Natural Bridges & Hovenweep
Night skies don't get much darker than in eastern Utah, particularly in the Bortle 2 national monuments of Natural Bridges and Hovenweep. For three nights we'll explore these jewels of the Colorado Plateau, hiking to and then photographing two of the eponymous sandstone formations, as well as Puebloan ruins.
Workshop Details
May 18-20, 2026
This is a 3-night, 3-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the afternoon of May 18, and ends after a final night shoot on May 20.
$1,495 + applicable taxes.
Skill level
Open to all who have an understanding of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras.
Group size
14, with 2 instructors — 7:1 ratio
NPS website
Natural Bridges National Monument · Hovenweep National Monument
Workshop Leaders
Registration
| Deposit of $800 is required to reserve your spot. |
| • Balance of $695 is due on February 17, 2026. → Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is February 16, 2026. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, entrance fees, or transportation to or during the workshop. |
The Natural Bridges & Hovenweep Experience
The primary focus will be around Utah’s first national monument, Natural Bridges, which features the three natural bridges that make up the park: Kachina, Owachomo and Sipapu.
Owachomo is probably the most popular of the three—it is accessed via a quarter-mile trail, and features a delicate arch that faces south and is perfect for framing in front of the Milky Way.
Sipapu is the second largest natural bridge in the United States. According to the National Park Service, “In Hopi mythology a sipapu is a gateway through which souls may pass to the spiritual world.” Brave the steep descent via wooden ladders and switchbacks to witness and photograph this spectacular site.
(Kachina is the youngest of the bridges and is often hidden to most views from the overlook. It also sits in a way that makes night photography difficult, so we won’t be shooting this one.)
Also, we will have permission to photograph one of the best preserved ancestral Puebloan sites, Horsecollar Ruin, accessed via a short hike into the canyon.
Additionally, we will visit and shoot Hovenweep National Monument—another amazing dark sky location featuring Puebloan castles and structures that have survived centuries. As the monument's website so perfectly states, “Hovenweep preserves a primordial dark sky largely unaltered by modernity.” We will be able to visit the ruins during the daytime and photograph amazing night skies during the evening.
Note that light painting is not allowed at either of these locations. We will practice twilight and starlight blends in the field, and we will run processing sessions to seamlessly put them together during the day.
Nightscaper Photo Conference in Four Corners
This workshop begins the day after the 2026 Nightscaper Photo Conference in Four Corners, providing an opportunity to attend the world’s leading in-person night photography conference and then cap it off with an adventure to Natural Bridges and Hovenweep. The conference is an in-person event devoted to astro-landscape photographers, scientists, artists and activists who wish to enjoy and preserve the night skies. For more information, visit nightscaper.com.
What You Should Know
Participants must have at least basic photo skills, know their cameras well, and be comfortable shooting raw in manual mode.
If you would like to join us on this trip but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-event tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-trip reads.
What You Will Learn
This workshop emphasizes honing your night skills and creating the most spectacular photographs once the sun dips below the horizon. We specifically chose the timing of this workshop to occur during the waxing crescent moon, giving us perfect conditions for star trails, star points and Milky Way, all with very gentle moonlight illuminating the landscape.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
star-point and star-trail exposures
Milky Way panos
shooting and blending landscape and dark-sky exposures
scouting for night photography
and more …
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
The workshop will be based in Blanding, Utah. You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation.
If you plan to attend the 2026 Nightscaper Photo Conference in Four Corners, you can drive to the workshop base in Blanding, Utah, in less than 2.5 hours. This workshop begins the day after the conference ends.
Nearby Airports:
Cortez (CEZ) — 1.5 hours from Death Valley
Moab (LAX) — 1.5 hours
Durango (DRO) — 2 hours
Four Corners (FNM) — 2.5 hours
Rental Car
You will need a rental car to get to the workshop and to the shoot locations.
There is no need for four-wheel-drive.
