For my boyfriend’s 35th birthday, all he wanted was to go camping. So, I set off to find the best site I could within a driving distance of our home. I looked at campsites in Southern Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. However, we settled on a spot on the Utah/Arizona border in the Glen Canyon National Park at Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas.
We drove the few hours North, paid the $30 fee for the park entrance which covers 1-7 days, (what a steal!) and drove straight to the registration desk which is located in the camp store at the Wawheap RV and Campground. We stayed for 4 nights for around $27-30 a night which is a standard rate for a campsite from my experience.
Our campsite was clean, well-kept and had the most beautiful view of the red rocks and lake framed by greenery which, is another rare sight in Arizona. We set up our tent, got settled-in and took a short walk down to the beach.
A staff member at the registration desk stated that the best beach in walking distance was Wawheap Beach which was only a 10 minute walk from our campsite. However, looking back, this is probably the least appealing beach we visited on Lake Powell. There was a lot of debris on the beach and was quite rocky. I would hold out for Lone Rock Beach or the rocks in Glen Canyon, I’ll go further into detail on these locations later.
After our short trip to check out Wawheap Beach we walked back to camp and started our first campfire of the weekend. It had been years since I had been around a campfire and the smell is something so comforting, as long as the wind is in your favor and doesn’t smother you with smoke.
We roasted some hot-dogs, grabbed some adult beverages and played one of our favorite low maintenance games, Farkle. Once the sun went down I was amazed at the beautiful night sky, something I had definitely taken for granted living in the city.
After dinner, games and star gazing, we decided to have some fun with the fire and added a pack of colorful sand to, which made for a way too long photo shoot playing around with my camera settings.
On day 2 we decided to do some exploring around the area. We have a truck and my boyfriend loves getting it dirty, so when we had passed a few trails on our way in the day before, he knew that was the first activity on his to-do list. We drove over and were sadly disappointed when we realized there was a small sign stating authorized vehicles only. We rallied, and pulled into an area that happened to be right outside the South Park Entrance and were delighted when we realized that this ride would give us both some satisfaction, muddy/dusty trails for him and beautiful red rock views for me.
After we played around and got lost in the rocks, we were off to our next destination, the Dangling Rope Marina, to check-out some fun rental options. We decided to rent a jet-ski for a half a day (4 hours) which came to around $350 plus gas costs. If you have more than 2 people, definitely skip the jet-skis and just go for the small powerboat rental which was around the same cost.
It was my first time on a jet-ski and I could not have chosen a better location, the water was clear, the sky was clear and the rocks were awe-insprining.
We raced around the different canyons that shot off the main marina. We found a small area where we thought we might try some cliff diving but quickly found that the rocks we had parked next to were not ideal for diving, not to mention, the big fish flopping around like they were in a fight for their life was not the most appealing scene to jump into. We decided to try to find another area to fill my cliff-diving desires but quickly realized we had somehow managed to park our jet-ski in a patch of what seemed like quicksand which made it unbelievably hard to push the jet-ski back out while still holding onto our water shoes.
One we managed to get the jet-ski out and us back on it, we did a few laps around the marina and then made our way down the Navajo Canyon. This was the suggested route by a staff member at the rental facility for a 4 hour ride. We were told there was a beach about half-way down the canyon to stop at. Unfortunately, we never made it that far as we got too distracted playing around on the jet-skis and going down every waterway we happened upon. Ironically, this lead to us coasting down Antelope Canyon without realizing it until we were on our way out.
Due to the fact that electronics and lakes don’t usually mesh well, we weren’t able to grab any photos of our ride. But the sights were magnificent with the changing colors of the towering canyon walls, the clear water, but the most fascinating part for me was that the clouds appeared pink and red because of the reflection of the rocks. Definitely a can’t miss experience if you’re ever in the area.
On day 3 we had decided to head over for a nice morning walk to Horseshoe Bend, one of the most popular destinations and probably most photographed (Except for the inside of Antelope Canyon) in the Northern AZ/ Southern UT area. Nevertheless, don’t let the photos on Pinterest fool you, this is a tourist trap. It is $10 to park and a short walk into the canyon which is easy enough, but there are hundreds of people from all over the world trying to get the perfect shot.
