# Landscape paradise: Colorado vs. Pacific Northwest



## V8Beast (Jan 9, 2015)

Simple question: What's the more scenic destination, Colorado or the Pacific Northwest? I need proof ;D

I ask for selfish reasons, as I'm debating on where to take take the family on vacation this spring or summer.


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## telemaq76 (Jan 9, 2015)

both are amazing  if you want to hike and shoot wildlife, you can t go wrong in colorado. If you want beautiful sunset on the beach, oregon is fantastic place to visit. I m french but i visited most part of Us many times.


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## Tyroop (Jan 9, 2015)

Both are beautiful. A look at Colorado through the lens of John Fielder might inspire you. Also, from Colorado you could go down into New Mexico. Taos and Santa Fe are very scenic.

http://www.johnfielder.com


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## bholliman (Jan 9, 2015)

Both areas are extremely beautiful! We have traveled extensively in all 50 US states and found landscape beauty in all. 

If I had to chose one area for vacation, it would probably be the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon) due to the diversity of climates and types of landscapes accessible within a relatively small geographic area. We used to live in Colorado and its an incredibly beautiful place, the PNW has such a variety of awesome environments: the Pacific ocean with rugged sea stacks and calm beaches, temperate rain forest, mountains, desert, the rolling Palouse, forests, plains and grasslands.

Strong arguments could also be made for Alaska, and any state in the Rocky Mountains or further west.


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## V8Beast (Jan 28, 2015)

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I'm planning a trip for Colorado this summer but also look forward to touring the Pacific Northwest in the future


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## LOALTD (Jan 28, 2015)

Having lived in the PacNW and visited Colorado many times...

I'd say PacNW for landscape.

Colorado for animals. (you really can't go wrong with the landscape here either though)

I have no idea why, but I did extensive mountaineering, hiking, and backpacking in the PacNW and rarely saw wildlife. I've only been to Colorado a handful of times and it seems like I'm always seeing tons of critters, even from the road.

I live in Alaska now, it has them both


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## agierke (Jan 28, 2015)

wow, such an well timed topic as i just got back from denver colorado myself and kinda struggled with my expectations as i am used to visiting the pacific northwest.

in a nutshell my takeaway experience was that while the rockies outside of denver were quite impressive, i didnt find the "wow" factor that i typically find in pretty much everything i see in the pacific northwest. the areas that i have been to included oregon, montana, idaho, and washington...all of which provided a vast amount of opportunity to me even in the brief visits that i took.

i wondered if i am biased towards the PNW. i wondered if being in denver during the winter and for just 2 days somewhat minimized my overall experience. we were able to get to an elevation of 10,000 ft via the main roads alone. i am nowhere near the shape i would need to be in to do any serious hiking and the roads that went deeper into the range were shut down for the winter so i hesitate to qualify it as much of an experience.

still, to me, the pacific northwest offers a plethora of streams, creeks, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, mountains, paths, clearings, etc etc ad nauseum etc....you get my point. i LOVE that country...so much so i insisted that we end up in that region on my honeymoon (the wife did not regret that one!). anyway...denver had lots of mountains, but in 2 days we were hard pressed to find access to any impressive waterways. saw them on the map...just couldnt get to them easily.

my vote is PNW.


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## V8Beast (Jan 28, 2015)

Thanks to everyone for the input. Since this is a photography forum, does anyone have any images from either region they'd like to share ?


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## tphillips63 (Jan 28, 2015)

I don't have images but I lived in Tacoma and Colorado Springs and can say for sure, IMHO, go to the pacific northwest.
Rivers a kilometer across, mountains with glaciers, oceans and beaches, you can go from sea to mountains in very little time. The rain forests up there are something to be experienced in person, you will never forget that place.


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## Freddie (Jan 28, 2015)

*Trail Ridge Road at sunset in early June.*

Rocky Mountain National Park is good. Winter is a totally different experience here. Summers are as beautiful as they get. The animals are very good as well. We do a workshop the last week of June every year. http://rmowp.org/photo-workshop/
This photograph was taken from the top of Trail Ridge Road in the middle of June in 2011.


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## dburchfield (Jan 28, 2015)

This may be slightly off topic, but I would consider Idaho and western Montana to be the Pacific Northwest. I got some great landscapes in those areas last summer. Photos are from Glacier National Park and the Idaho side of the Tetons, two places I visited on my trip. It's tough to find a more photogenic mountain than Grand Teton! Color images are from my EOS 60D with EF-S 18-55mm. B&W is from my old Yashica-Mat 124G shooting Kodak T-Max 400.


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## LOALTD (Feb 4, 2015)

Columbia River Gorge waterfalls:
https://500px.com/photo/8279949/dry-creek-falls-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library

https://500px.com/photo/8201043/fairy-falls-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library

Portland:
https://500px.com/photo/5646204/portland-and-mt-hood-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library

Mt Hood Pano (from Mt Defiance in the Gorge):
https://500px.com/photo/8551676/mt-hood-panoramic-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library

High on Mt Hood:
https://500px.com/photo/1231091/amplitheatre-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library

Climb North Sister in Three Sister area of Oregon:
https://500px.com/photo/1230375/sunrise-on-%22hope%22-and-%22charity%22-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library


Bull Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park:
https://500px.com/photo/1230854/bull-elk-by-andrew-holman?from=user_library


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## Click (Feb 4, 2015)

Beautiful pictures, dburchfield. Welcome to cr


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## V8Beast (Feb 4, 2015)

Freddie, dburchfield, and LOALTD,

Thanks for posting such stunning images. I might have to check out the Pacific Northwest first, then Colorado  This probably gets asked a million times, but what are the pros and cons of the Portland area vs. Seattle for this type of trip? It seems like the weather might be better in Portland?


