I'm planning a road trip to Oregon in 3 weeks and am wondering if anyone has suggestions on places to photograph along the way. I've listed some possibilities below. If you're familiar with any of these areas and have suggestions of places to visit in addition to or instead of what I have listed, I'd appreciate it. I want to avoid long hikes, since my back will get a little worn out just from all the drivig. Since I haven't photographed much in these regions, I've mostly listed iconic spots, but am open to all suggestions. Thanks!
Grand Tetons:
Barn in front of Grant Tetons
Oxbow Bend
Snake River Overlook
Schwabacher landing?
Yellowstone:
Grand Prismatic Spring
Lower Falls - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Morning glory pool
Castle geyser?
Mammoth hot springs?
Norris Geyser Basin?
Idaho (don’t know if I’ll stop here, but here’s some possibilities)
Balanced rock, Buhl, Idaho?
Craters of the Moon, Sun Valley, ID?
Shoshone Falls?
Falls Creek waterfall?
Oregon:
Crater Lake
Painted hills
Columbia Gorge
- Multnomah Falls
- Punch bowl falls, eagle creek
- Oneonta Falls
Salt Creek Falls
Beaches
- Canon Beach
- Ecola State Park
- Face Rock Scenic View Point
- Bandon Beach State Park
- Whalehead Beach
Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake?
Three Sisters Wilderness?
Iron Mountain?
Mt. hood, Lost Lake?
California:
Redwoods
Yosemite
Mono Lake
Nevada:
Geyser that is on private property?
Posted by Doug Andrews on May 27, 2008 at 10:35 PM
For Yellowstone, Castle Geyser and Morning Glory pool are all part of the Upper Geyser Basin where Old Faithful is located. Definitely go in the VC there and find out when some of the geysers are predicted. I would also recommend Grand Geyser (between Castle and Morning Glory Pool) and Great Fountain Geyser (part of the Lower Geyser Basin closer to Madison). If water is flowing well at Mammoth it can be colorful, otherwise skip it. At Norris Geyser Basin, unless you get there right as Steamboat Geyser is erupting (tallest active geyser in the park but very rare) you can skip it too.
At Grand Teton NP, Schwahbachers Landing can be incredible but prepare to share it with lots of folks along with the other three spots you listed.
For Nevada, the geyser you mention is called Fly Geyser. Talk with Tony Litchewski about this one.
If you end up at Mono Lake, then also consider:
- Bodie ghost town
- Bristlecone Pines in the White-Inyo Mtns
- Devil's Postpile NM
- Lake Tahoe shoreline
- Death Valley
Doesn't sound like you will make it back in time for the Green River trip.
In the Tetons, Jenny Lake has opportunities if it's calm and the weather's right - good rocks near the lake shore... Anywhere along the Jenny Lake loop can be good for sunrise with a bit of fog/low clouds. Don't know what conditions are like up there; if it's an early summer, consider a relatively short hike up into one of the mountain valleys for some flowers.
In Idaho, Craters of the Moon is cool, but very out of the way for most trip itineraries.
And I'll second Bill's point - if you make it to Mono Lake (or Yosemite), you're in for a LONG haul and might as well consider his other California suggestions.
If you're referring to Fly Geyser in Nevada, then it is on private property.
Nearby Gerlach is a real small town...ask around and you should have no problems finding the owner.
If your up for a short hike in Yellowstone I recommend the Observation Point trail. It's only about 1 mile RT but is uphill most of the way. Walk counterclockwise around the Old Faithful boardwalk; turn right at the sign to Geyser Hill. Trailhead is on the right after the Firehole River bridge, approximately 0.3 miles from the visitor center. Switchbacks lead up the hill 0.5 miles to a fantastic view of the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful Inn. I worked at the Old Faithful Inn for a season in 1976 and Observation Point was my favorite place to go to. In Sept. 2005 I revisited Yellowstone and hiked up there again, it was still as beautiful as I remembered.
If your heading down the trail to Morning Glory Pool you walk right by the Riverside Geyser. It erupts at an angle over the Firehole River and in the afternoon you can get rainbows in the mist. If you decide to go down the trail to Morning Glory Pool you can save yourself about a mile of walking by parking by the General Store(near Castle Geyser) that is located behind the Inn along the Firehole River rather than the Old Faithful parking lot.
In Teton NP Signal Mountain Road on the Teton Park Road has some good high up views. Along the Teton Park Road is the Cottonwood Creek picnic area where there is a farm with the mountains in the background.
Riverside Geyser is a real winner; it's on the park service's listed eruption schedule and as Laurie says, produces excellent rainbows along a river setting around sunset; it's one of the few images I've put up of Yellowstone on my website. Get to the geyser early - it erupted somewhat ahead of schedule when I was there, and I was almost alone to capture the shot that night!
