While the best results happen with more advanced cameras such as DSLRs, you don’t need one to capture the night sky in Arches National Park. Modern smartphones (4 years or newer) can be a fun way to dip your toe in Astrophotography, but be careful, this hobby can become addicting!

Our guides are passionate amateur photographers and have been pursuing the hobby for many years. With the time available, this instruction is for the beginner Astrophotographer. You’ll leave with the knowledge to start pursuing these starry sky images on your own. That being said our tours are not Master Class Workshops and don’t deep dive into everything an 8 hour course or multi-day photo tour would.

• Camera with manual controls (or smartphone)
• Wide angle lens. For best results wider that 24mm and as wide an Aperture as possible. You can rent lenses from us if needed.
• Tripod (optional). We’re taking long exposure photos and the camera will need to be still for 10-30 seconds. Bring your own or borrow ours for free!

You do NOT need a “timed entry” reservation to Arches for our tours. Since we are arriving after the timed entry period has ended (4PM) you are free to enter at any time. You do however need your general park entry pass in order to enjoy the park. We suggest getting one of these during your trip to Moab anyway, as visiting the park during the day is a must!

Local weather patterns offer many clear nights throughout the year, but as everyone knows it’s impossible to predict. You should book your trip to Moab whenever is best for you and your family and just hope stargazing conditions are good during your stay. If its too cloudy to see the stars we will do whats right by our guests and refund 100%.

• March – July offers excellent stargazing and favorable temperatures.
• August is typically monsoon season where thunderstorms develop. This can materialize in many different ways and sometimes doesn’t effect our operations at all. If you have concerns please reach out for more information.
• September – November offers excellent stargazing and favorable temperatures.

Since these tours are specifically for Astrophotography and stargazing, we need relatively clear skies!

If the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies we will depart and hope the clouds behave. Even with partly cloud covered skies we can still capture some great images and learn Astrophotography techniques.

If the sky is full of heavy clouds or the weather becomes dangerous, we will try to work with you and reschedule your adventure, cancel your tour, or give you an option to cancel depending on the circumstances. In the case of cancellation due to weather a 100% refund is issued.

Our Arches Photo & Stargazing Tour takes place in the windows section of Arches National Park which suitable for most any fitness level. There is very little elevation gain over the 1.3 miles we do throughout the night.

Delicate Arch is rated as a difficult trail. It has an elevation gain of around 630 ft in the distance of 1 mile, but as we hike Delicate at night, we get to avoid the heat as well as the crowds, making it a very pleasant hike to do in the summer.

If this level physical activity is not practical, see our exclusive Redcliffs Lodge S’mores and Stargazing Experience and join our call list.

We try to provide a generous cancellation policy. We allow FULL refunds for any cancellations before 24 hours no questions asked. If the weather keeps us from departing on our adventure we will issue a FULL refund if we can’t reschedule.

If we decide to head out on our adventure, but for some reason the weather misbehaves and we get ZERO Astro photos, then we will issue a full refund as well.

Tips are not expected, but if after your tour you think you’re guide made the trip extra memorable, then of course tips are a great way to show appreciation!