If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car, let us know and we will try to connect you with another attendee looking for the same.
Lodging & Food
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Lodging
You are not required to stay at the official workshop lodging, though doing so does make it easier to meet with the group each day.
Info and group code will be sent once our lodging partner is ready to begin taking reservations.
If you are interested in sharing a room, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Food
Blanding has food options, including groceries and some restaurants.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good breakfast and a great late lunch.
When on the night shoots, you may wish to bring snack food or a sandwich and plenty of water.
Weather
Expect daytime high of 80 F, and nighttime lows in the 40s.
Recommended Attire
Pants and short-sleeve shirts for daytime, pants and long-sleeve shirts for night.
A sweatshirt and medium-weight jacket will likely be useful, and a base layer might not be a waste of packing space. Layers are good.
Comfortable and protective shoes are recommended for getting around. We will be on trails, so quality trail shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Moderate to Active. (See more about our classifications.)
We will need to walk/hike to shoot locations. The hike to Owachomo is relatively short and easy, but it is a trail hike. For Sipapu, you will have two options:
a 1.2-mile, 400-foot descent that includes three wooden ladders, one long set of metal stairs, rock stairs, wooden stairs, and switchbacks
a shorter, easier walk to an overlook half way down
Please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. You should be comfortable carrying your own equipment on trails and over uneven ground in the dark.
Natural Bridges and Hovenweep range between 5,200 and 6,700 feet in elevation. We will not be going to the high points, but altitude sickness can become a concern at over 8,000 feet, and some people can experience it at elevations as low as 6,000. If you are generally sensitive to high elevations, or if you are coming from a sea-level region, we advise arriving in the area a day or two early to acclimate by going on some short hikes at altitude. We also advise staying well hydrated.
Note: To ensure the safety of individuals and the group, the workshop leaders may use their discretion to limit an attendee from engaging in a vigorous activity on-site should that person's physical health or ability be in question. If you are unsure about your ability to meet the physical demands of this workshop, we will be happy to discuss your concerns one-on-one before you register. You are also, of course, welcome to attend a workshop and sit out any physical activity that makes you uncomfortable. In such cases, we can provide you with ideas for alternative shoot locations for that time.
Considerations
IMPORTANT: We encourage reading our FAQs page for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
What Goes Around …
“The heat, the dry desert and the dark skies really challenged our gear and wits.”
Full circle.
The year we offered our first National Parks at Night workshops, Matt, Chris, my brother-in-law Sean and I did an amazing motorcycle/car road trip through the dark sky parks of Utah. Our main goal was Capitol Reef National Park, but we sandwiched Bryce Canyon National Park and Natural Bridges National Monument before and after.
It was epic.
We did have moonlight at the beginning but it was rising later each night. By the time we arrived at Natural Bridges, it was dark—really dark. At the visitor center there was a picture of Owachomo with the Milky Way perfectly framed by the arch. This was 2016, so we were not accustomed to seeing parks embrace and promote dark skies.
We learned that in 2007 Natural Bridges was named the world’s first International Dark Sky Park. So yes, it was really dark! And as you might guess, really remote. The ranger was super nice and thrilled that we were there to experience the night skies. They don’t get a ton of visitors, and most pass through during the day.
The four of us had one of the best experiences watching and photographing the Milky Way rise through Owachomo.
A year later, Matt and I returned to lead a workshop at Natural Brides and Hovenweep National Monuments. It was June, it was 100 F, and for the first time we were noticing huge swaths of color noise on long exposures past 5 to 10 seconds. The heat, the dry desert and the dark skies really challenged our gear and wits. We pivoted and became early adapters of starlight blends. Light painting was legal in both of these locations back then, so we were able to also gently illuminate the undersides of arches and pueblo structures. The photographs we all created were truly stellar. We all went home with fresh dark-sky images and some amazing memories.
We’ve always wanted to go back, and now we get to. It’s especially exciting after revisiting these images we created almost a decade ago.