You MUST do Idaho, it is unreal up there and so often forgotten. The Sawtooth Mountains are just incredible and are on my list to go and shoot, seeing as how the last time I was there, the addiction called photography didn't get me yet. This though will give you some indication of what to expect by a photographer who is a good friend of mine
Grant, pretty much everything I know has already been touched on, but if you have some time in Nevada, I would suggest Valley of Fire State Park. We spent a night there (sunset, sunrise) on the way back to Vegas from Death Valley, and realized we could have spent a week there and still not have gotten everything.
Grant, there are some great places in Idaho. Depending on your route, there are lots of possibilities. If you are shooting the Tetons from the WY side you can go through Jackson Hole and around to the Driggs ID area and find several great places. Fall Creek is nice, just a little more difficult to expose the bright sky in the background and make it look natural. There are also some sand dunes at St. Anthony, not as big as those by Alamosa CO, but still nice. Craters is an interesting place, but usually not much vegitation. We will go up the road a little and on the opposite side we have found some great wildflowers.
Not sure what the weather will be like, but it has been a very wet spring. It is still raining and will be for several days so things this year are very green.
It would be fun to meet up with you along the way.
Thanks for all the feedback! John, do you know about where those two shots of the Sawtooths were taken? That does look nice. And that old barn looks cool.
Rodney, I'll try and let you know my schedule when it becomes more clear and see if you might want to meet up for a shoot somewhere. I'll probably be heading through on Mon.-Tues., though, so not sure if that would work for you.
It is tempting to add the bristlecones and Mobius Arch to the California list. Now I officially have way too many places to photograph in about 3 weeks, but any other suggestions are still welcome.
Sounds like a great trip! I've never been to this place but have seen it on the map, but in northern California there is national park at Mt. Lassen which I believe is volcanic...I think that's the name of it. Looks like everyone has covered everything else. Maybe Mt. St. Helens, and this may be too far north, but Mt. Rainier Nat. Park is fantastic. Also, and maybe you already know this, but there are two barns at the Tetons. The first one to the left off the main road is the easiest and has the most compositional options. Meaning space to work around other photographers. The second one just south on a dirt road to the first is kind of limited, because everyone wants to be in the same spot and you'll have to be the first one there to get it. I've never taken a photo of the second barn. However, I've thought if I wasn't the first there maybe getting on top of a camper would be an option if you have one. The same at Schwabacher Landing, the area isn't as big as it looks in a photo down on the Snake River bank. And if you want to do the Snake River Overlook you may want to stake our a spot to get a good view of the river in the photo because the trees can block it.
P.S. If you're near Otter Rock at the Devil's Punchbowl on the Oregon Coast and you like clam chowder, if it's still there you should try to eat at Mo's...great cheese bread and chowder!
Grant, consider Proxy Falls about an hour east of Eugene in Oregon. Spectacular moss-covered falls. Both lower and upper and nice. It's about a one mile walk. South Falls in Silver Lake State Park outside of Salem is also beautiful. Crater Lake may be a bust due to intense amount of snowfall Oregon and Washington received. Check the conditions on that one. Good luck.
I just went through this process in planning our 'very active' family vacation.
By the end of it everyone was exhausted including myself. So I relaxed the itinerary the last couple of days - we only visited about 6 waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge instead of 15.
Don't forget Silver Falls SP just outside of Salem. I think it was personal favorite. I haven't even started processing my waterfall shots yet. So I'll post some once I do.
For the coast are you interested in lighthouses? If so my two favorites were Haceta Head and Yaquina Head for a lot of compositional opportunities. Also the Humbug Mtn. area had the best lupine display anywhere along the coast. Cape Perpetua lookout was second for wildflowers with the ocean backdrop - both were great!
And last summer we did Yellowstone and the Tetons. Just check out my pics here and ask me any questions you would like. I would be more than happy to answer them: http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/Locations
The hardest part will be narrowing down your list. You need to start with your top tier 'must see' places then second tier on down. And sometimes it is important to shift your days toward the hotspots - like Oregon's southern coast (Samuel Boardman SP). You know the places you wish you could spend just a 'little' more time at if only you had scheduled it in. For us that meant I had to cross off Crater Lake and Lost Lake. But I really want to see both on my next trip out there. We did add in the Redwoods and Crescent city which were closer to Brookings.
Discussion
13 repliesGrand Tetons:
Barn in front of Grant Tetons
Oxbow Bend
Snake River Overlook
Schwabacher landing?
Yellowstone:
Grand Prismatic Spring
Lower Falls - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Morning glory pool
Castle geyser?
Mammoth hot springs?
Norris Geyser Basin?
