great photo trips Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America Updated - February 2017 Published since 1989

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1 Updated - February Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America Published since 1989 In mid-november the large Modesto ash in my front yard turns yellow about seven weeks after the peak of the autumn color in up-state Vermont. The cottonwoods along the Virgin River in Zion National Park are also at the peak of their color at this time, after most visitors have left the park. There are so many seasonal variations across this country, that a nature photographer can easily find a multitude of fascinating subjects almost anywhere in the USA at almost any time of the year. Winter is a great time for visiting many of the National Parks to avoid the crowds of tourists during the busy summer season. You can discover new images when you return to visit familiar sights in a different season. Places like Yosemite and Yellowstone always offer new and unique images to photographers prepared for the rigors of cold-weather photography. A light dusting of snow makes a new photograph of that tired old postcard view of the Grand Canyon. A heavily-frosted bison crossing a steaming thermal basin in Yellowstone may be the cover shot you have been wanting to add to your wildlife images. A mid-winter photo trip can take you to cold climates or to warm places like Hawaii or the Florida Everglades. Haines, Alaska, and Hana, Maui, are fascinating places nature photography. Now is the time to make your travel plans for later this year or next year. You may have to schedule your vacation time soon. If you have a new camera or some new lenses, you probably want to plan a photo trip as soon as possible. Maybe now is the time to plan a camping and photo trip down the Oregon Coast, a week of underwater photography in the Florida Keys, or an exploration of the isolated back country of Death Valley. This issue of the Photograph America Newsletter contains ideas and information on planning photography trips to hundreds of scenic locations through all the seasons of the year. Use this issue as a guide to the best places for nature photographers to visit and the best times to be there. 50 great photo trips

2 issue 15 - page 2 Winter Photography Wyoming s bighorn sheep are easy to find and photograph along the North Fork of the Shoshone River west of Cody, Wyoming. They arrive in the Wapiti Valley to find grazing during the rutting season, through November and into early December. Very little snow falls on the east side of the Absaroka Mountains and it s easy to find herds of bighorn along the North Fork Road. Weather in the Hawaiian Islands is best through the winter. Late spring is the rainy season and summer gets warm in Hawaii. Kauai is my favorite island but the Hana Coast on the east end of Maui is my favorite spot in all the islands. One of the least visited spots in all the Hawaiian Islands is the rain forest on the north side of Molokai. The Nature Conservancy offers guided tours into the area. Winter snows blanket the Taos Pueblo and the back streets of Santa Fe. The road to the North Rim is closed but you ll find great snow-covered scenes of Grand Canyon s South Rim through the winter. Some of the South Rim Lodges are open through the winter. JANUARY 1 Yellowstone has become popular for nature photographers for mid-winter travel. Old Faithful Snow Lodge reservations should be made up to a year in advance, especially for the holidays. A good time to photograph bison in Yellowstone s Old Faithful thermal basins. See listing on the back page for websites and contact numbers. 2 Thousands of elk (wapiti) can easily be photographed on the National Elk Refuge, just north of Jackson, Wyoming. Visitors ride through the herds in horse-drawn sleighs in mid-winter. Deep snows cover their natural forage so these elk migrate here to survive the winter on alfalfa pellets. A rather unnatural environment but the elk seem to like it. 3 Yosemite Valley receives the fewest visitors in February. Plan a winter trip after a snowstorm for frozen scenes along the shady, south side of the valley glowing in sunlight reflected from the north walls. Thousands of migratory birds like Canada geese and sandhill cranes start to arrive in Bosque del Apache through the month of December and head north again in February. Mid-winter is a great time to photograph all the classic New England scenes - like the Jenny Farm, Waits River, Peacham, covered bridges, and back road farm scenes around Stowe, Woodstock and up into the Northeast Kingdom under a blanket of snow. Everyone shoots New England in the autumn, try something different. January is a good time to photograph bison in Yellowstone s Old Faithful thermal basins. Moose and elk are easy to find in the Tetons. To escape cold weather, Death Valley National Park, Red Rock Canyon, and Valley of Fire in southern Nevada are great locations for a mid-winter photo exploration. Snow covers red rock formations on the high desert across the Colorado Plateau. Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, and Bryce are great winter destinations. January sees the peak of the migratory bird population in refuges along the Louisiana Coast. If any water is dropping over the rim of Yosemite s El Capitan, photographs of Horsetail Falls are best during the last two weeks of February at sunset. Set up your tripod in the El Capitan picnic area to capture the last rays of sunlight as the falls turn orange and red. Bring your longest lens.

