Western Road Trip 2025
In late April my wife and I embarked on an epic western road trip starting with White Sands National Park in New Mexico, sweeping through California, and ending in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Included are thoughts on my photography experience during our trip. We were able to spend a full three weeks exploring the West including several locations we had never visited. Onward:
White Sands National Park: We drove straight through from Missouri and immediately jumped into exploring the park. After all, we had to leave the next day, and we had just found out that the park was closed the following day for missile testing. The afternoon would be our only chance to explore and photograph White Sands. We drove all the way to Alkali Flats, jumped out of the car, and charged up the dunes. This was my first visit to White Sands. My initial impression? The sand is so white! I had seen pictures, but being there was so much better. I was using my Sony a7riv for the first time, after replacing my Sony a7riii. I paired it with my trusty Tamron 28-200 lens and an obligatory polarizing filter. Lighting conditions were far from ideal with the afternoon sun beating down on us overhead. But I soldiered on, we explored the dunes, and I saw some interesting compositions. The light was harsh, but I did my best. Later, we settled at a picnic area nearby for some water and shade while awaiting sunset. I wandered out from our shelter to see if I could get some shots of the dunes with the mountains in the background. What I got instead were some amazing abstract detail shots. There were beautiful patterns of glittery sand in an intact dune (no footprints), with contrast provided by a bit of shade in each ripple of sand. Those might have been my best photos at White Sands, although sunset proved to be quite a nice spectacle. We found a spot where I thought fewer people would be in my line of sight (partially true), and we set up some chairs and drinks to wait for the show. Despite there being no clouds, the sunset provided us some nice golden light against the dunes, with the mountains in silhouette in the background. Looking behind us, there was a huge thunder cloud over the eastern mountains. It was amazing any way we looked. After the sun and afterglow were gone, we packed up and went to our campsite for the night.
Conclusion: White Sands National Park was incredible for exploring and for photography. And we were only there for a few hours. We must return and spend more time here.
Saguaro National Park: After driving a few hours west to Tucson, Arizona, we started exploring Saguaro. It is split into two main parts, east and west. We started with the east part and the usual loop drive. This was my first time visiting this park as well, and I was really struck by the awesome saguaro cactus. Moreover, they formed themselves into all sorts of different configurations, which was interesting and sometimes funny. The cacti were blooming and the birds were quite active there, which made for some great shots. We got out and walked around at some turnouts, taking shots of interesting compositions along the way. When we finished the eastern half, we drove through Tucson to the western part of the park, where we had reserved our campsite. I was struck by how much denser the saguaros were on this side of the park, which made for more photographic opportunities. We made our way around another loop drive of the west and picked out a spot for sunset. We had a nice spot in the hills overlooking the valley with hills in the background, and saguaros all around us. I think the photos of sunset here were some of the best of the trip. Later, I tried my hand at Milky Way photography at the campground, but the glow from Tucson was too strong, so I went to bed. Sunrise the next morning also made for some incredible views and photos, which made for a nice sendoff.
Conclusion: The saguaros were spectacular, and with some nice light in the golden hours, there are some great compositions here. I would like to come back but will probably prioritize some of the other incredible nature Arizona has to offer next time we drive through.
Joshua Tree National Park: We drove another few hours west to California and Joshua Tree. Again, it was my first time visiting despite growing up nearby. I guess we just weren’t desert people. My parents preferred Yellowstone.
Once we entered the park, it took a while before we got to the area with Joshua trees and rock formations. But once we got there, wow! Joshua Tree really is spectacular, and it’s all packed into a relatively small area. Once again, we only had a few hours here as we had to leave before sunset the next morning for the next leg of our adventure. We stopped at the popular White Tank Campground and walked around for a while. Since this was my first time here, I gawked at every Joshua tree and all the cool rocks. I tend to take too many photos, and that was especially true here. I saw amazing compositions everywhere. We walked through the campground, by Arch Rock, and finally to Heart Rock. It was all amazing. After that, we made our way to our campground. I was planning to make photographs of sunset and the Milky Way from the campground. Sunset once again provided some nice golden light, but the tightly packed campground afforded fewer photographic opportunities. But I did what I could and set up for the Milky Way. And that proved quite spectacular. It arched overhead in all its glory, and I did my best to capture its beauty and grandeur. My grand finale was a series of vertical images which I planned to stitch together in Lightroom to form a Milky Way panorama. Despite the glow from Palm Springs over the southwest horizon, it turned out quite nice.
Conclusion: Incredible Joshua trees and rock formations. But so crowded. We must return for further exploration. We will also be doing it during the offseason as even in April there were so many people.
