Southern Utah and northern Arizona are home to the largest concentration of slot canyons on earth. Over a thousand slot canyons are known in this area, from the world-famous Antelope Canyon to hundreds of tiny slivers in the red and orange sandstone that dominates the region. While many of these canyons are difficult to access due to their remoteness or technical requirements (or both!), some are much more accessible.
One of the most popular canyons in southern Utah is Buckskin Gulch. It winds its way over roughly 16 miles within the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, at times only a few feet across and dozens of feet tall. The bizarre, otherworldly curves and undulations of the canyon reflect the desert light into an array of red, orange, and purple hues contrasted against deep shadow where the light does not touch.
There are several ways to enter Buckskin Gulch, but the most popular route is through the Wire Pass trailhead along House Rock Valley Road. A day use permit is required which can be obtained in advance or at the trailhead. Currently, the permit costs $6.00 per person. Overnight permits must be applied for in advance.
I pulled into the Wire Pass trailhead (which shares a parking lot with The Wave) a few minutes before 7:00 AM. Only a few cars shared the parking lot with me as I prepared to hike into the canyon. My car's thermometer read 35-degrees Fahrenheit, but the dry air made it feel much more comfortable.
The hike through Wire Pass and into Buckskin Gulch was about 1.5 miles through a flat, sandy wash. With no one else around, the only sounds were of the birds and sand crunching under my shoes.
By 7:30 I had entered Buckskin Gulch. It's towering walls presented an infinite number of photographic compositions. The contrast of glowing red rock separated by the curving stone from deep shadow was a dream. It seemed I couldn't walk one hundred feet without stopping to examine a new scene.
I had to be careful to avoid aiming my lens too near the open sky. I left my lens hood at home, and the vast difference in exposure between the bright sky and dark canyon made it easy for lens flare and light leaks to appear. Thankfully, with the canyon walls being so tall, this issue was easily avoided.
I continued deeper into the canyon as the morning progressed. Birds flitted between the canyon walls, which I tried—and failed—to capture. Even in this strange, harsh environment, life abounded if you searched for it.
Growing up in central Florida, it is hard to imagine a landscape more different than the shadowy canyons in southern Utah. All around me was evidence of the forces of erosion, telling a story millions of years in the making. Every layer and striation in the rock was a chapter in Earth's history. Even if I left Buckskin Gulch with no good images, I had a wonderful time hiking in silence through the canyon.
In general, Buckskin Gulch is not an especially narrow canyon. Many slot canyons are so narrow that one's shoulders touch both sides of the canyon simultaneously, and some require turning sideways to sneak through a passage. The image below shows perhaps the narrowest section that I went through. The floor of the canyon here is a few feet wide—certainly narrow, but not enough to bring out any latent claustrophobia.
Photographing a slot canyon properly requires careful attention to detail. Due to the drastic differences in exposure values and the need for great depth of field, I found that hand-holding my camera was all but impossible. For virtually every picture I took I employed either exposure or focus bracketing to ensure proper exposure and sharpness. The image above was a three-shot bracket using f/9.0 and ISO 400 with exposure times of 0.25, 0.6, and 2.0 seconds.
I brought three lenses into the canyon on this hike: my Sony 20-70mm f/4, Sony 70-200 f/4, and a Viltrox 16mm f/1.8. I never touched the 70-200mm lens, but the two other lenses were used roughly equally. The image above was a sequence of four focus bracketed images taken at f/6.3 and ISO 400 using the Viltrox 16mm. For a reasonably priced lens, I have been extremely impressed with both its image and build quality. When I need a very wide angle lens, I have no concerns using it.
Eventually, the canyon makes a sharp left turn and opens up significantly wider than any place previously seen. A great arch greets visitors and there is enough sunlight for trees to grow. In both of my visits I have tried to capture this arch, but I have yet to come away satisfied. However, the patterns and striations on the enormous rock wall are quite striking. I ended my hike here, capturing one final image of these patterns.
The hike out went much faster than the hike in. What was a silent, lonesome adventure at 7 AM had become a crowded, loud trek back through the canyon at 11. The temperature had risen twenty degrees or more and the desert sun was a harsh reminder of the cool, shady air back in the canyon. By the time I reached my car, the parking lot that had just a few cars was now full. It was time to head back to Kanab.