List of Future and Past Field Trips

If you want to have interesting photographic adventures in Northern California, have a look at the field trips the Lincoln Hills Photography Club has made in the past.

There are always field trips coming up. Get active and have a great experience - join one!

We are putting together a photo gallery of field trips we had taken. To view, click HERE

LHPC Members are Planning Road Trips to Catch the Colors of Autumn

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Upcoming Fall Color trips include:

South Lake Tahoe - Oct. 16, 17, and 18

Eastern Sierra Oct. 8, 9, and 10

*Nevada City-Oct. 24

Detailed information below:

Wildflowers Yuba River-Buttermilk Bend Trail
Friday, April 20, 2023 – 9 am to 3:00 pm
Meet up to Carpool @ 8 am

Photos from Trip Advisor & Park Websites

Join hosts Bill Kress and Les Thomas on a field trip adventure to the South Yuba River State Park along the "Buttermilk Bend" wildflower trail. The focus will be on the wildflowers, the raging river, and the large covered wooden bridge which we can walk through. Record rainfalls are providing special wildflower blooms.

The pre-trip information meeting is scheduled for April 24, 2023 from 4pm – 5:30pm at the home of Les and Marilyn Thomas. Light snacks will be provided. Sign-up for the Pre-Trip informational meeting is important. If you are unable to attend the pre-trip, but plan on participating in the field trip, please RSVP to Les Thomas at Lthomas33@gmail.com. During the pre-trip meeting, Steve Stewart will demonstrate creative concepts to encourage you to take great flower images. Steve will provide suggestions to help advance your skills to transform your images into art

During the pre-trip meeting, Steve Stewart will demonstrate creative concepts to encourage you to take great flower images. Steve will provide suggestions to help advance your skills to transform your images into art.

Additional details =>

McKinley Rose Garden
Sacramento
Friday, April 28, 2023 – 9 am to 11 am
meet up to carpool at 8 am

McKinley Rose Garden is a highly renowned rose display garden in our own backyard. This is one of the largest rose gardens in northern California and has been an All-American Rose Selection display garden. The garden Features 1,200 rose plants in hundreds of varieties.

Steve Stewart and Les Thomas, planners for this trip, did a “scouting trip” recently and the rose bushes were already budding. Some of the roses were opening. This field trip date will correspond to a spectacular first-season bloom display which is often the most beautiful.

A pre-trip information meeting is scheduled for April 12, 2023 from 4pm – 5:30pm at the home of Les and Marilyn Thomas. Light snacks will be provided. Sign-up for the Pre-Trip informational meeting is important. If you are unable to attend the pre-trip, but plan on participating in the field trip, please RSVP to Les Thomas at Lthomas33@gmail.com.

Additional details =>

Crocker Art Museum

Crocker Art Museum
Friday March 3, 10am – 2pm

Join us for a field trip to a local world class art museum! This field trip offers something for everyone at every photographic skill level. The Crocker welcomes photographers with some understandable limitations. We’re requested not to use flash or tripods and neither are necessary to get some very memorable photographs.

We plan to arrive at the Museum at 10am. You can depart anytime up to the 5pm closing. A special Docent tour will be offered at a cost of $8 per person but this is voluntary.

Carpooling is recommended to share expenses for gas and parking. Details to be announced.

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A pre-trip information meeting is scheduled for Thursday Feb 23 from 4pm – 5:30pm at the home of Les and Marilyn Thomas. Topics to be discussed are Museum rules, carpooling arrangements, parking, tips for photographing Museum collections, food options and more. Light snacks will be provided. RSVP to Les Thomas at Lthomas33@gmail.com.

If you have any questions, planners for this trip are Les Thomas, 916-698-7783 and Diane Margetts, 916-955-1809.

Additional trip details, including the trip planner. =>

Photography Club Field Trip & Great Adventure
Day Trip to Gray Lodge Wildlife Area
Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Gray Lodge is a winter stop over for thousands of migrating birds that use the Pacific Flyway. This is the prime time to see many winter-only birds of the water, land and sky. https://wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Places-to-Visit/Gray-Lodge-WA

All LH Photography Club members using cameras from Smartphones to the latest high-end brands are invited to participate.

Plan your own activities. At Gray Lodge, there will be several nice, flat trails to the various ponds as well as observation decks and vistas. Traveling to the Wildlife Area photographers will have an opportunity to photograph farmlands with old barns and livestock and the Sutter Buttes mountain range.