Sequoia National Park: This is another place I had never been. That oversight was absolutely unacceptable because the park was amazing from the moment we arrived. My wife called our visit here a spiritual experience. That’s how amazing this place is. We arrived just a couple of days after it had snowed, and there was still snow on the ground. Plus there was a big bank of fog as we drove into the park, which made the Four Guardsmen sequoias a surreal site as they loomed above us through the mist as the road proceeded between them. We stopped the car and I immediately sprang out to take photos and made a number of images of these incredible trees shrouded in fog and surrounded by snow. The rest of our visit wasn’t quite that awesome but it was incredible. We hiked through the sequoia groves every morning and I was able to find shot after shot in this incredible forest.
The main photography challenge there is composing shots. The trees are so tall that trying to fit an entire tree in one shot is nearly impossible. I took a number of images of the bases of trees to show their sheer enormity as they tower out of the frame. I also created a number of panoramas of the trees to stitch together. But I found that vertical panoramas don’t look nearly as good as horizontal panoramas. That meant that stacking multiple photos of a nearby sequoia tree was not going to work. One final tactic to photography these magnificent trees was to find a clear line of sight in the distance so that I could fit an entire sequoia tree in one frame. That worked reasonably well when I could find it. Lessons learned.
On our last day as we were hiking out I startled a young black bear as we were rounding a huge sequoia. I was able to shoot a few photos as it retreated up and over the hill, with the rising sun coming up nearby. Simply an unbelievable topper to an absolutely surreal experience in these amazing woods.
Conclusion: This place is unbelievable. And we didn’t even see that much of the park because of the lingering snow. We will be back and it will be glorious. I learned some valuable lessons about composing images of giant trees which will help me during future visits. In short, I took some great photos there but they don’t do this place any justice and a return trip is required in order to try again.
Yosemite National Park: The epic national park tour continued in Yosemite. There was no way it would top Sequoia for us, but for photography it was incredible. It was certainly the headliner of the trip and it lived up to its billing. And that was with us limited to the valley floor and a few select overlooks due to snow and cold weather. We came into the park at Tunnel View. One photography note: the turnout before the tunnel is just as good as the traditional Tunnel View turnout, in fact somewhat better for seeing half-dome and the surrounding rock formations, just without the waterfall. So we stopped at both and it was amazing. The drive into the valley is great for seeing El Capitan especially while passing the Bridal Veil Falls parking area. So we made sure to stop there for some quality hiking and photography each morning. Another photography note: El Capitan really dominates much of Yosemite Valley, while Half Dome is viewable towards the eastern end of the valley near Yosemite Village. Since we were there in spring, the waterfalls were at full volume and looked amazing. But since it was cold and recently snowed we didn’t hike up any of the waterfall trails. In Yosemite Valley, photographic opportunities abound and I made sure to be out early to avoid the crowds. And except for at really popular photo spots I was able to do that. With morning fog and mist there were good compositions in woodland and abstract detail images. Plus the dogwoods were blooming so that added to the photographic splendor. I took photos of the stone bridges, the Ahwanee Hotel and other manmade elements that added to the landscape. I made far too many photos of Half Dome and El Capitan, but they were so dang gorgeous how can you not? And since I hadn’t been here in more than 20 years I wanted to make up for lost time. My main disappointment was not getting up to Glacier Point to see and photograph from that iconic location. Next time…
Conclusion: An iconic photography location that should be on every travel and landscape photographer’s bucket list. We will definitely be back, though not soon enough. Mid to late May is probably the best time in Spring, but exploring during autumn will also be imperative. The photos will flow from there.
Lake Tahoe: Yet another epic landscape photography location. Since it had recently snowed there was still a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains, making for ideal photography conditions. In early May it was chilly in the morning but was warm when the sun came out. It seems most of the publicly accessible areas are on the northeast side of the lake. Some of that was likely the time of the year we went, as most of the state parks were still closed for the season. And the area around South Lake Tahoe seems to be privately owned so access appeared to be limited. And one major area on the east side was inaccessible due to road construction, which was quite frustrating. But the areas we were able to access were simply incredible. The water color, the rocks, and the mountain background were perfect for photography. With a polarizing filter to cut the glare, the photography was great most of the day. Moving to elevated positions in the mountains around the lake made for some incredible overlook views and compositions. Plus we found a couple of areas away from the lake, like a waterfall and mountain lake near Emerald Bay.
Conclusion: A great photography location with more than enough photography material to keep a curious travel and landscape photographer busy for a long time. We will come back and further explore more of the lake, ideally when more parks and trails are open.
