Ute Canyon Autumn

Fall Colors 2017 | Sunday, October 22, 2017

Colorful cottonwood trees line the wash in Ute Canyon within the Colorado National Monument.

This weekend we were originally planning on heading over the state line into Utah and spending a night camping north of Arches National Park. Unfortunately, I came down with a cold late in the week and we ended up staying home instead. After resting for Saturday and much of Sunday I decided to head up to the Colorado National Monument for sunset in the evening to see how the cottonwoods looked in Ute Canyon. I arrived at an unmarked overlook along the rim of the canyon shortly before sunset and found that the cottonwoods were still looking pretty good. I waited for the sun to go down and took a few photos right afterwards.

Here’s a closer look at the cottonwood trees along the wash.

After the sun dipped down below the horizon it lit up some high clouds to the west which reflected an intense and colorful light into the canyon for a few minutes.

I quickly drove over to the Ute Canyon Overlook and tried to catch the reflected light, but was a few minutes too late. There was still a nice scene in Upper Ute Canyon, though.

Here’s a wider panoramic image looking down Ute Canyon with the Book Cliffs on the horizon. Just left of center is Corcoran Peak, which I climbed a few weeks ago.

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