstances
I didn’t have any problem getting a campsite when I was last there…
… but it was at the start of October. :-)
I went partially to see this park and partially to check out aspen photography potential. I was assuming that the color transition might happen on the schedule of Utah aspens — namely a bit earlier than in the Sierra. But I was too early! Based on my one visit, I think that those trees may change on a schedule more like that of the Eastern Sierra — e.g. a first half of October thing.
One other camping possibility. I forgot the name of the road, but I went a bit south of the main entrance and took a gravel road up into the park and found lots of unused more-primitive campsites out there.
Much to my surprise, there was a pretty decent restaurant in the town of Baker near the park entrance. It is next door to the “hotel” I stayed in the first night after the long drive from the SF Bay Area, a place that had, IIRC, exactly four rooms. ;-)
Lived in Henderson for 21 years before moving to Reno. Here's my list of go to places for nature/landscape photography. Some require a couple visits to learn the best times to be there and opportunities.
1) Valley of Fire State Park
2) Mount Charleston, good hiking opportunities and near Lee Canyon you have an accessible grove of Bristlecones. (its at altitude so be careful to not overdo it if you are not in great shape)
3) Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert Preserve (the Preserve is a good place as well but spread out)
4) Ash Meadows (the springs offer some unique desert photography options)
5) Death Valley - take the short way through Pahrump on Bell Vista Rd that goes by Ash Meadows and through Death Valley Junction. You can be there in about two 1/2 hours. DV is huge but very accessible from Vegas.
6) Pahrannugut/Alamo - desert wetland with extensive cottonwood groves. Great for fall color and migratory seasons.
7) The Joshua Tree Forest between Searchlight and Nipton along Highway 146. Stopping at Walking Box Ranch can be fun too if it's open.
8) Cathedral Gorge just south of Pioche on 93 - often overlooked, but very cool.
9) Southwestern Utah you have the Big 3 - Zion, Bryce, and GC North Rim, but there is a TON of other locations depending on what you are after: Snow Canyon, Kodachrome Basin, Pink Dunes, Cedar Breaks .......there are quite few really good guidebooks that you should pick up.
A couple additional thoughts. Pay attention to late fall and winter rain patterns. This is the best predictor of spring wildflower blooms and super blooms. The current rain pattern is setting up for an exceptional bloom in the spring. It needs to rain some more over the next couple of months. The best places for super blooms (if it happens) is Death Valley and the Mojave National Preserve although you can find some spectacular blooms in Nevada's central valleys. You haven't said what your interests are and I assumed landscape, but there are other things to shoot. I'm a bit of a ghost towner and loved photographing some of the lesser sites in the region. Rhyolite, near Beatty is a worthwhile location although it's losing some of its historic structures to time. Goldfield and Tonopah are good destinations for architecture and such. Don't miss the petrified car forest in Goldfield. Pioche has an interesting collection of old structures and charm and is also worth a visit. If you drive bit further, Ely has some great photo ops as well as serves as gateway to Great Basin NP. I used to stay at the Hotel Nevada in Ely, but it's not what it used to be. There's also the Northern Nevada Railway Museum in Ely. With proper arrangements you can shoot in quite a few of the historic structures. There are quite a few petroglyph sites, some more accessible than others. Goodsprings south of Vegas has a very cool old bar to photograph and is near the Seven Magic Mountains.
In Utah, Pine Valley has some good ops and a nice chapel. You get there via Utah 18 from Veyo. Utah 18 has some good photo ops as well and is worth the drive. Stop at the Pie Store.
Sorry for a bit of a ramble, but I've been thinking about all the places we used to go. I've tried to keep it accessible and safe. You can get yourself in trouble pretty easily in rural Nevada so everything here can be accessed by car and isn't too far from services.
Hi Kevner,
This is all great info. I've shot the wildflowers in Anza Borrego so I'll keep an eye out for this spring to hit up out here.
Many Thanks,
Joel
One last thing, Wild Nevada is a show produced in Northern Nevada but covers the entire state/region. There are quite a few episodes in the south and are worth watching if you are trying to get a sense of places to go. I found a site where you can stream episodes from most of the seasons.
One last thing, Wild Nevada is a show produced in Northern Nevada but covers the entire state/region. There are quite a few episodes in the south and are worth watching if you are trying to get a sense of places to go. I found a site where you can stream episodes from most of the seasons.