Redwood National and State Parks: Our previous visit here about 15 years ago barely showed us a glimpse of these incredible parks. This time we were determined to make a much more thorough examination of this area. We stayed at a central location, The Requa Inn, for four nights and made the most of it. We spent a good deal of time at Prairie Creek State Park and a smattering of time at the other parks plus a good hike at Jedediah Smith State Park. One important note: the coastline here is nearly as awesome as the Oregon coast so don’t ignore the seascape photographic opportunities here. Most of the sunsets were amazing, so make sure to get somewhere good and revel in the amazing colors, mist, and clouds. And bring your camera.
We started our explorations at Fern Canyon. The drive in was an adventure in itself, rolling through an amazing Redwood forest and there was at least one stream crossing. Since we were there early (of course) we had the whole place to ourselves which was unbelievable. Early morning mist shrouded the canyon and made it seem even more Jurassic Era than usual. The creek running through the canyon was shallow but got up to knee depth at one point. It was good we brought our waterproof boots. The photographic compositions were incredible. There were moss covered trees splayed over the canyon, fern covered canyon walls, and broken branches and stumps for more variety. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m out of words to describe this place. We then explored Gold Beach, which is near Fern Canyon. There were elk hanging out by the campground, and the beach was misty and nice. We went on a great hike through Prairie Creek redwoods the next morning and it was simply awe-inspiring. I ordered up some more morning fog for this hike and it made the views next level amazing. The photographs were great but once again didn’t begin to describe the feeling of being there in person. Our hike at Jedediah Smith was the same way - just awesome. The Boy Scout Tree was huge! Amazing photos were created here as well.
Conclusion: The Redwoods are another incredible place, both for exploration and photography. And it’s not just the redwoods. The ferns, the fog, the seascapes, the sunsets, all make great compositions. It’s really a must visit.
Oregon Coast: This is an iconic road trip destination. From seeing the sights along the coast to enjoying beaches to hiking the many trails, the Oregon coast is a great place to take a road trip. And the photography along the way is simply spectacular. We had not made the trek before so we decided to take the last few days of our trip to give it a go. And the Oregon coast delivered, in spades. The southern coast is the most target-rich environment, so we stayed two nights and could have spent many, many more. The one challenge there is that the trails are really steep in places and can be sketchy if not dangerous. So accessing some amazing places is really up to the discretion of the explorer. I opted out of that silliness and stuck to the safe routes. Falling off a cliff or rock into the Pacific Ocean is not for me. But there were still so many great places to see, especially if you get beyond the iconic locations and get off the road a bit. Some research and a willingness to leave Highway 101 will yield some amazing experience and photographs. So that’s what we did. We drove down the Cape Arago Highway near Coos Bay to visit several remarkable places, with Shore Acres State Park having amazing views. The middle of the coast had fewer iconic locations but they included Thor’s Well and Devil’s Punchbowl, two of the major photography spots on the entire coast. They were both seriously sketchy as I found out. Thor’s Well is located on a bed of rock right next to the open ocean and one rogue wave would send an unsuspecting visitor to Davy Jones’ locker. So I got close but not right up to it, therefore the photos weren’t great. No guts, no glory I guess. But nearby sites were perhaps even more amazing and the Haceta Head Lighthouse was around the corner so it was all good. Devil’s Punchbowl was amazing but the rocks on the way there were so slippery I should have brought ice skates. I only fell once, a minor miracle, but that was enough. The pictures were pretty good but being there was cool, so it was a great experience over all. And there were good tide pools nearby that we explored which was nice. We spent two nights in Cannon Beach, partly because we had to head out super early the final morning to head home. Cannon Beach was incredible. We walked the beach, I made several memorable photos, and generally enjoyed ourselves. We explored the surrounding area a little bit and went over to the nearby shipwreck of the Peter Iredale and the Lewis and Clark sites nearby. But we really just scratched the surface. On our way out of the area we stopped at Multnomah Falls and snapped some photos. I didn’t really “work the scene” as much as I should have so I feel like I have unfinished business there for a future visit. One other treat. We drove next to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge and had rear-view mirror views of snowy Mt. Hood as we drove out of Oregon. What a beautiful state.
Conclusion: The Oregon coast could be visited on repeat forever and not get old. Same with photography there. But the star of the show is the beauty of the entire state, which will require a deep dive in the near future.
And that’s it. That was our epic west coast road trip. The whole trip was simply unbelievable. And after a two day drive back to the Midwest we were home to start the long slog through Lightroom Classic.