If you love deserts, sunsets, red rocks, canyons, big open spaces or all of the above, Moab, Utah may be the perfect location for your engagement photos. Moab is a small town in Eastern Utah, and serves as a gateway to outdoor adventure in the stunning surrounding landscapes.

Moab is probably best known for its proximity to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. There is SO much public land around Moab. If you visit Arches and Canyonlands, you’re just scratching the surface. The landscape around Moab is incredible, full of breathtaking views, canyons, and rock formations. The town itself is artsy and charming with cool little restaurants, boutiques, food trucks, and adventure outfitters like Jeep tours, rafting companies, and mountain bike rentals. You can just feel the spirit of adventure in the air.

If all of this info sounds enticing to you and your partner, I highly recommend picking Moab for your engagement photos. In this guide, I’ll share my favorite engagement photo locations in Moab, recommendations for picking a location, and some of my personal tips on how to make your engagement photo experience special.

Table of Contents

• Why You Should Pick Moab for Your Engagement Photos
• Best Locations for Engagement Photos in Moab
• How to Pick a Location
  
• Best Time of Year for Photos in Moab
• Tips for Planning Your Engagement Photos in Moab
• Examples of Engagement Photos in Moab

Why you should pick Moab, Utah for your engagement photos

There are so many reasons to pick Moab for your engagement photos. If I haven’t convinced you already, here are more reasons:

• Landscapes: Moab has landscapes unlike anywhere else, and there is a huge variety of stunning scenery everywhere you look. You’ll find red rock arches, dramatic canyons, mountains, streams, overlooks, mesas, buttes, and more.
  
• Adventure for everyone: Moab is known for outdoor adventure. If you’ve ever dreamed of rafting, mountain biking, rock climbing, canyoneering, taking an epic hike, skydiving, or driving an off-road vehicle down a 4×4 road, Moab is the place to do it. But you don’t have to be into extreme adventure sports either. There is plenty of accessible areas and short, easy hikes that still offer incredible views.
  
• Arches National Park: Arches is one of the most famous National Parks in the country, and for good reason. The rock red arches are just amazing. You can have your engagement photos inside the park, which is so cool. Even if you don’t take engagement photos in the park, you can for sure visit and experience it.
  
• Town + Solitude: Moab is a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. The charming town of Moab itself is full of cool restaurants and artsy shops to check out, and has everything a visitor needs for a great trip. But you can also get out of town and find some real solitude. With over 1.8 million acres of public land, there is always somewhere you can go to be alone.
  
• Sunsets: Sunsets in the desert are unreal. Just imagine watching a sunset over a giant red rock canyon. The colors are incredible.
  
• Weather: You can visit Moab any time of year and still have pretty great weather. Moab does get cold in the winter and hot in the summer, but you can have a great experience any time of year.

Best Locations for Engagement Photos in Moab, Utah

There are SO many amazing photo locations around Moab (did I mention the 1.8 million acres of public land?). I couldn’t possibly list them all. Here are a few of my favorites, but I also have lots of other suggestions.

Arches National Park

I’ve raved about Arches National Park already, but it really is an amazing place. There are lots of spots to take engagement photos in the park. Some options are super accessible with a short walk, and others take a longer hike. Regardless of where you choose, you really can’t go wrong.

Popular spots for engagement photos in the park include:

• Double Arch
• Turret Arch
• The Windows
• Sand Dune Arch
• Delicate Arch
  

Permitting requirements: As of 2022, you do NOT need a permit for engagement photos in the park. If you want to get married in the park or elope in the park, you do need a permit.

Timed Entry Reservations: Even though you don’t need a permit to take engagement photos, you likely will need a timed entry reservation to enter the park. In 2022, the park implemented a temporary, pilot timed entry system to help manage traffic and improve visitor experiences. You can reserve entry tickets online and can learn more about the specifics here.

See an example of engagement photos at Arches National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park is another epic park near Moab. This park is has a totally different vibe than Arches, and is known for dramatic canyon views. The park has three sections: Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. Island in the Sky is the most popular section, and is closest to Moab. Canyonlands sees way less visitors than Arches, which means it’s usually way less crowded. As of 2022, no times entry tickets are required.

Permitting requirements: As of 2022, you do NOT need a permit for engagement photos in the park. If you want to get married in the park or elope in the park, you do need a permit.

