Help with trip planning: I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to...

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to White sands NP, and then to Phoenix, probably stopping again at San Xavier near Tucson.

What other photogenic stops along the way might I make? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Are you camping? There are some nice campground in Lincoln National Forrest.
Spots around Carlsbad if you’re staying for a day or two...
GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS National Park - Friiole Ranch History Museum is an interesting stop
and GUADALUPE PEAK off of US62
Friends of the Living Desert (non-profit zoo) off Skyline Drive just outside of Carlsbad -
Google provided Photo Ops Carlsbad NM

Shot this Eagle there -

Friends of the Living Desert
Friends of the Living Desert...

CliffMcKenzie Loc: Lake Athens Texas

John,

Have a two week photography trip starting end of September. We have about 30 photographers and have been planning this venture for about a year. My portion of the trip is about 2,600 miles originating in Frisco\Plano.

"Photographing the Southwest Volume x". I am currently reading Vol 3 Colorado\New Mexico. Talks about where, suggestions regarding time of day. lens and a lot more.

Here is something I share with my students. Go to Flickr (you don't have to have paid subscription), type in "white sands NM" and select photos. then find the one you like and scroll down. Most, including myself, will leave all the data about the image.

By the way, hope you have your reservations in place. We got the last 14 rooms in Ghost Ranch in February.

Cliff

Fayle Loc: Seward, Alaska and Rionegro, Colombia

jaymatt wrote:

I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to White sands NP, and then to Phoenix, probably stopping again at San Xavier near Tucson.

What other photogenic stops along the way might I make? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John.

Check out the "Photographing the Southwest" series of books by Laurent Martres.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=laurent+martres&ref=nb_sb_noss

photoman43

In Tucson definitely go to San Xavier.

Not too far away is the Saguaro National Park (West section) and the Sonora Desert Museum. The name might be Tucson Mountain District (TMD) is often referred to as Saguaro West. I have found that early morning light is better for Saguaro west. You can easily spend a whole day visiting all three of these three locations with the kission at at the end of the day and maybe sunset too.

https://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/directionstothepark.htm

https://www.desertmuseum.org/

JD750 Loc: SoCal

jaymatt wrote:

I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to White sands NP, and then to Phoenix, probably stopping again at San Xavier near Tucson.

What other photogenic stops along the way might I make? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John.

That sounds like a great trip! There is a lot to see.

Planning is good but it’s also good to keep an eye open to the unexpected. Try not to be on a forced march, a rigid schedule, so if something unexpected pops up you can stop and “smell the roses”. Sometimes the unexpected things turn out to be jewels and far better than the big touristy places.

I hope you will share some photos here!

Ed Commons

Go west to Amarillo. Just South of Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon. Lots of photo ops there. It's smaller than the Grand Canyon but very scenic and easy, accessible hiking . Unfortunately, this year it's been hot. Bring a wide brim hat, and an extra canteen or two

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

jaymatt wrote:

I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to White sands NP, and then to Phoenix, probably stopping again at San Xavier near Tucson.

What other photogenic stops along the way might I make? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John.

If you are willing to take the northern route to Phoenix, the New Mexico Steam Locomotove Historical Society has restored the ATSF 2926 to operating condition. Their facility is open to the public on Wednesday and Saturday. If you haven’t been, it is a treat. Check their website. I think that I got their name right.

There are several hreat locations for railroad photography on the transcontinental main line on both sides of Flagstaff, then you can drop in to Phoenix from the north. Trains about every 15 minutes. Sometimes not a lot of variety.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

jaymatt wrote:

I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to White sands NP, and then to Phoenix, probably stopping again at San Xavier near Tucson.

What other photogenic stops along the way might I make? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John.

Don’t you want to know what lens to bring, John? 😜

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

A stop in Tombstone, AZ for some authentic west frontier town photo ops would in order.

Stan

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Rab-Eye wrote:

Don’t you want to know what lens to bring, John? 😜

it’s always good to choose the lenses first and then take the camera body(s) that attach to the chosen lenses.

nanceh

Take aside trip to Sedona, north of Phoenix. There are really good off-road jeep trips to see a lot of the sandstone formations. You will be able to get some beautiful photographs. If you have a chance, while you were in Tucson, drive out to Kartchner Caverns (need a reservation ahead of time), and take a tour of the caverns (although there is no photography inside them). You can do that in the morning, and then head to Tombstone for lunch on the way back to Tucson. If you are old enough to remember the cold war, you might be interested in visiting the Titan Missile Museum, an old missile silo - more a visit to see it, not a photography stop. I also second a visit to the Arizona Desert Museum, which is really a natural zoo of many types of desert and non-desert animals, all in a natural setting.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

jaymatt wrote:

I am potentially planning a mid-late September journey from Indiana to Phoenix, heading southwest to Frisco, Texas (family), on to Carlsbad Caverns NP, to White sands NP, and then to Phoenix, probably stopping again at San Xavier near Tucson.

What other photogenic stops along the way might I make? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John.

Not in order,
Las Cruces and Old Mesilla (Inside Las Cruces) has the amazing Double Eagle restaurant associated with Billy the Kid.
Hatch, NM famous for the Hatch Chilis.
Silver City and the "Big Ditch" that was once Main Street.
Ft Bowie, AZ
Fire Museum, Tempe, AZ
Phoenix Zoo.
Casa Grande Ruins.
Boyce Thompson Arboretum, AZ.
Toombstone, AZ.
Bisbee. AZ.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Rab-Eye wrote:

Don’t you want to know what lens to bring, John? 😜

Nope!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

jaymatt wrote:

Nope!

Excellent response.
Some of us actually know what and how our lenses work from experience rather than collect them.