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## LOALTD (Feb 5, 2015)

V8Beast said:


> Freddie, dburchfield, and LOALTD,
> 
> Thanks for posting such stunning images. I might have to check out the Pacific Northwest first, then Colorado  This probably gets asked a million times, but what are the pros and cons of the Portland area vs. Seattle for this type of trip? It seems like the weather might be better in Portland?



Haha, oh man, it probably has, but it’s no less controversial!

Just to get my bias out of the way: I lived in Portland for 5 years.

There is a lot of Seattle vs Portland nonsense in the NW. As far as which one to make your base of operations? That really depends on what you want to shoot most and what your travel style is.

Personally, I’d probably try to wing it and just get places to stay as I shot. I’m not much of a planner though, and I’m very much a seat-of-your-pants style traveler.

It’s definitely much easier to find cheap places to stay in Portland, that is for sure.

People from Portland will exaggerate how much better the weather is there, but really, it’s pretty much a wash. In the summer (July-Sep is what is often considered the summer in the NW) they both have incredible weather. 70’s and sunny just about every day. As you move further away from this window, you chance of overcast skies and drizzle increases. Seattle is slightly colder and slightly more drizzly, but not enough to really notice. If it’s overcast in one city, it’s very likely overcast in the other!

Depending on where in it you go, the Columbia River Gorge is 20min-1hr from Portland. Mt Hood is about 1hr 20 min from Portland. My old climbing club has a lodge on Mt Hood that is VERY cheap (about $22/night), you can stay right on the mountain for next to nothing. You’ll be sleeping in a bunk with other people though, it’s very much like a hostel. Hood River is a very fun/party town in the Gorge that’s about 30-40 min from Mt Hood as well. If you like breweries, there are a lot of great ones there. (most well-known would be Full Sail, best ones to check out in town would be Double Mountain and Pfriem)

There is some incredible stuff in Washington though: Mt Rainier, North Cascades National Park, Palouse Falls, the Palouse wheat fields, Olympic National Park (only temperate rainforest in lower 48), Washington Coast (much better than Oregon coast, don’t tell anyone I told you that!). I also think Seattle is probably one of the most gorgeous cities I’ve ever been to in the states.

In my opinion, Washington’s scenery is even more incredible than Oregon’s, but you have to work much harder to see it. Long drives and in some cases, long hikes.

If you had a limited amount of time, Portland would be a better call. If you had over a week, I might start considering Washington. 

If you plan on constantly running-and-gunning, you could probably see a ton of both in a week.

Clear as mud?


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## V8Beast (Feb 24, 2015)

LOALTD said:


> Haha, oh man, it probably has, but it’s no less controversial!
> 
> Just to get my bias out of the way: I lived in Portland for 5 years.
> 
> ...



Thank you for your insightful response  Since I won't have the luxury of spending several weeks on vacation, I'm thinking it might be best to start out in Portland, then drive up to Seattle to check out one or two of Washington's stunning landscapes. Then I'll go back to Seattle some other time to check out what I missed 

My jaw hit the floor after Googling some of the popular destinations you suggested. Makes me want to check out British Columbia, too.


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## LOALTD (Feb 25, 2015)

No worries, happy to help! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I love that part of the country, and will probably move back there eventually.


Some other destinations, farther out from Portland, all to the south:


Smith Rock State Park (3hrs): lots of easy hiking, and TONS of rock climbers to take photos of. This place looks every different than most people's vision of "Oregon" in their head. Lots of orange and yellow rock, arid, more like Arizona or Utah than the wet forests people usually associate with the NW.


Painted Hills (1.5 hrs from Smith Rock): again, more Oregon High Dessert stuff, multicolored huge piles of sand, very surreal. Google it.


Bend, OR (3.5hrs): Great little town in eastern Oregon high desert. Recently one-upp'd Portland for most breweries per capita of any city in the world! You can clearly see the "Three Sisters", three 10,000ft volcanoes from the Bend area. Lots of hikes up in them as well.


Crater Lake, OR (1.5 hrs from Bend, 5 hrs from Portland): only national park in Oregon. Bluest water you will probably ever seen. The lake is at 7,000 ft above sea level, so there is still a ton of snow up there, even well into summer.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Feb 25, 2015)

I live less than a days drive from most spots in the Northwest, from Yellowstone to Port Angeles to Medford Oregon, Even Salt lake City. Yet, I've never really taken a photo trip, except to Yellowstone, and there I was not well equipped.

I envy those who are willing to make the effort, I may do it yet. I only need to drive 5 miles to see the rolling wheat fields, they are bright green right now. They should be covered with snow, but the weather is weird. I've thought of setting up once every week or two at the same spot and capture the various phases of the wheat growth from brown soil to snow to green to gold to stubble.


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## PhotographyFirst (Feb 25, 2015)

I recently wrote a book about touring the PNW for photography, and in the process, am was pretty surprised at how much diversity there is out here. You can find everything from oceans, rainforests, deserts, farmlands, waterfalls, and high alpine photos. 

Feel free to check out my website gallery for samples of what we have in the PNW. This area probably produces more landscape photographers than most places in the world.


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