See an example of a photo session at Canyonlands National Park

Dead Horse Point State Park

Dead Horse State Park, like Canyonlands, features epic canyon views. There are lots of really dramatic overlooks where you can see into the canyon and the Colorado River below. The park is a great spot to catch a sunset over the canyon. Another plus of this location is that dogs are allowed!

Permitting: A permit is required to have engagement photos in the park or to get married in the park. The permit application must be submitted at least 30 days in advance. You can learn more about permitting here.

Park entrance: Times entry is not required, but since Dead Horse Point is a state park, federal park passes are not accepted. Here is a link to the current entry fees.

How to Pick a Location

The location of your session will set the tone for the photos. Here are a few things to think about when picking a location!

What is important to you and your partner?

If you are unsure about locations, I recommend thinking of places, activities, or experiences that are special to you and your partner. Is there an area of Moab that is special to you and your partner? If you’re not super familiar with the area, think about things that you love to do together. What kind of scenery makes you both excited- red rocks, overlooks, canyons?

What kind of landscape/vibe do you envision?

Again, I recommend thinking about what kinds of places you and your partner love to spend time in. Location types in Moab can include mountain views, arches, canyons, overlooks, rivers, creeks, and more. I have lots of location ideas, so if you have a vibe in mind but not a specific location, let me know and I’m happy to help you decide on a spot. 

How accessible do you want the location to be?

Think about how much walking you want to do for the photos and how accessible you want the location to be. Do you want to hike for a couple miles in order to access a location, or would you rather pick a location that is close to a parking area?

Do you want a more adventurous session?

You may want to incorporate an outdoor adventure into your session. If you want to incorporate hiking, biking, off-roading, rock climbing, or any other adventure into your session, you can do it in Moab! But remember, you can have a really fun photography session in a really epic place without an intense activity too.

Best Time of Year for Photos in Moab

The good news about Moab is that any time of the year is epic for photos! You can get incredible photos all year round.

• Winter (November-February): Winter is cold in Moab, but not frigid. There’s not much snow, and you’re actually pretty lucky if it snows while you’re in Moab. Winter sees wayyy less crowds than other months of the year, and the parks, especially Arches, are way quieter.
  
• Spring(March-May): Spring is awesome in Moab. The desert flowers start to bloom and the weather is pleasant. Plus, you’re usually still ahead of the crowds that come with peak season.
  
• Summer (June-August): Summer in Moab is hot. Like, really hot. The desert sun is no joke. Summer also sees a lot of crowds and tourists. If you do want to do engagement photos in the summer or elope in the summer, sunrise or sunset is going to be much cooler with less crowds.
  
• Fall (September-October): Much like spring, fall is also an ideal time in Moab. Early fall can still be crowded, but the summer heat has lessened and crowds will start to thin as the year goes on.

Tips for Planning Your Engagement Photos in Moab

Here are a few of my personal tips for planning your engagement photos in Moab:

Be open to weekdays: Weekdays are much less crowded than weekends. I cannot stress this enough, especially if you want a popular location like Arches. Pick a weekday if you can. Trails and parking areas can get very crowded on weekends and can fill to capacity very quickly. If you are open to a weekday, it’s likely that there will be way less people out there with us.

Sunsets and sunrises are best: The best time for photos is about 1-2 hours before sunset or 1-2 hours after sunrise. These times are known as “golden hour” because light is softest and most glowy during these times of day. Bonus-there are usually way less people around for sunrise, and somewhat less people around sunset.

Avoid these dates: Moab has Jeep festivals that bring a ton of people (and Jeeps) to town. There is usually one around Easter and another one in the fall. Just Google “Moab Jeep Festivals” and you should find the most recent dates.

Inquire at least a few weeks in advance: Photographers, myself included, book and plan their schedules months in advance. If you are considering getting photos done, inquire with a photographer at least a few weeks ahead of time. Sometimes I can accommodate last minute requests, but it’s much more likely that I’ll be able to work with you if you inquire ahead of time. If you’d like to work with me, click here to inquire and send me a message!

Examples of Engagement Photos in Moab

• Engagement Photos in Arches National Park
• Anniversary Photos in Canyonlands National Park
• Engagement Photos in Dead Horse Point State Park

Looking for a photographer in Moab?

Check out some of my work and then fill out my contact form so we can start planning your photography experience!