We absolutely loved photographing Hana and Tanner’s sunrise proposal at Lost Gulch Overlook in Boulder, Colorado this summer! A hidden gem in the heart of Boulder County, the Lost Gulch Lookout proposes striking views of the Front Range, surrounded by a lush forest and meadows, and backed by a cliff that faces the city of Boulder. If you are looking for the perfect place in the Denver, Colorado area to pop the question at, we cannot recommend enough Lost Gulch Overlook cliff for your Colorado proposal photos!
Lost Gulch Overlook in Boulder
As a Colorado wedding photographer, I am always looking for intimate, beautiful places that are easily accessible and closer to Denver to bring my sweet clients. One of my favorite places to bring clients to time and time again is the Boulder County area. Situated within a 30-minute drive to Downtown Denver, this stunning Front Range city boasts incredible views, mountain sunsets, and plenty of popular places for gorgeous photos that are within city limits. I love bringing clients to Chautauqua Park for sunset engagement sessions, and nearby Chautauqua Trailhead for Boulder engagement photos. You can follow the Chautauqua Trailhead to connect to Bluebell-Baird Trail for some fabulous hiking, too! But right up the road from Chautauqua Park and Flatstaff Mountain is some of Boulder County Parks best spots for photo sessions and Colorado proposal photography.
If you head up Baseline Road from Chautauqua Park, you’ll find yourself passing Flagstaff Road and Flagstaff Summit. While we love the beautiful vistas that Flagstaff Mountain has to offer, continuing to head up the road into Boulder Canyon will guarantee you just as epic of views with easier access points and parking lot options. Realization Point and Halfway House are both incredible options for hiking and portrait sessions near Flagstaff. Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks has so many incredible locations to offer visitors and locals alike for hiking, picnicking, sunrise watching, and photo sessions. Boulder County continues to be a popular destination for simple elopements and mountainside elopement ceremonies. I absolutely adore working with my Boulder photography clients as their elopement photographer.
Lost Guluch Overlook is a popular destination for Boulder elopements, surprise proposals, and Colorado engagement photos. I absolutely adore this spot, as the nearby mountains in the distance make for an incredible backdrop for photos and proposals alike. Even better, this particular location is far easier to access than Rocky Mountain National Park, and is only a ten minute drive from Downtown Boulder. The surrounding mountains make for
Flatiron Mountains Photos
One thing that I always tell clients to note before we work in the mountains and overlooks of Colorado is key safety and awareness items. Specifically for Boulder Canyon and the Boulder Parks, beware of the steep and very tight switchbacks on the roads heading into the canyon. Many of the parking areas in the Front Range feature a dirt parking lot, but much of the roads heading into the mountains are properly paved. In that same vein, it’s important to note that many of the trails and overlooks in the area have uneven ground, steep rocks, and overall rocky terrain.
Typically, when I am working to schedule clients for Boulder photos, I let my clients know that this particular area in Denver tends to be filled with popular places for photos, especially on weekend evenings. My recommendation time and time again is to utilize the early morning hours after sunrise for portraits sessions in Boulder, simply because the lighting is incredible, there are plenty of stunning views to be had, and there aren’t any other hikers in sight.
Lost Gulch Overlook Proposal
I was so excited to work with Tanner to plan his special day out for his proposal to his longtime girlfriend, Hana. These two have been living in the Denver area for the past couple of years, and Tanner wanted to utilize a location with great views that was close to where they lived locally. We settled upon Lost Gulch Overlook for their Boulder sunrise proposal, as it had a short trail, nearby parking, a nicely wooded area, and a stunning overlook.
Throughout our planning resources and conversations, Tanner discussed wanting to surprise Hana with ‘couples photos’ for her recent birthday as a gift! This was an easy cover for why they would be meeting me in the early morning all dressed up on a Sunday in Boulder. Prior to all the Colorado proposals I photograph, I like to hop on a call with the partner who is proposing, and ensure that we have a good game plan and plenty of lies and cover so as to ensure the receiving partner is fully surprised. Hana luckily bought into our lie that she was just getting updated couples pictures with Tanner, so we began our session time together with a handful of portraits of the two of them.
Once I took a few portraits of the couple, I brought them up to the overlook that is the namesake for Lost Gulch Overlook. It was a perfectly hazy summer day in Colorado, so we still had plenty of views of the mountains at 7 AM before the sun burned off our cloud coverage. Tanner used this time to slowly tell Hana why he had brought her to such a gorgeous spot so early in the morning, and to pull out the ring box from his jacket’s pocket. To say that Hana was shocked and surprised by his proposal would be an understatement!
Tanner got down on one knee with the stunning views of the surrounding mountains behind him, and the rest was history. Once the shock had worn off, and Hana had accepted and put the ring on her finger, we took a few more portraits of the two of them, now newly engaged. We were even graced with plenty of wildflowers in a nearby meadow, the perfect touch to their Lost Gulch Overlook proposal photos!
I am so thrilled for these two on their engagement, and couldn’t be happier that I was there to capture it all! If you are looking to propose soon and need a Colorado proposal photographer, we would love to help!
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