Page, Arizona
The fog on our last morning at Monument Valley cleared as we continued our 2016 road trip into Arizona. Page, Arizona is on our list as one of the best places to visit in the West! It’s such a fantastic place for all things outdoors.
Page is located in Northern Arizona along the Utah border where the Glen Canyon Dam moderates the flow of the Colorado River to create Lake Powell. From hiking and biking to boating and rafting, Page has a plethora of unique areas to explore.
Past Visits to Page
In 2010, while we were living in Tucson, Arizona, we visited Page for some outdoor fun. We toured Upper Antelope Canyon, took a boat on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge, and rafted down the Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam.
We also visited and toured the Glen Canyon Dam, and hiked to Horseshoe Bend, and ultimately thoroughly fell in love with the area!
So, when our 2016 road trip route took us right by Page again, we decided to go back and explore with our kids! (See links below for all the activities we’ve done in Page!)
Page Lake Powell Campground
We stayed at Page Lake Powell Campground, one of the only options in town. It was fine for the 1 night we were in town, but nothing spectacular. There is a small pool and playground, which the kids enjoyed.
Horseshoe Bend
After parking the camper, we drove over to our first adventure – Horseshoe Bend. The Colorado River makes a 180-degree bend through Glen Canyon at this spot, and the view from the top of the canyon is spectacular! The parking lot for the trail to the overlook above Horseshoe Bend was only about 10 minutes from our campground south of Page on Highway 89. We parked the car in the very full parking lot, lathered up the sunscreen, put Philip in the carrier, Emelia in the hiking backpack and started the 0.6-mile trail to the overlook. The trail starts with a steep section of sand that left us all huffing and puffing at the top. Not only is the sand difficult to hike in, but the trail offers no shade and the Arizona summer sun is HOT! After the initial steep section, the rest of the trail is a gradual descent to the overlook. Beware that the overlook is not fenced in any area and the drop off is very daunting. This is why we chose to wear both of the kids in backpacks and to never let them down.
The views into the canyon are stunning. This section of the Colorado River, as it snakes through the red canyon walls, is incredible. We could see rafting trips floating down the river far below. We admired the stunning view and then began the mostly uphill, short climb back to the car.
Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon Dam
After our hike to Horseshoe Bend overlook, we enjoyed some AC at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon Dam. Sadly, the visitor center was mostly under construction when we visited, so we couldn’t enjoy most of the exhibits, but we were able to watch a short film about the construction of the dam and then we walked out on the bridge to get a view of the dam and Lake Powell. Tours are available to go inside the dam, but we decided not to visit this time.
We ate a picnic lunch on the lawn outside the visitor center in the shade. Something marvelous about the desert heat is that shade makes a huge difference! In humid climates, the sticky air makes the air feel so thick and hot that shade doesn’t really change how miserable you feel. In the desert, if the hot sun is blocked by the shade, while the air still feels like a hair dryer blowing on you, the shade can make a huge difference in how hot you are!
Antelope Canyon
In the afternoon, we visited our favorite place in Page, Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon is separated into two canyons – Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. The slot canyons are formed by flood waters rushing through the tiny crevices in the dirt, carving out these swirling and winding walls over time. The results are some incredible displays of mother nature in these beautiful canyons!
On our last visit to Page, we toured Upper Antelope Canyon. So, this visit we decided to tour Lower Antelope Canyon. We booked an afternoon tour with Ken’s Tours. Both canyons are located on Navajo land and require a tour to visit.
Upper or Lower Antelope Canyon – Which one should I visit?
When we visited Upper Antelope Canyon in 2010, we took a morning tour led by Antelope Slot Canyon Tours. We were in a group of approximately 15 people and didn’t see any other groups while we were in the canyon. Upper Antelope Canyon is very wide at the base, and narrow at the top, so there is not as much light in the canyon. But, Upper Antelope Canyon is where you’re likely to catch the famous sun beams coming through the narrow opening at the top to the canyon floor.
Lower Antelope Canyon now offers tours every 20 minutes of up to 30 people per tour. That is a lot of people squeezing through the narrow canyon at once! There are several buildings now located near the entrance to Lower Antelope Canyon. We checked in for our tour and then waited inside with the masses of people for our tour time to be called. Once it was our time, we met our guide, and then waited outside in the sun for our turn to walk down to the canyon.
Lower Antelope Canyon
Lower Antelope Canyon structure is the opposite of Upper Antelope Canyon. Lower Antelope Canyon is much narrower at the base of the canyon, but wide at the top. This make for a much trickier climb into and through the canyon via ladders and narrow walls, but there is much more light in the canyon because of the wide opening at the top! Once it was our turn to enter the canyon, we descended the ladder down several levels to the canyon floor. The amount of people squeezed into the narrow canyon was quite overwhelming, but we stuck close to our guide and were still able to enjoy the incredible beauty of the canyon!
We marveled at the different swirls and patterns in the canyon walls and even caught a few sunbeams coming down through the canyon. The canyon weaves and turns back and forth and there are several areas where you must climb ladders to continue through. The kids loved playing in the red dirt and climbing the ladders.
After approximately 30 minutes of weaving our way through, we climbed out the opening at the end of the canyon. From the top, you can barely see down into the canyon. It’s amazing to know what’s just beneath the surface!
State 48 Tavern
After our tour of Lower Antelope Canyon, we returned to the campground to wash up before enjoying a delicious local dinner at State 48 Tavern. Yum! We stumbled across this delicious local place and everything we tried was fantastic! From the fried avocado to the Pear Gorgonzola burger, we were impressed! It was a great final dinner together before we separated the next day to go in two different directions. Todd was taking the camper to New Mexico, our new home, and I was continuing on to Zion National Park and then Las Vegas to visit family and friends for a few weeks.
Details:
Campground:
Activities:
Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon Dam (and tour in 2010)
Lower Antelope Canyon with Ken’s Tours
Upper Antelope Canyon with Antelope Slot Canyon Tours (2010)
Lake Powell Boat Cruise to Rainbow Bridge (2010)
Rafting Trip down the Colorado River through Glen Canyon (2010)
Food:
2 thoughts on “Page, Arizona”
Great read! Saving this article so I can use to help us a plan a Trip here with our kiddos. It’s on my bucket list for a family trip. My husband and I kayaked down the Colorado river last month in Nevada and Arizona and it was absolutely amazing and we had wished the kids were with us the whole time 🙂
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the post! What a great opportunity to kayak down the Colorado!! We would love to do that! I feel the exact same way when we travel without the kids – I always wish they were there to experience what we are doing!