Idaho (don’t know if I’ll stop here, but here’s some possibilities)
Balanced rock, Buhl, Idaho?
Craters of the Moon, Sun Valley, ID?
Shoshone Falls?
Falls Creek waterfall?
Oregon:
Crater Lake
Painted hills
Columbia Gorge
- Multnomah Falls
- Punch bowl falls, eagle creek
- Oneonta Falls
Salt Creek Falls
Beaches
- Canon Beach
- Ecola State Park
- Face Rock Scenic View Point
- Bandon Beach State Park
- Whalehead Beach
Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake?
Three Sisters Wilderness?
Iron Mountain?
Mt. hood, Lost Lake?
California:
Redwoods
Yosemite
Mono Lake
Nevada:
Geyser that is on private property?
At Grand Teton NP, Schwahbachers Landing can be incredible but prepare to share it with lots of folks along with the other three spots you listed.
For Nevada, the geyser you mention is called Fly Geyser. Talk with Tony Litchewski about this one.
- Bodie ghost town
- Bristlecone Pines in the White-Inyo Mtns
- Devil's Postpile NM
- Lake Tahoe shoreline
- Death Valley
Doesn't sound like you will make it back in time for the Green River trip.
In Idaho, Craters of the Moon is cool, but very out of the way for most trip itineraries.
And I'll second Bill's point - if you make it to Mono Lake (or Yosemite), you're in for a LONG haul and might as well consider his other California suggestions.
Nearby Gerlach is a real small town...ask around and you should have no problems finding the owner.
If your up for a short hike in Yellowstone I recommend the Observation Point trail. It's only about 1 mile RT but is uphill most of the way. Walk counterclockwise around the Old Faithful boardwalk; turn right at the sign to Geyser Hill. Trailhead is on the right after the Firehole River bridge, approximately 0.3 miles from the visitor center. Switchbacks lead up the hill 0.5 miles to a fantastic view of the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful Inn. I worked at the Old Faithful Inn for a season in 1976 and Observation Point was my favorite place to go to. In Sept. 2005 I revisited Yellowstone and hiked up there again, it was still as beautiful as I remembered.
If your heading down the trail to Morning Glory Pool you walk right by the Riverside Geyser. It erupts at an angle over the Firehole River and in the afternoon you can get rainbows in the mist. If you decide to go down the trail to Morning Glory Pool you can save yourself about a mile of walking by parking by the General Store(near Castle Geyser) that is located behind the Inn along the Firehole River rather than the Old Faithful parking lot.
In Teton NP Signal Mountain Road on the Teton Park Road has some good high up views. Along the Teton Park Road is the Cottonwood Creek picnic area where there is a farm with the mountains in the background.
Have a great trip!
http://www.redbubble.com/people/collectiveone/art/175859-11-sawtooths-at-sunset
http://www.redbubble.com/people/collectiveone/art/240652-11-mountain-farm
http://www.redbubble.com/people/collectiveone/art/341580-8-sawtooth
Not sure what the weather will be like, but it has been a very wet spring. It is still raining and will be for several days so things this year are very green.
It would be fun to meet up with you along the way.
Rodney, I'll try and let you know my schedule when it becomes more clear and see if you might want to meet up for a shoot somewhere. I'll probably be heading through on Mon.-Tues., though, so not sure if that would work for you.
It is tempting to add the bristlecones and Mobius Arch to the California list. Now I officially have way too many places to photograph in about 3 weeks, but any other suggestions are still welcome.
P.S. If you're near Otter Rock at the Devil's Punchbowl on the Oregon Coast and you like clam chowder, if it's still there you should try to eat at Mo's...great cheese bread and chowder!
Have a good trip!
I just went through this process in planning our 'very active' family vacation.
By the end of it everyone was exhausted including myself. So I relaxed the itinerary the last couple of days - we only visited about 6 waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge instead of 15.
Don't forget Silver Falls SP just outside of Salem. I think it was personal favorite. I haven't even started processing my waterfall shots yet. So I'll post some once I do.
For the coast are you interested in lighthouses? If so my two favorites were Haceta Head and Yaquina Head for a lot of compositional opportunities. Also the Humbug Mtn. area had the best lupine display anywhere along the coast. Cape Perpetua lookout was second for wildflowers with the ocean backdrop - both were great!
And last summer we did Yellowstone and the Tetons. Just check out my pics here and ask me any questions you would like. I would be more than happy to answer them:
http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/Locations
The hardest part will be narrowing down your list. You need to start with your top tier 'must see' places then second tier on down. And sometimes it is important to shift your days toward the hotspots - like Oregon's southern coast (Samuel Boardman SP). You know the places you wish you could spend just a 'little' more time at if only you had scheduled it in.