3 issue 15 - page 3 The Everglades and Sanibel, plus Big Cypress and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary are best visited in the winter. St. Augustine s Alligator Farm is a great destination for photographers searching for close-ups of nesting egrets. Hundreds of elephant seal pups can be photographed each February on the beach at Año Nuevo, fifty miles south of San Francisco. They can also be photographed in February on the edge of Drake s Bay near the Chimney Rock trailhead parking area. Spring Photography On a warm, sunny day after a late winter rain, wild mushrooms start to appear under thick layers of needles beneath pine trees in Big Basin State Park and on Mount Vision on Point Reyes National Seashore. California s Anza-Borrego State Park, along the trail to the Elephant Tree, and in Joshua Tree National Park, near the Cottonwood Visitor Center at the southern entrance to the park, are great place to find spring wildflowers that start blooming in late February. They arrive in waves through mid-april. Big Bend National Park sees the best wildflowers and cactus blossoms in March and April. April brings the best weather to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Loggerhead turtles arrive in the summer, during mosquito and hurricane season. Poppies cover Antelope Valley between Lancaster and Gorman, California, during the second week of April. The entrance to the Poppy Preserve is on Avenue I, between Lancaster and Gorman,California. FEBRUARY 4 Migrating waterfowl arrive to feed on fish trapped in the receding ponds during the dry winter season in the Florida Everglades. February is one of the most reliable months to find and photograph the wildlife there. The Everglades, Sanibel and Captiva Islands, plus Big Cypress and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary are best in winter. 5 Winter storms from the northeast, followed by an early morning low tide, will deposit countless sea shells upon the Gulf side of Sanibel Island on the west coast of Florida. Next to Jeffrey s Bay in Africa and the Sulu Islands in the Southwest Pacific, this is the best place to find and photo-graph sea shells. 6 Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida, is one of the best places to photograph roseate spoonbills from December through February. 7 February is an excellent time to walk and photograph the beaches of Big Sur. Hundreds of new elephant seal pups can be photographed each February at Año Nuevo, north of Big Sur. A few miles north of Gorman is the Corrizo Plain where low hills are covered with goldfields and small yellow daisies. Austin, Texas, is the center of Texas wildflower country. The peak of the season is usually in mid-april. Late April is wildflower season in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The low, rolling hills of Washington s Palouse region are painted in pastel shades of green from March through early June. Skies over Monument Valley are best in May. The dirt roads are dry and summer heat has not yet arrived. Plan an overnight visit to the rim of Hunts Mesa to shoot sunset and sunrise across the redrock spires in Monument Valley. Slot canyons along the Colorado River are usually dry and free of mud by late May. Hills along northern California s Coastal Range are still green and the rhododendrons are blooming in the redwood groves. Waterfalls are at their fullest in Yosemite Valley during the last week in May. Horseshoe crabs arrive in late May onto the beaches of Delaware Bay to spawn. Migratory birds heading north arrive to feast on the eggs in Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

4 issue 15 - page 4 Summer Photography The last week of July usually brings the peak of alpine wildflower color to the Yankee Boy Basin in the San Juan Mountains near Ouray, Colorado. West of Telluride, near ruins of the Gold King Mine, the Alta Lakes Basin is an enclosed, circular valley at about 11, 600 feet, surrounded by steep cliffs and sharply pointed peaks. A small lake sits in the basin, and meadows, extending up toward the edge of the timberline, are covered with columbine, sunflowers, and paintbrush in late July and early August. Some of the lowest tides occur in June along the California coast. Check online tide tables to schedule a hike out to Bowling Ball Beach, just south of Point Arena, California. Try to arrive late in the day for a sunset across the hundreds of large round black stones, half-buried on the beach and covered with bright green moss. MARCH 8 Desert wildflowers appear in early March, throughout Anza Borrego, California s largest State Park, along the Mexican Border. Anza-Borrego State Park and Joshua Tree National Park are often covered with wildflowers that may start blooming in late February and arrive in waves through mid-april. 8 Oregon s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is best visited in March when the spring migration of millions of waterfowl begins. In the autumn, birds congregate on Malheur Lake, which is inaccessible. APRIL 11 The largest population of nesting ospreys in the West arrive in early April on the shores of Crane Prairie Reservoir, fifty miles south of Bend, Oregon. Nests can be seen from the Quinn River boat launching area. 12 Fields of poppies cover the rolling hills west of Lancaster, California, at the Poppy Preserve in Antelope Valley. Follow your map to a crossroads called Fairmont for the best photo locations. The peak of the color usually occurs during the second week of April. Drive the Post Road southeast of Gorman, on Interstate #5 to find more poppies. Poppies cover Antelope Valley between Lancaster and Gorman during the second week of April. 10 Joshua Tree National Monument usually sees the peak of the spring wildflower season in mid-march, the Joshua trees and yucca blossom in late March and into April. Wet winters bring better spring wildflower displays. Cactus blossoms are usually easy to find. The best displays start in the southern part of the Monument, south of the Cottonwood Ranger Station near Highway # Mid-April is the best time to photograph one of Northern California s best wildflower displays, located in Bear Valley, in Colusa County. About fifteen miles west of Williams, Calif. and about eight miles north of Highway 20 on a dirt road, these poppy fields are some of my favorite.

