Read on to learn about some of our state’s most photogenic sights and how to snap the perfect shot.
Maroon Bells
Near Aspen
Google “Colorado” and a photo of the Maroon Bells will likely be the first landscape photo in your search results. These dazzling pyramidal slabs — with their distinctive, horizontal striations and a location at the edge of a glacial valley and mirror-like Maroon Lake — are the most photographed mountains in North America.
Tips to Get the Shot: For the best light, you’ll want to shoot sunrise here, not sunset. And spots along the banks of the lake can fill up with photographers fast, so plan to get there early. Note that from late May to late October, 8am–5pm daily, access is only available by a shuttle (reservations recommended). Learn more about visiting the Maroon Bells.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Near Alamosa
If photography is a study of light and dark, then perhaps no geological feature is a better subject than sand dunes. Soft ridges form an abstract yin-and-yang effect, as dark meets light in fluid, ever-shifting patterns. At Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, a backdrop of blue Colorado skies and snow-dusted saw-tooth peaks means you’ll easily spend hours capturing all the different frame-worthy possibilities.
Tips to Get the Shot: Late afternoon will provide more dramatic shadows. If you park at the main Dunes Parking Lot and head left after the main entrance, you’ll access areas with fewer visitor footprints, plus a view with mountains in the background. View the National Park Service’s photography guide for the park.
Garden of the Gods Park
Colorado Springs
Ochre sandstone spires form an otherworldly setting in this natural rock garden at the foot of majestic Pikes Peak. The geologic formations give off a warm glow, especially at sunrise and sunset — when photographers of all talents are compelled to snap away in hopes of translating this strange beauty through the lens.
Tips to Get the Shot: Great photo ops are available from the Visitor Center or from Gateway or Balanced Rock parking lots. From the Siamese Twins Trail, you can experiment with framing Pikes Peak, a 14,115-foot mountain, inside the Siamese Twins Arch. Learn about more fun things to do at Garden of the Gods.
Mesa Verde National Park
Near Durango and Cortez
Send your imagination on a trip back in time to the ancient cities of the Ancestral Puebloans, who inhabited Mesa Verde from A.D. 600 to 1300 in hundreds of cliff dwellings carved into rock walls. You’ll want to capture it all: Shafts of sunlight filtering into deep kivas (round ceremonial rooms set down into the earth); dark, rectangular windows contrasting against the ancient, red sandstone masonry; and overhanging rock walls streaked with washes of black, green, yellow and red.
Tips to Get the Shot: Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House and Balcony House offer the signature cliff-dwelling shots. The structures blend into their surrounding rock walls, making color photography (not black and white) your best bet here. *Note: Spruce Tree House is closed for an indefinite period due to rock-fall concerns, but visitors can still view the dwelling from an overlook. The National Park Service website has more information and updates. View the National Park Service’s seasonal guide to the best times of day for photographing each of the major dwellings.
Hanging Lake
Near Glenwood Springs
Post a few pics of Hanging Lake to your Facebook page and watch the number of “likes” soar. This almost supernaturally teal-green lake appears to cling to the edge of a mountainside and is surrounded by moss-covered rocks and a meandering trail. Wisps of water cascade quietly off a cliff into the lake’s still depths, adding to an already surreal atmosphere.
Tips to Get the Shot: The lake is accessible only via a mile-long hiking trail that is somewhat rigorous in spots. You will need a reservation to hike. But once you’re there, there are countless angles from which to shoot the photogenic waterfalls, lake and greenery. More advanced photogs may want to bring a polarizing filter to help reduce glare and fully capture the lake’s crystalline qualities.