Day to kill in Arizona

I'm in Phoenix, AZ for 2 weeks on business, but I packed most of my camera gear down with me. I have a weekend free in between for a couple photo ops. I have a couple places in mind around Phoenix for Saturday (can't stray too far, going to a hockey game in the evening).

I'm having a hard time deciding where to go on the Sunday. Grand Canyon seems like it'd be a bit too far and only having a day in such a place would be a shame. I have been thinking about going north to Sedona, west to Joshua Tree NP, or south to Saguaro NP. Anyone have thoughts on these three? Or know a great place that an out of towner wouldn't think of but is nice, and 2ish (3max) hours away from Phoenix? I'd love to here from people who live in AZ or have spent some time here. This is my first time here.

Hey - welcome to AZ.

A couple of nice spots that you might not think about:

- Lost Dutchman State park - nice shots of the superstitions at sunset. That is a close place you can get to right outside of town.



- Watson lake near Prescott can be great on calm days, at sunset or sunrise.




- If you go to Sedona and can hike, go about 1.5 miles up the West Fork of Oak Creek and there might still be some fall color. It is a little late, but maybe.



If you go to Sedona but are not able to hike - you could try Red River Crossing - if you do not mind copying everyone else for the iconic shot of Cathedral Rock!


My color is off on this one- need to fix it...



- for shots in town, try Sunrise or Sunset at Tempe Town lake,





or Botanical Gardens.





A few ideas.

Enjoy
Dave

TY:

With just 1 day, my recommendation would be either Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon OR Apache Trail. Joshua Tree way too far & although you can make it to the Canyon & back in a day, it leaves a pretty narrow window in which to shoot (in the harsh mid-day light.)

Tucson Jim

I checked out Flying Dutchman SP, it was pretty neat. 93F while hiking around, and that was at 10am. It was more for personal enjoyment then photography, since as Dave said, its really a place to go in the evening. I took a few shots, but they don't look that great, then took some shots of cacti, and then a cactus took a shot at me.

This is after I was about half done cutting the prickles off from the base, so I could then pull em out one at a time... it took about 30 minutes to get them all out.

Oh holy, that looks like it hurt a LOT. I've had a couple at a time stick me in the past, but not that many. Hope you had a good time other than that little bit.

Oh Ty !! Not fun. I guess we should have warned you about hiking in shorts. Hope you managed to get them all out.

How was the hike otherwise?

Jim

OUCH! Looks like a Jumping Cholla. I was warned about them when I went out to get my puppy this spring.

Sweet photos Dave.