5 issue 15 - page 5 Snows have melted and the Going-To-The-Sun Highway over Glacier National Park s Logan Pass is usually open by late June or early July. Alpine wildflowers are seen on mountainsides above the Logan Pass during July. Tall, creamy-white plumes of bear grass cover meadows and mountainside in Glacier National Park. The best displays occur every four-to-seven years. Wildflowers along the trails above Mount Rainier s Paradise Inn are at their peak through July. The wheat harvest across the Palouse continues through the months of July and August. Early August usually brings good weather to Mount Rainier in Washington State. There are fewer mosquitoes in Alaska and the bears are out in the rivers eating the spawning salmon. Drive up the Cassiar Highway to Hyder, Alaska, in August for the peak of the salmon run and lots of bears on Fish Creek. Dall sheep and herds of caribou can be seen in Stone Moun- tain Provincial Park, west of Fort Nelson, along the Alaska Highway. August is the best time to photograph Orcas in the Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland. You can find boat tours out of Telegraph Cove and Port McNeill on the northeast side of Vancouver Island. Santa Fe s Indian Market, in the Plaza, is always held on the third weekend of August. MAY 14 Skies over Monument Valley are best in May. Clear desert skies are usually filled with high cumulus clouds. Early spring is often too cold and the summer months are too hot. In May, the dirt roads are dry and summer heat has not yet arrived. To be able to visit restricted areas on the Navajo Reservation and photograph Monument Valley properly, you will need a guide. Ask if your guide will be accompanying you or if they will send a friend to pick you up. Be sure they will have a 4x4 and a full tank of gas. Call the day before arrival to reconfirm the appointment with your guide. 15 Photograph Yosemite Valley in late May for the flowing waterfalls, green meadows, and the blooming dogwoods. Waterfalls are at their fullest in Yosemite Valley in spring. 16 Late May is when the saguaro cactus blooms. Arizona s state flower, can be photographed in the mountains around Tucson, but bring a tall ladder to reach the large, white blossoms. JUNE 17 Cobra-lilies bloom in May and June at the Darlingtonia State Wayside, north of Florence, Oregon. There s lots of water in the Columbia River waterfalls, east of Portland and Silver Falls State Park, east of Salem, Oregon. 18 Buckskin Gulch and other desert slot canyons are usually safe to explore from early May through June and again from mid-september through November. The worst flash floods occur from mid-july through August in the desert slot canyons. 19 The Going-to-the-Sun Road crossing Glacier National Park is usually open by mid-june. 20 Fields of deep blue wild iris line the road out to the light house at Cape Blanco on the coast of Oregon around mid-june. 21 Wild rhododendrons are blooming in the groves of Redwood National Park on the north coast of California through the end of May and into June.

