A distant corner of Arches NP(+1)

As an ongoing mission to try and explore places that are a little off the beaten path, I decided to visit the Dome Plateau region -- which roughly lies between I-70, HWY 191 and Utah 128, just east of Arches National Park. The are has been very actively explored in the search for minerals and natural gas, so there are numerous trails and back roads to provide access to some fairly remote parts of the area. I decided to try and find access to a canyon system that includes Lost Spring and the Salt Wash. Route finding was difficult as none of the roads are marked, however I managed to find the right access point and set to exploring the area in hopes of finding "the goods". I just got back yesterday, so I haven't gone through all of my files -- however this is the first image I pulled off the card and it gives a good idea as to the location (you can see the Window's section of the park in the distance). This is the lower end of the canyon, near its confluence with the Salt Wash.

Beautiful light hitting the cliffs. The shadow areas really makes that light jump out.

Cool shot and nice light! I've explored this area too, though I never been to this particular overlook. There's some cool arches and "cowboy caves" around here too.

Thanks guys -- Grant, this part of the canyon is off a 4X4 trail and then a short hike out to the rim. I had in my mind to find one arch in particular but came up empty.

One more from the afternoon, across the canyons...

Nicely lit landscapes of some beautiful areas. Nice work.

Okay, so I was all prepared to tell you how nice that first image is, and then stumbled upon the second one. Wow! The great light accentuating the green junipers and the distant horizon and those clouds, plus all 'round great light, makes this spectacular!

Looks like your exploration was rewarded with some nice areas to photograph. Excellent work.

I really like how you made something as beautiful as those two shots are out of something that were less than grand landscapes. You showed that there is beauty everywhere if we look close enough. Well done.

Thanks for the comments guys, I am working on some more images that feature the canyon along with the La Sals at sunset -- hopefully sometime soon.
This area has a ton of potential and I just barely scratched the surface. As Morris commented, this isn't an area with 1000 ft cliffs and iconic arches, but it does have some really interesting rock, and offers beautiful backgrounds. Not to mention the coolest collection of twisted Junipers that I've ever seen, I mean some really neat looking individuals. The other point worth making is that it is seriously devoid of people, I literally saw 2 cars in the 4 days I was there and zero people -- just the cars they were in. Thankfully it takes some effort to get out there and that likely keeps the number of visitors down. There is plenty of room to just melt right into the landscape...

It's so nice to see fresh images from this area!
You did an outstanding job on both of these. I'm looking forward to seeing more!

Great to see a different view of this area. Nice work!

Nice work Paul. I really like the light in the first one

Sweet area Paul. Looks alot like the Hidden Canyon complex NW of Island in the Sky. I like those rounded canyon walls. The first shot looks like stole a roll of E100GX from my freezer. Sweet color. But the second provides a killer view over the valley.

Mel-

Thanks John, Jeremy, Kurt and Mel -- I appreciate the positive feedback.