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The Golden Wall Loop Trail leads into the hills of Red Canyon south of Highway 12.
The eastern side of the loop trail, called the Buckhorn Trail, is the trailhead I used to
enter and exit the Golden Wall area. The trail winds through a Pinyon and Ponderosa
Pine forest into a Fir forest with beautiful red-orange hoodoos and rock formations,
offering panoramic views of the Red Canyon area and the Sevier Valley beyond.
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 Golden Wall Trailhead X5675
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Sunrise at the Golden Wall Trailhead, looking towards the Butch Cassidy Draw.
This is one of several areas in Red Canyon named for the famous 19th century outlaw.
Information on Butch Cassidy and images of his boyhood home are on the Cassidy Trail page.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail Sunrise X5678
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A view towards the sunrise on the Golden Wall Trail in the light leaking over the hoodoo formations. I made an overnight stop in Panguitch while driving back from New Mexico, and before driving to California I decided to take the short hike up to the Castle Bridge area on the Golden Wall loop using the eastern side of the loop (called the Buckhorn Trail) to watch the sun make the Red Canyon rocks explode into color with my 80 year old mom once more before taking another long drive.
The image at right is looking directly into the sunrise, using the hoodoo on the right to block the sun. The reflected light causes the rock between the hoodoos to fluoresce as the first light of day begins to reach into the canyon. This spectacular sight is unbelievably difficult to properly capture in camera.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail Sunrise X5682
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail Sunrise X5686
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Golden rays of sunrise illuminating hoodoo formations along the Golden Wall Trail in late June.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail Sunrise X5689
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The light at sunrise causes hoodoo formations to fluoresce, exploding into a reddish-gold against the brilliant blue sky.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail X5692
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Breaking onto the flats after the switchbacks gives you a view over the
fins and ridges of the Pink Ledges area to the Paunsaugunt Plateau beyond.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail X5694
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The view towards Butch Cassidy Draw from the Golden Wall Trail.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail X5695
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A wider view of the Pink Ledges area and the Paunsaugunt Plateau from the Golden Wall Trail.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trail X5698
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Hoodoos and Juniper on the Golden Wall Trail, with a view up into the upper forest of the Castle Bridge area.
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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 Hoodoos Golden Wall Trail X5703
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A wall of hoodoos at the base of the Castle Bridge area on the Golden Wall Trail.
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Red Canyon Rabbit Golden Wall Trail X5704
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Some of the hoodoos erode into interesting shapes.
Here, the Red Canyon Rabbit watches hikers pass by.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Golden Wall Trail X5706
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A wider view of the wall of hoodoos in the Castle Bridge area.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Golden Wall Trail X5715
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Detail of the hoodoos at the base of the wall.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Golden Wall Trail X5711
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One final image of the hoodoo wall at the base of the Castle Bridge area.
This section of the Golden Wall Trail doesn’t get lit until later in the morning,
but by then the light has gotten rather harsh and the hoodoos wash out.
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Red Canyon Hoodoos Golden Wall Trail X5724
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Hoodoos on the slopes in the early morning light. Those at the top of the slope are beginning to lose that magnificent color.
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Narrow-Leaf Yucca Red Canyon X5730
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Narrow-Leaf Yucca on the flats approaching the trailhead. The flower stalk rises through the spiny leaves to about five feet.
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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 Golden Wall Trailhead X5718
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A view across the forested flats towards the hoodoos and fins. This image was shot with a polarizing filter set to 60%.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trailhead X5719
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A polarizing filter darkens the sky and increases contrast and color saturation (this shot was taken with a 30% setting).
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Polarization Comparison Golden Wall Trailhead
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Above is a polarization comparison with the same scene taken at 60%, 30% and 10% polarization.
Note how the reduced reflection from the leaves causes increased color saturation at the top of the tree
at the right of each image (and other foliage) as well as on the hoodoos. I generally tend to prefer roughly
25%-40% polarization to avoid darkening the sky too much, but some clients prefer the look at 50%-60%.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trailhead X5726
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A view across the forested flats near the Golden Wall Trailhead towards
Butch Cassidy Draw, again using a polarizing filter set to 10% polarization.
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Red Canyon Golden Wall Trailhead X5737
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A wider view across the forested flats towards Butch Cassidy Draw, without polarization.
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Red Canyon Sunrise Cassidy Trail X2156
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This is a view towards the Castle Bridge area at the top of the Golden Wall Trail.
This image was taken from the Cassidy Trail at sunrise in June during a different visit.
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Red Canyon Tower Golden Wall Trailhead X5739
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The Pink Ledges Tower hoodoo, lit by the mid-morning sun from the approach to the Golden Wall Trailhead.
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Red Canyon Tower Golden Wall Trailhead X5747
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The Tower pinnacle framed by foliage, taken head-on from the approach to the Golden Wall Trailhead.
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Polarization Comparison Red Canyon Tower
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A polarization comparison of the Red Canyon Tower in the Pink Ledges area,
illustrating differences in color saturation and contrast at 60% and 20% polarization.
Each of the images in both Polarization Studies are available separately.
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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 Pink Ledges page
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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 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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