Orange Railings Over Red Canyon Buttes at Mather Point

A crowd of visitors stands along curved overlook paths on a pale rock ledge, held in by railings with warm orange rails. Beyond them the canyon opens out in layered walls of red, rust and tan. A large butte rises in the middle distance, and deep blue shadows pool in the side gorges. The sky is mostly clear blue with a band of soft white cloud along the horizon, and low sunlight picks out the rock faces and throws long shadows across the walkway. A few small trees and shrubs cling to the rock beside the path.

Mather Point is on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and it is one of the most visited viewpoints in the park. The pedestrian-only overlook was rebuilt as part of the park's South Rim visitor transportation plan, with the parking lot removed and access made easier for more people. The stacked bands of rock on view are the canyon's sedimentary layers, and each band records a different period of deposition. Because the people are small against the vast landscape, the image gives a good sense of scale. It suits wide desktop monitors and ultrawide displays best, where the long horizon has room to spread.

More like this: Storm Light Over the Canyon's Red Buttes.