Guadalupe Mountains National Park
A horseshoe-shaped and fossil-rich limestone reef formed 265 million years ago at the edge of a basin that connected to a warm, tropical sea. When the water receded and the mountains rose, the reef terraformed into lush canyons, surreal caves and wind-sculpted mountain faces. Today crystal-clear dark skies bathe this land—known now as Guadauple Mountains National Park—in starlight that’s been streaming across the universe since that reef was first formed. We’ll explore the white gypsum and pale red quartz dunes, the imposing limestone mountain range, small ruins and ranches, and the rich reds, yellows and oranges of fall foliage in the canyons. Saddle up and see why they call this the most beautiful place in Texas. Yeehaw!
Workshop Details
October 20-24, 2025 — 1 Spot Left
This is a 5-night, 5-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of October 20 and ends after a final night shoot on October 24.
$2,195. Register below.
Skill level
Participants should have a firm grasp of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras, and have a comfortable understanding of night photography fundamentals.
Group size
14, with 2 instructors — 7:1 ratio
NPS website
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Our workshop mission is to explore every U.S. national park. As with all our Passport Series locations, it may be years (if ever) before we return to any specific park. If you have a dream of making epic long exposures at night at Guadalupe Mountains, we hope you join us.
Workshop Leaders
Registration
| • Deposit of $600 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $1,595 is due on July 22, 2025. → Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is July 21, 2025. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, entrance fees, or transportation to or during the workshop. |
The Guadalupe Mountains Experience
The massive El Capitan limestone summit in West Texas has guided Native Americans, western explorers and settlers for centuries, to what many people call the most impressive sight in the Southwest.
Only a few people found the "gold" that was rumored to be in the Guadalupes. However, the indigenous people understood where it really was: deep inside the canyon, in the oasis of plants, wildlife and water (of course) that thrived within the ocean of golden desert sands.
The gold we will seek is some of the darkest skies in the United States matched against dramatic and unique mountains, dunes and ruins. We have planned this trip for October so we can delight in the wonderful fall foliage that can fill the park, as well as the new moon that allow us to enjoy the darkest of Texas skies.
The autumn workshop will mean earlier nights with true darkness beginning before 9 p.m. We’ll also have the opportunity to watch the Orion constellation rise every night, welcoming us to those longer winter evenings.
While the exterior of the mountain range has plenty of drama, we’ll spend many of our nights hiking along trails that will reveal the ruins of old stagecoach stops, stone cabins, dunes and of course the colorful canyons.
We’ll also take a day trip to explore the massive and popular Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which is linked to the Guadalupe Mountains via the Guadalupe Ridge Trail.
So slap on your hiking boots and get ready to photograph one of the best kept secrets in Texas!
What You Should Know
This workshop caters to knowledgeable photographers with an intermediate or higher skill set. Participants should have a firm grasp of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras, and have a comfortable understanding of night photography fundamentals.
If you would like to join us on this trip but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-event tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-trip reads.
What You Will Learn
Leveling up your twilight and starlight blends will be a large focus of our workshop. We’ll have plenty of classroom time during the day to help you develop your images to the fullest potential.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
scouting and planning your night photographs
composing and focusing in low light
optimizing night exposures
panorama night capture and processing
twilight and starlight blends
light painting
creating jaw dropping star point and star-trail images
and more …
This workshop will have both field and classroom instruction. We will be in the classroom during the day, and out in the field at different locations each night. Each participant will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Chris and Gabe in the field.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation.
Nearby Airports:
El Paso (ELP) — 2 hours, 45 minutes from Carlsbad, New Mexico
Lubbock (LBB) — 2 hours, 45 minutes
Cavern City (CNM) — 15 minutes
Rental Car
There will be long drives between 40 minutes and more than an hour each night.
You will need a rental car to get to the workshop and to the shoot locations.
There is no need for four-wheel-drive.
If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car, let us know and we will try to connect you with another attendee looking for the same.
Lodging & Food
We will base the workshop in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It's the closest town that has all the services we might need.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Lodging
You are not required to stay at the official workshop lodging, though doing so does make it easier to meet with the group each day.
Info and group code will be sent soon after registering.
If you are interested in sharing a room, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Food
Carlsbad has many food options.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good breakfast and a great late lunch.
When on the night shoots, you may wish to bring snack food or a sandwich and plenty of water.
Weather
Expect daytime highs in the 70s F, lows in the 40s.
Recommended Attire
Shorts or pants and short-sleeve shirts for daytime, pants and long-sleeve shirts for night.
A sweatshirt and medium-weight jacket will likely be useful, and a base layer might not be a waste of packing space. Layers are good.
Comfortable and protective shoes are recommended for getting around. There won’t be long hikes, but we will be on trails, so quality trail shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Active. (See more about our classifications.)
Most nights will involve some hiking to get to better vantage points inside the park. We are not planning on hiking to any summits and most trails will not have more than a 500-foot elevation gain. Some hikes will be 1 mile or less, but the main trail into McKittrick Canyon, where lies the best foliage, is 3 to 5 miles round-trip (depending on how far in we go). Please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. You should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
Please consider your physical abilities prior to registering.
Note: To ensure the safety of individuals and the group, the workshop leaders may use their discretion to limit an attendee from engaging in a vigorous activity on-site should that person’s physical health or ability be in question. If you are unsure about your ability to meet the physical demands of this workshop, we will be happy to discuss your concerns one-on-one before you register. You are also, of course, welcome to attend a workshop and sit out any physical activity that makes you uncomfortable. In such cases, we can provide you with ideas for alternative shoot locations for that time.
Considerations
IMPORTANT: We encourage reading our FAQs page for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
A New Place with an Old Friend …
“We had both seen nothing like this before, arid and dry desert flora and fauna mixed with maples, oaks, walnuts and other hardwood trees. ”
My best friend Jonny and I live about 3,000 miles apart—which makes getting together tricky. One year we found out we were both in Capitol Reef National Park at the exact same time. Now we have a tradition to meet up annually in a beautiful place in the United States—such as another national park.
Jonny, as I mentioned, is a great friend, but he also has another amazing skill: patience. He’s the type of friend you can bring on a workshop scouting trip, where you go exploring with augmented reality charts during the day and stay up late into the night. Jonny is patient and curious, and curiosity is essential—we stop to read the signs, we talk to the rangers, we identify the plants, wildlife and rock formations all along our journey.
So when I proposed that we go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, like most people outside of Texas, he replied that he had heard little about the park. But he was eager to join!
As we drove down the long, flat highway, we could see what looked like an island of mountains rising above the salt flats. An ocean of warm gypsum dunes crashed along the shores of those mountains. The road turned and led right up to the massive, squared peak of El Capitan. We had to pull off and get a closer look.
Click, click, click.
The road then bent to the right as the southern entrance to the park was revealed. The bowl of Guadalupe and the few roads that lead to the golden canyons beckoned us to stop again and again.
We had both seen nothing like this before, arid and dry desert flora and fauna mixed with maples, oaks, walnuts and other hardwood trees. The variety of the landscapes we encountered made every day an epic “choose your own adventure,” from the sparkling dunes to the mountain peaks and colorful canyons with water flowing and birds singing.
We also spent a night hiking along the even more remote northern side of the park, in an area fondly called Dog Canyon. We switched back and forth along trails to look south for the Milky Way as it rose between the Brokeoff and Guadalupe Mountains.
When the week was over we felt that not only did we qualify for being Junior Rangers at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, but that this adventure was another amazing memory for us to add to our long friendship.
