For Cameron’s winter break in 2023 we decided to head out to Page, Arizona. This is not a national park however, we have already done most of the parks you can visit in the winter and this is an area that had been on our bucket list for some time. Early on in our park travels we did make it to Horseshoe Bend, but never to all the other sites in and around Page.
In and around Page there are tons of very cool activities, places to visit and things to check out. The area is clearly more geared towards summer travel, Lake Powell is a very popular summer destination. Coming here in the winter proved to be very cool as well. There was little traffic, parking was super easy, not really any wait for anything anywhere.
We flew into Las Vegas and made the long and snowy drive to Page late in the evening. Page offers many hotels, motels, restaurants, and shopping. Really it’s a great place to stay and explore all the things around. We had four days to do as much as we possibly could.
Northern Arizona is known for its slot canyons, there are truly a countless number of them throughout the landscape. The most well known maybe anywhere in the world is Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon is not truly one single slot canyon, but rather an entire area made up of a number of canyons. Upper and Lower are by far and away the most visited even in the off season. Since all of Antelope Canyons are part of the Navajo Nation you have to go in with a tour guide.
We chose to do a photo tour for Canyon X and Rattlesnake Canyon. This is the same tour and I believe in some way or another connected to upper Antelope. The best part on our tour was there was only one other guest with us. The photo tour allowed us to enjoy the two canyons for hours on end. Our guide was a Navajo who was incredibly knowledgeable, and was honestly just a ton of fun to be with in the canyons.
For the tours after you park, they take you out in a truck to the trail head. From there you hike down into the canyons and then (for us) we had the place to ourselves. I was able to create some really nice and interesting photos from the canyons.
If you’re interested in doing any of these tours there are many to pick from. In an insertion side-note they are all run by different families. So they are all a bit different, and you can pick the one that best fits you.
Next to the slot canyons the other major attractions are clearly Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powel. The Glen Canyon Dam is the second highest arch dam in the United States – second only to the Hoover Dam that is ‘just’ downstream from here. Whatever your feelings on large dam projects, and their environmental impact, is still a very impressive man-made structure. There are a number of viewing areas all with ample parking. We also went to the dam’s visitors center, which was very cool. Part of the visitor’s center hangs over the edge of the cliff and gives an insane view of the dam and lake below. It also provides a wonderful history lesson on the dam and the Colorado River water project(s).
Just beyond the dam is the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, this is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon in Utah and Arizona. The area was established in 1972 “to provide for public use and enjoyment and to preserve the area’s scientific, historic, and scenic features.”⁴
Glen Canyon has been home to people for thousands of years. Archaic and prehistoric Indian cultures roamed and lived in the canyons. Later, a vast panorama of explorers, miners, ranchers, historic Indian tribes, and others left their mark here.
The area serves as a hub of lake activities including boating and swimming in the summer. It also boasts a number of overlooks and stunning viewpoints. Some of the best views of the area are actuality in the Grand Stair Case of the Escalante, and since I was lacking a true off road vehicle were off limits to me.
Since the water is so low now in Lake Powel there is a chance to go off -road and go down towards the edge of the lake as you head north. We had a fun time exploring the area. Though it was a bit sad to see the state of the lake and how the 20 plus years of drought has affected the area.
We did spend a sunset at Wahweap Overlook – that was truly spectacular. The high viewpoint not only gives views of the canyon but also of the impressive Navajo Mountain in the distance. While cold and windy it was the best sunset we had.
We also spent a bit of time up north on rt. 89 and made our way into the Grand Staircase. We tried some of the roads but again our rental SUV was not up to the task of winter driving on rough roads and snow. We did the hike to the Wahweap Hoodoos and that was well worth the trek out and back. The Hoodoos were amazing to see up close and if you climb to the top of the mountain you can see where new ones are just starting to form. It’s humbling to think that in a few hundred to a thousand years they will look like the impressive ones below. On the way back from our hike we even got to experience a real desert wind storm that blasted us with sand. So that was an experience.
The only huge disappointment of the trip was our trek to Monument Valley. The drive over there was long but stunning, with some lovely views of interesting northern AZ desert. However once we arrived I was told the area was closing soon and unless I was staying at the hotel I could not stay there for sunset. I guess I’m lucky that Cameron got to see the area for a brief moment. However, it’s sad that we did
On the plus side, on the drive back we found this super interesting abandoned hotel on the side of a cliff that we explored for a bit and I took some pictures. I did try to find something to do for sunset on the drive back but I just ran out of time.
In terms of weather since we visited in Winter it was cold, windy and we had a fair amount of snow. One of the days we tried to trek out for sunrise we got turned around because driving out before dawn the snow was coming down so hard it was impossible to see. I was also a bit unsure on how often these very remote roads would be plowed and had a good bit of worry about getting stuck out in the middle of nothing.
We took the midnight redeye home so we drove back early to Las Vegas and had some time to kill. So of course we went to the Valley of Fire for one last Sunset before hitting up In-N-Out for dinner. This is becoming quite the tradition.
All in all it was a trip that lived up to our expectations and, like I end most of these blogs, it is yet another place that we must return to.
