My wife and I are going to be in Canyonlands in September. We are really looking forward to a hike to False Kiva. Does anyone have input as to the best time of day for the best light to photograph?

If you have any specific directions for the trail head I would appreciate that as well.

Thanks,

Ed

I'm not familiar with the particular formation called False Kiva, but if it is anything at all like a real Kiva you might look for overcast to give you a nice big softbox to light up the bottom better.

Wait just a sec -- take a look here.

http://www.f-8andbethere.com/notes/Cany ... outing.htm

or here.

http://www.coloradopics.com/search.php? ... nal%20park


Brian

Ed, send me an email at andybiggs at gmail dot com. I think I can help. I have been there and have had great experiences there. Keep in mind that this is a location that is prohibited to publish directions to, based on NPS guidelines.

Ed,

I have a bunch of books on photographing the SW--I am almost sure I read directions to False Kiva this past week in one of them. I will check when I get home....

Laurent Martres says, in "Photographing the Southwest Volume 1 Utah", that the best time for photographing False Kiva is "the second part of the afternoon, when the cliffs to the southwest and Candlestick Tower in the background take on a superb golden hue". He also provides a detailed description of how to get there. I will also be there in September and plan on taking the hike out to False Kiva. If you have not already found directions by now I could send you a jpeg of the Martres desdcription out of his book.

How can the the NPS (constitutionally) prohibit someone from publishing directions to a spot in a National Park? Do you know where they published this prohibition? Wow.

All cultural sites have some sort of rating, as I understand it. The more sensitive the location, the more it needs to be protected. I think it starts with a class 1, then class 2, and so on. I don't know much about it, but I do remember hearing the ranger talk to me about it at Canyonlands NP a few years ago. She was surprised that Laurent Martes had published how to get there, which upset her a bit.

They can't....but that doesn't stop governmental entities from trying stuff like that...

Here is a link to some information on the Class I and Class II sites--It has to do with information that NPS employees may give out:

http://www.nps.gov/cany/parkmgmt/upload/H1.pdf

That makes more sense, though I'm not sure I like the "tell them only if they ask" policy for the Class II sites.

The best time to photograph false kiva is 11 am and about 4:30pm. 11 am the kiva is shade still and about 4pm the kiva is lite. The best condition for false kiva is clouds but not cloudy skies or blue skies. (advert removed by admin)

Nice advertisement. Very slick.

The NPS cannot stop you from publishing directions to False Kiva.......the Canyonlands Visitor Ctr sells the guide book with the directions to False Kiva = talk about hypocrites. The NPS talks a good game but when it comes to $$$ they take the $$$ over the protection of resources. The NPS sued TT (a long time ago) for taking a picture from within the kiva........NPS said others would be able to find False Kiva based on his photo......because of candlestick butte. The NPS lost!

Who is TT?

Tom Till would be my guess.

False Kiva is a tough place to photograph. We were there in May around 3 PM and the lighting was harsh and hazy. There were no clouds either and the alcove was in shade. I did several shots stitched together, tried bracketing, etc. and I didn't really get any great shots of it. It is a neat place to see, and definately off the beaten path. We saw two other people on our hike.

Directions are pretty spot on from the Photographying the Southwest book. However, there is one important tip. When you park at the Alcove Spring trailhead, cross the road, and head back towards the main road, you will see one set of tracks and a wide trail. There are even trail carins. This is not the right trail! Keep going until the second trail you come to that leaves the road!
After hiking on the sandy trail for maybe 10 minutes, you should come to this point. If you don't, you are on the wrong trail
http://saral.zenfolio.com/p473699147/h31f59fa0#h31f59fa0

I few a few shots in my gallery of False Kiva, but like I said, they aren't that great:
http://saral.zenfolio.com/p473699147

I'm not sure why this thread was resurrected after 5 years. Forgive me if I sound harsh in my reply here. False Kiva is a cultural resource that needs to be protected from being loved to death. It is a class III archaeological site. It has not been fully studied and any damage to the site could result in the loss of scientific and cultural information. It is NPS' job to protect it. It is, however, open and can be explored by the public under certain conditions. There are many reasons that directions are not widely published, the first is out of respect. Disseminating specific directions to the site on the internet is, in my view, a huge sign of brazen disrespect. If you want to find the site, simply go to the back country office at the Canyonlands visitor center and ask nicely. They will educate you how to help protect our cultural resource, and give you very specific directions how to get there. They frequently take down cairns, and warn you that straying off the trail can disturb the fragile cryptobiotic soil. They tell you to stay away from the fragile cysts, and ask you not to give directions to anybody for a number of other reasons. People can get lost easily and find themselves at the edge of a cliff, causing them to be rescued. Please don't continue to ruin the joy of discovery for those who want to do a little detective work and find it the legitimate way.

I found the site with little difficulty but it was comforting to have GPS coordinates in hand which I got from a friend.