For important details, including a map, please click on the PDF document here. ==>

Eastern Sierras Fall Colors Field Trip
October 13,14,15,16 & 17 of 2022
Concurrent with the Lake Tahoe Area Trip -All or Part Trip Pack

Field Trip team members are hitting the road running for 2022-2023 adventures. The first scheduled trip offers a combined Eastern Sierra and Lake Tahoe area trip scheduled for October 13 - 17, 2022. This trip is arranged so members can partake in any number of the 5 days in one location, split the days between the two locations, and spend five days traveling to both Eastern Sierra and Lake Tahoe. Or some combination thereof.

Les Thomas and his team have researched Photography locations, websites, maps, resources, places to eat, photographer equipment needs, safety, and more. Their extensive research results are published in the "Planning and Information Trip Packs " below.

Lake Tahoe and Eastern Sierra trip packs (below) include photographic locations well-known for exquisite fall color, beautiful lakes, streams, wildlife, and opportunities for capturing incredible sunsets, sunrises, and the galaxy.

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Pete Henshaw

Eastern Sierra Fall Colors October, 2016

Fall Colors Eastern Sierras Trip Pack 2022

Fall Colors Lake Tahoe Trip Pack 2022

Safety Equipment
ICE Trekkers Diamond Grip

Death Valley -- March 2 - 7 2020

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Truman with "Barney" at Racetrack Playa, Death Valley

after a very long and bumpy jeep ride over the worst roads.

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Some very serious photographers getting the best angle for those moving stones on Racetrack Playa

Dorothe and Bill Kress at Darwin Falls, Death Valley

Our previous trip was in 2017 and was one of our club's most adventurous and fun trips. Les had provided a lot of PDF resources for that trip, and you can see all of them on our Locations page HERE

We have significant amounts of "tips" and recommendations for everything from where to stay, equipment suggestions, daily agendas or "menus" of activities, places to eat, special Death Valley expert presentations on-site and the award winning videos we created to provide you with insights on more than 50 "world class" photographic locations.

As in all places that are special, the past several years have experienced an increase in the numbers of people who are traveling to these sites at the prime times for photography.

While there are generally no crowding issues in the vastness of Death Valley, there are limited numbers of lodging options available.

There are many beautiful places we plan to visit on this unique trip, including Darwin Falls, Ubehebe and Little Ubehebe Craters, The Racetrack Playa, Golden Canyon and many others.

If Death Valley gets some rainfall at the end of the year, we may have an interesting wildflower bloom.

Those staying in Beatty will pass the ghost town, Rhyolite on the way to Death Valley, and might see wild buros roaming the area.

Planners include Charlie Schuman, Truman Holtzclaw, Kathy Houston and Les Thomas. Les has provided lodging suggestions. To read his PDF file,

click HERE

Trip Pack #1 of 2, which is a Zip file of PDF documents, may be found HERE. Trip Pack #2 will be sent out just prior to our trip which starts on March 2 and also will be posted to this website.

Northern California and Oregon Coast -- May 2020

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Bandon Beach during a Circles in Sand event

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Main Street, Ferndale, California

Our previous trip to west coastal areas was May 27 to June 2, 2018 and we saw a diversity of beautiful cities, lighthouses, landscapes, sunrise-sunsets and wildlife.

Last year we met in Bandon, Oregon, a 450 mile drive from our community. There are different routes to get there and interesting sites to see on the way.

The central route can include metal sculptures near Weed, CA, Crater Lake (watch for passable roads) and the many waterfalls along Route 138. There is a covered bridge in Glide, OR.

A coastal route can include stops in Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve, Mendocino, Fort Bragg, Ferndale, Redwood National Park, Crescent City, Eureka and many other interesting attractions.

We have placed a few places that are on this field trip's agenda on our Locations page and they can reached by clicking below.

Bandon, Oregon

Bandon, Circles in Sand

Crescent City, California

Eureka, California

Ferndale, California

Waterfalls, Southern Oregon

We will provide many "tips" and recommendations for lodging, equipment, restaurants and specific locations.

Planners include Truman Holtzclaw and Bill Kress.

Carson Mansion

Eureka, California

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Bandon Beach at Sunset

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Battery Point Lighthouse

Crescent City, California

Click on the trip dates & title below to navigate to the desired article.

October 7 - 11 2019 -- Eastern Sieras, Fall Colors Field Trip

Mono Lake, June Lake Loop, Convict Lake, Bishop, Manzanar, Alabama Hills and more

California Highway 395

October 17 - 18 2019 -- Lake Tahoe for Salmon, Bears, and Fall Colors

Bears, Fall Foliage, Vistas, Salmon

South Lake Tahoe

April 2019 -- Field Trip to California's Central Coast

Sunsets, Sunrises, Sea Lions, Elephant Seals, Wildflowers, Hearst Castle

Monterey to San Simeon

January 2019 through March 2019 -- Our Heron-Egret Rookery

Lots of Herons and Egrets nesting

A local attraction. Park at the Dollar-Tree lot and walk behind the building.