escalante adventures
astro + photography adventure workshop
The Milky Way over the Cosmic Ashtray- we 4x4 you right up to this epic geologic wonder for an unforgettable night of astro!
escalante adventures
September 4 - 9, 2026
Join us for 5 days and 5 nights of epic adventures throughout the Grand Staircase-Escalante Wilderness: high elevations, remarkable geology, and the darkest night skies in the country! September is a wonderful time in the area as the nights are still warm, days are cooler, and the Milky Way is out early- the night sky transitions from the Milky Way Galactic core into Cygnus, Perseus, and eventual Orion in the early AM rising in the Southeast, so many orientations of the night sky mixed in with the interesting rock formations makes for a fun time piecing together interesting compositions with the plethora of geologic features, badlands, and landscapes!
logistics
START: Friday September 4th at 1-5pm in Hanksville, Uah
FINISH: Wednesday September 9th at 8-11am in Bryce, Utah. Our Alumni star party begins in Bryce Canyon on the 9th later that day!
The three best airport options are:
Salt Lake City, Utah - most flight and rental options, 3.5 hour scenic drives from start to finish. This is probably going to be the best option.
Las Vegas, Moab, and Grand Junction are also options but involve a bit more driving, but also more flexibility if you make our trip part of a larger road trip.
Once you arrive at the workshop, all our campgrounds and hotels are easy to get too not requiring 4x4. We will arrange carpools and caravans out to our shooting locations. Any 4x4 transportation out to shooting locations, we will cover!
lodging
We do a mix of camping and hotels; there are hotel alternatives available during our camping nights for those who prefer a bit more comfort. We design our itineraries to minimize driving, but you will need your own 4x4 and have to commute out to us if you opt out of the camping for hotels.
While camping, we provide all the camping essentials like tents, sleeping bags, pillow, as well as charging capabilities, starlink, water, and meals and snacks while not near restaurants.
difficulty and group size
This astrophotography is great for all level of astrophotographers and adventurers, but lends itself best for beginner-intermediate photographers and adventurers who are looking to take their photography and adventures to the next level!
You will need to be free of mobility issues, comfortable traversing some uneven terrain at night, and okay with being near large canyons and heights. We have options to do some epic day hikes through slot canyons, to desert oasis waterfalls, and will do shorter hikes at night to our shooting locations no more than 2 miles total.
Our small group size, 6 students to 2 teachers (some workshops have 12 students and only 2 teachers and call that small… crazy!) allows us to tailor lessons individually and give lots of 1on1 hands on instruction under the stars to each participant.
what will you learn?
We teach you our full workflow, from planning a shot with locations and astronomy fundamentals, camera settings in dynamic environments, all the way to editing to maximizing the potential in your RAW photos!
We build upon fundamentals to more advanced techniques like panoramas, using a tracker, blue hour foregrounds, and blending multiple long exposure images to create details, colorful, and compelling night photos.
You will learn a bit about 4x4 operations, camping in remote areas, and navigating in the desert.
We will cover astrophotography basics like focusing at night, optimal camera settings, composition, and light painting.
We do several editing sessions throughout the trip (at a local restaurant!) and follow up the workshop with custom editing video tutorials.
We take pride in providing fun, safe, relaxed, and immersive astrophotography adventures! We strive to create unforgettable memories together with our group, unique inside jokes, and amazing photos.
location highlights
Moonscape Overlook and Badland Spires
Leprechaun Canyon
Rainbow (Bentonite) Hills
Cosmic Ashtray
Zebra and Spooky Gulch Slot Canyons
Kodachrome Basin
Bryce Canyon
workshop cost & payment terms
The tuition for this workshop is $3,500 total, extra hotels can be purchased separately. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is required to reserve your spot with the remaining balance due 60 days before the workshop starts. Alumni, please reach out for a discount as it depends on a few factors! Payment plan options are also available at check out.
Join us!
This workshop is limited to 6 participants in order to maintain the small group size and allow us to tailor our photography lessons to your specific needs. You are welcome to bring a non-photographer guest +1, there could be small permitting or camping fees applied. Friends signing up together, groups, and alumni please reach out for a discount!
itinerary
april 15th
Meet in Hanksville between 1-5pm! We will do a group dinner, then head out 30 minutes to our campsite with epic views!! We will be camping right where we are shooting sunset, twilight, then milky way, and sunrise! The hotel commute is just 20 minutes. We will enjoy coffee and a light breakfast from our spot as well, head to shower and get a breakfast/lunch, and head off to our day time slot canyon shoot nearby!
We reserve our full itinerary for privacy! If you would like to see the full itinerary, packing list, or have any other questions, please reach out to us with the contact form below!
Escalante Adventures gallery:
