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The Pink Ledges area is the section of Red Canyon off Highway 12 near the Visitor’s Center.
Spectacular red-orange castles, hoodoos and other formations are on both sides of the canyon,
along with the entrances to several trails such as the Pink Ledges Trail, the Butch Cassidy Trail,
the Golden Wall Trail, and others. This page houses images of some of the rock formations
along Highway 12 taken during several visits in the summer and in mid-winter, when the
red-orange rock and green forest are set off by the white snow and the blue Utah sky.
Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail
Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon 5957
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Fins and hoodoo formations rise from forested crimson sands at the entrance to Red Canyon.
Red Canyon is between Highway 89 and Bryce Canyon, and most people who enter the canyon
are on their way to Bryce Canyon or the other scenic areas in the Grand Staircase Escalante in
the interior of Southwestern Utah’s Color Country. Like Bryce Canyon, the rock formations are
formed by a combination of frost wedging and rain erosion into fins, spires and hoodoos that
make Red Canyon a startlingly beautiful sight, stopping many travelers dead in their tracks.
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Red Canyon 5959
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The entrance to Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest.
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Red Canyon 5963
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Hoodoos and fins and a brilliant blue Utah sky in August.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 5962
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A prominent Pink Ledges rock formation at mid-morning in August. I trained several groups of photographers in Utah, and shot the canyon at various times of day in summer and winter.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 6441
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The same Pink Ledges formation in the early afternoon, two days later. Color of the rock and sand can vary significantly depending on the angle of the light and position of clouds.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5560
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Detail of the same Pink Ledges formation in the early morning in late December after a snowfall the night before.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5563
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Red-orange hoodoo formations, snow and a brilliant blue Utah sky in Red Canyon in the early morning in late December.
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Red Canyon, and especially the Pink Ledges area, offered a spectacular venue to train photographers
in exposure techniques. The highly saturated red-orange rock and the brilliant blue Utah sky are very easy
to overexpose as both the red and blue channels are at risk, and the channel balance changes radically
at different times of the day. We often stopped here either before or after visits to Bryce Canyon.
Red Canyon Pink Ledges 6446
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A wider view of the group of hoodoos behind the Visitor’s Center, rising
from the red-orange clay of Red Canyon in the early afternoon in August.
Like much of nearby Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon is in the Pink Cliffs of the
Claron Formation, which is predominately limestone, sandstone and shale.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Sunrise 1596
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Fluorescing fins and hoodoos in the Pink Ledges area at sunrise in late September.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Pink Ledges Sunrise 1595
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The low angle light at sunrise causes the hoodoo formations to glow with a highly saturated golden-orange color.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5478
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The hoodoos and hills of Red Canyon near sunset in winter.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Sunset 5466
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A prominent formation on the Pink Ledges Trail near sunset.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5565
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A fin on a hillside in the Pink Ledges area in the early morning in late December, after
a snowfall the night before. You can see the vertical cracks caused by frost wedging which
are turning this fin into a hoodoo formation. Eventually, the hoodoos will separate from the fin.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail
Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5284
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The formation behind the Visitor’s Center, in the early afternoon in winter from Highway 12.
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Red Canyon Castle Bridge 1009
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The Castle Bridge area south of Highway 12, late afternoon in September. Closeups are on the Golden Wall Trail page.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Pink Ledges 1263
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Hoodoos in the Pink Ledges area north of Highway 12, taken on the following September day in the late afternoon.
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Red Canyon Highway 12 Hoodoos 0998
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A hoodoo formation above Highway 12 on the eastern side of Red Canyon, taken in the late afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5547
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Hoodoos and fins rise above a snowy Red Canyon landscape in the early morning in late December.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5549
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Detail of the Pink Ledges hoodoos and fins shown in the previous image, just over
one minute later as the rising sun hits the formation and causes the fin to fluoresce.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Pink Ledges Trail 2002
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Hoodoo formations on the Pink Ledges Trail in the early afternoon in late September.
The Pink Ledges Trail is a mile long loop above the Visitor’s Center which winds among
hoodoos and rock formations, through the forested slopes leading to the namesake ledges.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 2006
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The Pink Ledges formation from the Pink Ledges Trail, taken in the early afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 2009
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A solitary Pinyon Pine grows from a crack in the rock in front of the Pink Ledges formation.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 2014
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Detail of the hoodoos in the limestone caprock over the Pink Ledges formation, early afternoon on the Pink Ledges Trail.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 2016
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The prominent wall formation on the Pink Ledges Trail. This wall was shown earlier in image 5466 (sunset in winter).
