I’m taking a sabbatical from work and traveling in a travel trailer this summer through fall.
What’s the “circuit” if you will that photographers get on? I heard that the Redwoods are good this time of year but then what?
Congrats on the sabbatical!
I openly declare that I’m partial, but our personal “circuit” keeps us going round and round the Southwest with seasonal diversions north into the Rockies or west into Death Valley and other spots in CA and the occasional fall foray into eastern WA. But we keep circling right back into the Southwest.
Hey Hank. I haven’t shot in the southwest yet but I’m sure I’ll be there this winter and next spring.
Love me some DV, just not right now! 
Where do you go in the Rockies?
We mix it up, operating from our place in CO. We’re within a longish day’s drive of a bunch of NPs and a lot more monuments between Glacier and Death Valley. Hard to beat Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain, but don’t forget Dinosaur, Hell’s Canyon, Colorado NM, with all the stops on the desert side from notables like Bryce and Zion, Cedar Breaks to Goblin, Natural Bridges, Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands, Hovenweep and DV, just to name a few of dozens. Lesser known stops include the areas around Telluride and Durango, both in easy reach of Mesa Verde and Canyonlands/Arches for a combo desert and mountain trip. I could (and often do!) go on, but that’s a fair start.
FYI I created a new category for discussion of locations and moved this into the new category, which is only visible to paying members. I realized that I wanted to share information, but not in a place where everyone can see it.
Yes, the redwoods are good right now for Rhododendrons, although getting towards the end of the season.
Tetons will have lots of wildflowers mid-june, although they might be a little late with all the snow they had this year, it just snowed there this weekend!
The lupine in Crested Butte, CO usually bloom mid June. End of June is a good time for dramatic storms in South Dakota, but not great for camping!
Wildflowers usually pop in Colorado mid to late July, some areas in early August. It will be a weird year in Colorado due the massive amount of snow over the winter, peak season might be mid August this year.
Early August is a good time for monsoon storms at the grand canyon. Mid august is a good time for flowers and storms at the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado.
I have a feeling it will be another bad year in Glacier, the snowpack is 50% of normal so there could be more forest fires. Along with this there are already fires further north bringing smoke down now, with as dry as it’s been in Alaska and Canada I would expect a ton of smoke in Glacier even if they don’t have their own fires. Mid September is the only time I would consider going, it will be cold and possibly snowy.
Late September/early October is the time for fall colors in the Rockies, then you get fall colors mid October in central Utah and the Eastern Sierra. Early November is the time to be in Zion for fall colors.
My recommendation would be to not try and do too much, spend at least a couple weeks in each area to get to know it. We might see you out there!
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Wisdom!!!
Thanks for creating the new category in the members-only spaces. It could become a very useful resource for all of us.
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Hey Michael, you could spend that whole time without leaving the PNW and still not get it all.
I just came back from doing a Redwoods workshop and if you want rhododendrons you’d better get there in the next day or so. Most of those in the Jedediah Smith State Park are already past prime. You might still get some good blooms around Del Norte SP and Lady Bird Johnson Grove.
David’s advice is gold: don’t try to do too much. Find a good place and spend some time.
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That’s a good list Hank! I don’t know why I never think about Yellow Stone?!!
Good list David. My original plan was to start earlier and avoid the heat of the summer as I traveled out of Texas and into So Cal. Then I was going to hit Sequoia NP, Mono Lake, Oregon Coast, WA coast, Hoh Rain Forest and then to Rainier before hitting the fall colors in the Rockies.
Definitely hitting Zion again this year at the end of Oct. Had a great time last year and the fall colors were peak!
@GregVaughn Yeah, I’m not going to make it to the Redwoods this year. That was the original goal but it took longer to wrap up the project I was working on.
The only reason I’m not in the PNW still is that my parents found a sweet Travel Trailer back in their home town in Texas so I had to head there to pick it up. They have owned 5 different TTs so I’m learning the ropes from them. It ended up being a good thing because the TT needed some work (not much). Also if I’m gonna live in it full time, I need to make some interior modifications to make it more functional. I’ll create a build vlog and share it with everyone.
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@David_Kingham too bad to hear that Glacier might be smoked out this year. I’m afraid that the PNW will be the same way. We had the nicest spring I’ve ever seen there (meaning no rain). Their are already forest fires going. Some of my friends had smoke at the Palouse two weeks ago : (