South Rim Grand Canyon Suggestions

We're headed to the S. Rim of the Grand Canyon next weekend for a week of camping, hiking and photography. I'll of course visit all the usual viewpoints for sunrise/sunset, i.e. Yaki Point, Mather Point, Desert View, etc. Are there other, lesser known viewpoints ya'll would recommend? We're wide open to suggestions. Please note whether they are sunrise or sunset, too.

Thanks!

Youve got a whole week, Brett (im jealous!) My advice is forget about photography for a couple days--just do some trails or locations that you want to see, then once you're there youll find out for yourself the new locations. All the viewpoints on the Rim are well-covered, The only other option is to head down--which is why when i went there last winter i chose to hike down to the river and shot sunrise from a mile or so down in the canyon. No classic shots that way--but more fun IMO!

Advice from Tim Mulholland from a past thread inquiring about photo locations:

"Shoshone Point - sunrise, sunset.

My absolutely favorite place on the south rim. You'll need to do some searching to find it - google, or ask the rangers. This is the place where the GC staff hold their weddings... Easy hike/walk. Unmarked - you have to know where it is. Can be found in some of the hiking guidebooks."

And advice from past GC resident artist Adam Schallau from the same thread:

"I would suggest that you try to get away from the crowds to give yourself room to work and to enjoy the canyon. For sunrise locations I would suggest Lipan Point, Moran Point and Yaki Point and Desert View. Yaki Point, Mohave Point and Desert View are great at sunset.

Hopi Point has great views but it can get very busy, almost as busy as Mather or Yavapai. It's all good and you really can't miss from any of the major viewpoints. If you have an assortment of lenses with you, be sure to experiment. It's easy to want to capture the entire canyon, but there are plenty of more intimate scenes just waiting to be captured.

I really like the east rim including Desert View and Lipan Point. Desert View is good at both sunrise and sunset. At sunset you can shoot to the west with a short telephoto and get some great telephoto stacking. If you go to Lipan Point be sure to walk down from the viewpoint (to the north). Most people stay at the viewpoint and will not go any further. You will feel like you have the canyon to yourself."

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Hope you and the family have a happy and productive trip!

Brett,

Tim here. John took the words right out of my mouth! ;) Shoshone Point is the place where the rangers and staff have their weddings. It's an easy, flat walk, about a mile one way. Ask at the visitor's center - they'll tell you where to find it. It's basically the next pull-out (I think) east of Yaki Point on the north side of the road.

I'm going to try to upload a couple of screen shots from Google Earth. The first image will have Yaki Point in the upper left, while Shoshone will be in the lower right. The second image zooms in on the Shoshone Pt trail/road. Hopefully, you'll be able to figure out it's location...

Good luck,

Tim!

and, here's the zoom in onto shoshone...

Awesome! Thanks for the ideas. I've not heard of Shoshone Point but a quick web search reveals some pretty awesome views. I'll definitely visit it while we're there. Thanks Tim, for the Google maps. Definitely helps.

Yeah, head to Shoshone Point. The suggestion above came from a thread I posed in July while at the Canyon. Lipan point makes for a great sunrise location, especially if you climb down from the fenced overlook a bit. There are lots of great foreground elements to include with the shots there.