6 issue 15 - page 6 Autumn Photography Going to Monument Valley in September? For a photograph of the shadow of the Left Mitten cast on the Right Mitten, set up your tripod near the Visitor Center just before sunset on September 13 of any year. Late September is usually the peak of the autumn color in Upstate New York, northern Vermont, and northern New Hampshire. Larch Valley near Moraine Lake in Banff National Park is filled with yellow larch, a deciduous conifer. Mid-summer is the peak of the tourist season in Jasper and Banff National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. Avoid the crowds by visiting in mid-september. Aspen covering the San Juan Mountains of Colorado are all yellow by the last week of September. You can find autumn color in Utah around Park City, Mt. Nebo, along the Aquarius Plateau between Boulder and Torrey, and JULY 22 Bears feed on spawning salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Monument during the month of July. For information on planning your trip write: Superintendent, Katmai National Monument, Box 7, King Salmon, AK The Tioga Pass is sometimes closed by winter snows until mid-july. The access to Yosemite s back country and the high Sierra through Toulumne Meadows is open for a short season. Winter snows usually close the road for the season by late October or early November.. It is not plowed or kept open during the winter. 24 Loggerhead turtles hatch on the beaches of Sanibel Island in mid-summer and return to the sea at night. An organization called Caretta Research counts, tags, transplants and collects the turtle eggs to protect them from predators. 25 Alpine wildflowers and waist-high fields of columbine carpet the high meadows of Yankee Boy Basin above Ouray, Colorado, in the San Juan Mountains the last week of July. The is the peak of alpine wildflower color to the Yankee Boy Basin in the San Juan Mountains. AUGUST 26 Mid-summer is good time to head north, to the San Juan Islands, south of the Canadian Border in Washington State and the Gulf Islands on the British Columbia side of the border. 27 To avoid being rained out of the Olympic National Park, visit the rain forests of Washington during the last week of July or the first week of August. 28 Glacier National Park has a very short season roads are often still closed by snow into the month of June. The wildflowers along the trail to Hidden Lake on Logan Pass are usually at their peak by the first week of August. 29 Frequent afternoon thundershowers in mid-summer often bring spectacular cloud formations which add a dramatic backdrop to the red rock formations of Bryce Canyon. 30 Orcas, the killer whales of the Pacific Northwest, ply the waters of Johnston Straits, the Inland Passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia through the summer. Late August is a good time for a boat tour from Port McNeill, north of Victoria.

7 issue 15 - page 7 over the Cedar Pass, near Cedar Breaks National Monument. The east side of California s Sierra Nevada Range is bright yellow above Mono Lake in the Lundy Lakes area and all along Highway 395. Michigan s Upper Peninsula reaches the peak of color across the Porcupine Mountains State Park in late September and early October. The last rangerled hikes of the year are available into the Anasazi ruins called Betatakin in northern Arizona s Navajo National Monument. There s a large grove of aspen along the trail. Reservations can be made at the Visitors Center on a first come basis from May through September. During the first two weeks of October, autumn color moves into southern Vermont, New Hampshire, and along the coast of Maine. Acadia National Park usually sees the peak of fall color by October 10, about the same time Nova Scotia s Cape Breton reaches the peak of color. Mid-October is the best time to drive the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Ohio s Cuyahoga Valley National Park usually sees the peak of color about the third weekend of October. Autumn color spreads south, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where the color peaks SEPTEMBER 31 By early September, contours of rolling wheat fields reaching to the horizon are a bright yellow against blue Washington skies. South of Spokane, the best views are from Steptoe Butte near Palouse, Washington. 32 Reno s Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival usually occurs during the second weekend of September. 33 The Lamar Valley in northeastern Yellowstone is a great place to photograph wildlife, especially the rutting bull elk. They are most active in late September. 34 The Tetons are blazing with aspen color by the third week of September. The aspen groves can often be photographed under the first dusting of an early winter snow. 35 Colorado is my favorite place to photograph the yellow groves of quaking aspen high in the mountains. By late September, the San Juan Mountains are at the peak of their color. OCTOBER 36 The peak of the autumn color in Vermont occurs during the last week of September and the first week of October. The color starts in the north and works south. Autumn color reaches the coast of Maine and Acadia National Park a week later and the Nova Scotia Coast almost two weeks later. 37 Even nature photographers like to take a break and attend the hot air balloon festivals. Each year, the biggest event is usually held in Albuquerque during the first week of October. 38 Miles of aspen groves line Highway 14 from Cedar City to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Peak color usually occurs early in October. 39 Polar bears congregate in the small town of Churchill in northern Manitoba, the last two weeks of October to wait for the ice to form on Hudson Bay for the start of their migration north. 40 The Valley of Fire, near Las Vegas, is worth a visit in the fall to see the mass migrations of male tarantulas.