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Juniper 2015
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A solitary Juniper growing from a crack in the rock above the Pink Ledges,
taken in the early afternoon in late September from the Pink Ledges Trail.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail
Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Balanced Rocks 1276
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Ponderosa Pines and other conifers in front of the Balanced Rocks formation,
taken in the late afternoon in late September from Highway 12 in Red Canyon.
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Red Canyon Balanced Rocks 1008
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The Balanced Rock hoodoos fluoresce golden-orange in the late afternoon light, vignetted by conifers in late September.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 1006
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The right side of the Balanced Rocks formation in the Pink Ledges area, vignetted by conifers in the late afternoon.
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Red Canyon Balanced Rocks 6455
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The Balanced Rock hoodoos standing atop a rock formation in the Pink Ledges area,
taken in the early afternoon in late August. Detail shots of the Balanced Rocks are below.
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Red Canyon Balanced Rocks 2010
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A telephoto portrait of the Balanced Rock hoodoos in the Pink Ledges area, taken at mid-day in late September.
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Red Canyon Balanced Rocks 2012
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A close detail telephoto shot of the Balanced Rock hoodoos, taken at mid-day in late September.
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Red Canyon Balanced Rocks Sunset 5461
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A telephoto portrait of the Balanced Rock hoodoos at sunset in late December.
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Red Canyon Tower Hoodoo 6456
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The pinnacle known as the Red Canyon Tower is a hoodoo formation
eroded from a sedimentary fin just north of Highway 12 in the Pink Ledges area.
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Red Canyon Tower Hoodoo 6447
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A wider view of the Tower hoodoo formation and the surrounding hoodoos
in the Pink Ledges area, taken in the early afternoon in August from Highway 12.
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Red Canyon Tower Hoodoo 1280
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This view of the Tower formation, taken from the Eastern side, shows the narrow fin shaded on a late September afternoon.
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Red Canyon Tower Hoodoo 5969
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This mid-morning shot of the Tower hoodoo formation taken in late August shows the fully lit Eastern side of the fin.
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Red Canyon Tower Golden Wall Trailhead X5747
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The Pink Ledges Tower hoodoo formation framed by foliage, from the approach to the Golden Wall Trailhead in late June.
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Red Canyon Tower Golden Wall Trailhead X5739
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The Tower pinnacle is lit by the mid-morning sun, taken from the approach to the Golden Wall Trailhead.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail
Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5283
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Formations on the Western side of the Northern wall of Red Canyon’s Pink Ledges area,
taken in the early afternoon in late December. The horizontal ledges are eroded along the
sedimentary layer boundaries, and the vertical cracks are caused by frost wedging, which
will eventually separate sections of the formation into the characteristic hoodoos (at right).
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges 1273
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Hoodoo formations in the Pink Ledges are fluorescing in late afternoon September light.
Bright red-orange hoodoos surrounded by a darker landscape and bright blue sky make
for a challenging calculation, as both the red and blue channels are at risk of overexposure.
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Red Canyon Fin Sunset 5476
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A fin and hoodoo formation at sunset in Red Canyon’s Pink Ledges area in late December.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Sunset 5457
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Hoodoos and fins emerge from the red-orange sands at the base of the cliff wall.
This was taken near sunset in the Pink Ledges area of Red Canyon in late December.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5566
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Close detail of fins and hoodoos in the Pink Ledges area of Red Canyon, taken in the
early morning in late December after a snowfall the night before. The horizontal cracks
along the sedimentary layer boundaries are outlined in snow, and the red-orange rock
stands out against a brilliant blue winter sky. I drove hundreds of miles to see this sight.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5553
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Hoodoo formations on the Northern wall of Red Canyon in the early morning light, taken in late December.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5554
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The hoodoo formations to the right of the section shown in the previous image, in the Pink Ledges area of Red Canyon.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5555
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Close detail of the hoodoo formations emerging from a mixed conifer forest along the
Northern wall of Red Canyon’s Pink Ledges area, taken in the early morning in late December.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5568
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The hoodoo formation over the Visitor’s Center, shot in the early morning in late December.
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Red Canyon Pink Ledges Winter 5569
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A more frontal angle of the formation over the Visitor’s Center in Winter.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail
Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Click the display composite above to visit the Arches Trail page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Cassidy Trail page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Golden Wall Trail page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Red Canyon Flora and Fauna page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Utah Prairie Dog page
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