Tag Archives: capitol reef

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Trees, Red Rock Cliff

Image April 5, 2026 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

From what I’ve seen, the fall color season in Utah can be lengthy. On my visits I’ve seen the tail-end of aspen color at the beginning of October, implying that it peaks in late September. Out in red rock country the cottonwoods and oaks and other trees transition a bit later. And although I’ve never timed it quite right, I hear that great color is to be found in Zion Canyon in early November.

We stopped to photograph these trees in Capitol Reef National Park on our drive back to camp from a day of photographing in a remote region of the park. It was late afternoon and the light was not going to last a lot longer, so we pulled over a short distance from our campground and worked with these trees growing right in front of a sandstone cliff.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Foliage and Red Rock Cliffs

Image January 4, 2026 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

It took me several visits to get a feel for Capitol Reef National Park. The appeal of the beautiful sandstone towers, cliffs, and mountains is undeniable, but at first the park seemed sort of… small to me. As I learned more about this part, I think I see why that is and understand that it may be something of a conscious decision. The casual visitor arrives on a road that passes across the narrow width of the park, and then they visit the area around Fruita and one visitor road that enters the park from there. That doesn’t cover a lot of ground.

But much (most, by far) of this park is off the beaten path. It is accessible by vehicle, but only on long gravel roads, some of which involve challenges such as stream crossings. And the areas at the ends of those drives are relatively undeveloped. You are on your own out there, and I think that it intentional… and I approve.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Red Rock Sunset

Image November 29, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This spot is obviously full of spectacular scenery, though it was a bit tricky to photograph near sunset. One of the “problems” actually turned out to be a plus. There was some overcast that muted the light, but the light was still strong enough to be softly directional, especially on the more distant cliffs. A second issue is geological. The area is on an inclined formation that rises to the west, so the sun actually drops behind the uplifted western horizon a bit earlier than true sunset.

The color was astonishingly red in this sunset light, especially since the soft light reduced harsh shadows and highlights. I don’t often include roads in my landscape photographs, but in this case, a) it was unavoidable and b) it produced a useful leading line heading toward the groves of trees and the campground at Fruita.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Trunks, Autumn

Image November 2, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

About a decade ago I took a long autumn photography trip to Southern Utah. I started in Kanab, then headed up to Capitol Reef before backtracking to Grand Staircase-Escalante, making a quick visit to Boulder and then visiting Zion. Whew! This holograph comes from my visit to Capitol Reef, where I met up with a photographer-friend to spend a few days poking around and making photographs.

If I remember correctly, we had spent the day of fin a fairly remote part of the park, and late in the afternoon we headed back toward the campground at Fruita. It was getting late, but there was still decent light when we spotted autumn foliage on trees at the base of sandstone cliffs along a creek. I was fascinated by the undulating forms of these cottonwood trunks.