8 issue 15 - page 8 in late October. Cottonwoods in Arizona s Canyon del Muerto and Canyon de Chelly are bright yellow during the last week of October. By late October in northwest Georgia, Cloudland Canyon s hardwood forests are filled with tulip poplar, dogwood, sourwood, blackgum, and oak, all painted in autumn colors along a stream with rushing waterfalls at the bottom of a thousand-foot deep canyon. Reserve a cabin on the rim and watch autumn pass through the Appalachians. Nevada's Great Basin National Park is covered with a wonderful display of autumn color in late September around the Wheeler Peak trailhead. Aspen covering the San Juan Mountains of Colorado are all yellow by the last week of September. You can find autumn color in Utah around Park City, Mt. Nebo, along the Aquarius Plateau between Boulder and Torrey, and over the Cedar Pass, near Cedar Breaks National Monument. More details can be found in Photograph America Newsletters. NOVEMBER 41 Autumn color is peaking in the Chatahoochee Mountains of northern Georgia. Drive to the top of Amicalola.Falls and photograph the sunset lighting up the spray blowing off the rim of the cascade. You ll find great autumn color at Cloudland Canyon State Park. Plan to stay a few days. 42 Monarch butterflies start arriving at their wintering sites on the California coast and in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico by early November. Millions of monarch butterflies arrive at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz, California. 43 Bright yellow cottonwoods line the Virgin River through Zion National Park during the first week of November. Most of the cottonwoods along the Virgin River through Zion National Park are bright yellow in late October, early November. The river level is usually low enough to safely wade up the Zion Narrows. 44 Large herds of pronghorn antelope can be seen in November on the high sagebrush-covered plains of the Modoc Wildlife Refuge near Alturas, in northeastern California. 45 The bull moose drops his antlers by mid-winter. November is the best time to photograph bull moose in the snow-covered Tetons. 46 Bald eagles by the thousands line the Chilcat River near Haines, Alaska, to feed on spawning salmon during the month of November. DECEMBER 47 Bird photographers visit Tule Lake in Northern California in October, November, and into early December for the migrations of millions of Canada geese and other water birds traveling the Pacific Flyway. December is the best time to photograph the nesting bald eagles from blinds along the lake. 48 Mid-winter snows dust the red sandstone of Arches National Park with a blanket of white. A large section of Landscape Arch recently fell and the trail beneath the arch was closed for a few months but is open now. The rising full moon framed by Delicate Arch is worth the trip alone. 49 Bosque del Apache near Socorro, New Mexico is the wintering site of thousands of waterfowl, including sandhill cranes and the very few remaining whooping cranes, from November through January. 50 Death Valley can be visited from early December through the middle of March. Avoid the Presidents Day weekend holiday in mid-february and avoid the Easter Vacation week when large crowds arrive.

9 issue 15 - page 9 Vermont in autumn During the last week of September, autumn color spreads across northern Vermont. Photographers, searching for the best locations and the most scenic small villages, should drive in a large loop around the northern part of the state. From Stow, Vermont, head north through Smuggler's Notch over Mount Mansfield through the crossroads of Jeffersonville. Cross the river, turn east, and follow Route #109 to Waterville. When you reach the center of Waterville, turn left at the General Store and drive a short block beneath large, overhanging maples. Watch for this scene with the old house and the white picket fence on the left side of the street. Just beyond, you'll come to the Waterville Covered Bridge over the Lamoille River. Drive through the bridge, turn right and park along the west side of the stream. Morning light is best for the white house behind the picket fence. Soft, overcast light beneath a cloud cover will provide the best illumination for the covered bridge. Leaving Waterville, drive north to Montgomery Center and turn right on Route #58 through Hazens Notch State Park to find a narrow, unpaved road through a dense forest of autumn color. You'll see the best color late in the afternoon. Waterville, Vermont in September The road through Hazens Notch State Park, VT

10 Internet Resources Anza Borrego Desert State Park: Arches National Park: Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge: Bryce Canyon National Park: Cedar Breaks National Monument: Cloudland Canyon State Park: Darlingtonia State Wayside: dsp_parkpage&parkid=81 Death Valley National Park: Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge: Everglades National Park: Glacier National Park: My life-long career in photography began at San Jose State University in After college, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving as a photographer and darkroom technician. In Germany, my skills and experience with equipment and lab work were developed and polished. I took the opportunity to photograph the beauty of nature in the Black Forest. Returning to California in 1965, I produced industrial and military training films for Raytheon Electronics and began showing my color nature prints. From 1969 through 1981, my photography was exhibited and sold in West Coast galleries. During the early 1980 s, I taught color darkroom workshops, then expanded to include field trips. Former customers, who had purchased my framed photographs, wanted to learn photography. My Pacific Image Photography Workshops offered adventures to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest deserts, national parks, Hawaii, New England, Canada, England, and the South Pacific. The workshops evolved into writing and sharing my adventures with others. Photograph America Newsletter provides information on where, when, and how to discover the best nature photography in North America. Joshua Tree National Park: Katmai National Monument: Malheur National Wildlife Refuge: Modoc National Wildlife Refuge: National Elk Refuge: Olympic National Park: Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve: Redwood National Park: Photograph America Newsletter is published quarterly (four issues/year) by Robert Hitchman assisted by technical associate/wife, Katherine Post Office Box 86, Novato, CA All contents of this newsletter copyright Robert Hitchman Please don t make copies for your friends. This is a violation of Federal copyright laws. This newsletter survives on subscriptions.