Devil’s Garden is a little jewel box with petrified sand dunes weirdly shaped monoliths, arches and hoodoos in the middle of the vast Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Its proximity and easy access from the little town of Escalante allows you to explore it well at the end of the day to find your right compositions. Return afterwards to Escalante and have a good rest at one of the hotels in town to be there again early morning for the shooting followed by a nice breakfast at one of the picnic tables in the area. Fill the remaining day with a hike to the Zebra Slot or Peek-a-Boo Canyon to return late afternoon to Devils Garden to complete the photographic exploration.

Getting to Devils Garden:

The access is easy and just 17.5 miles from the town of Escalante. Take UT-12 heading southeast for about 5 miles to enter right onto Hole-in-the-Rock Road. After 12 easy miles turn right on BLM 225 for another 0.5 mile to the parking area. The monoliths, Metate Arch and the hoodoos are located south of the parking area.

Taking shots:

The perfect time to be there is early morning or late afternoon, although if you are into black and white photography this could also be the place to be there during the day as long as you have good light conditions.

The weirdly shaped monoliths or the Metate Arch provides numerous possible compositions. From all images that I have seen so far of this place each had a very unique and different presentation and every time that I return there new possibilities come up. Regardless of what time of the day you are visiting this place I strongly recommend to spend first one to two hours roaming around and explore it thoroughly before shooting.

My personal favorite time to photograph Devils Garden is right after sunrise. The monoliths take a golden hue that stands out beautifully against the dark blue sky and the Straight Cliffs in the background fully sun exposed.

Any kind of lens, wide-angle, mid and long tele will work here.

Last update: June 22, 2011

Devils Garden