*Please note, if you are afraid of heights, skip this photo-op, you’ll thank me later.
I was more intrigued by a scene on our way out of the canyon. All the stacked-rock towers on the side of the path that had been created by so many different people, in all walks of life, from all over the world.
I know you are not supposed to “leave your mark” in nature, but as far as “marks” go, I think this one is acceptable. It reminds you of how special a sight we have in our backyard that it entices people from both near and far to travel just to see it for themselves, and maybe leave a part of them behind.
After our morning walk to the bend, we decided it was time for some good old-fashioned relaxing. So we drove on over to Lone Rock Beach. This beach reminded me of my trips to Mexico with the white sand and clear blue waters, no passport needed here though!
There is an option to camp on the beach which we may consider for our next visit, but it is BYOT camping, Bring Your Own Toilet, definitely something to think long and hard about. The beach overall was full of families, boats, tubes, floaties and laughter which lead to some of the best hours spent on this trip.
Our 4th, and final day was probably my favorite. We woke up, had some morning coffee and then my boyfriend decided he wanted to wander around the Glen Canyon Dam or “Doing the Dam Thing” as he liked to call it, while I lounged around a little while longer.
The dam bridge provides beautiful views of the water, and the canyon walls and also has a visitor center where you can learn more about the Glen Canyon Dam and its making. A fun find was the few locks that had been hung on the fence around the bridge, much like love bridge in Paris which I thought was a sweet gesture.
Our next item on the agenda was to visit the little patches of beach next to the Dam. On our way to the beach, we happened upon a nice and easy “hike” to the Hanging Gardens. This is a perfect morning walk which ends in some beautiful photos with the hidden greenery hanging from the red rocks, and makes for a perfect photo op for both beginner and professional photographers alike, just be patient in order to get your turn.
We then drove down a little farther and followed a family through the canyon rocks/walls and ended up finding our own slice of heaven. The rocks formed perfect steps into the water for those who didn’t want to venture into the deep waters (my boyfriend) while still making those waters accessible to those who want to jump right in (me). We both agreed that we wish we would have found these little coves earlier in our trip so we could have spent more time here as it was our best find of the trip.
We ate our PB&Js and crackers while watching groups play on their jet-skis and families fish together before we decided to dive-in ourselves. We were lucky to have the most perfect weather four our trip which was just hot enough to make you want to get in the cold, COLD water but still breezy enough to not let you feel the burn of the sun.
On our way back from the beach we decided to stop and try one of the many dining options offered by the Lake Powell Resort, which was the Wawheap Grille. The grille is the only casual dining option on the lake but the pizza and fries were perfectly satisfying.
After pizza and fries, we decided to try and walk off some of our meal down by Wawheap Beach. We drew in the sand, skipped rocks, and just sat and enjoyed the view on our last night on Lake Powell.
We could not have asked for a better ending to our weekend, we had the best campfire of our trip, spent time giggling, goofing around, talking and then fell asleep under the stars.
**There are a few things we did not get around to enjoying but figured I would give them an honorable mention.
The Wawheap RV and Campground has an amphitheater where park rangers routinely host talks about the animals of the area, the land, and the night sky. They even offer worship services on Sundays.
Fishing is obviously a large part of most visits to the lake whether it is out on a boat, or standing on the shore.
Also, instead of camping there is the option to rent a houseboat for the duration of your trip. This option however, is a lot more costly.
There are multiple canyons to visit, many different boat tours to take you around all of the tourist attractions, and an infinite amount of hikes to enjoy.
***We actively skipped one of the most well known sights in the area, a tour of the Upper or Lower Antelope Canyon. I had looked into the experience and decided it probably wasn’t worth it. All of the posts I read stated that while the photos are great, it wasn’t worth our time and money. The hike is strenuous and time consuming whether on foot or by kayak. The Canyon itself is small and uncomfortable and due to the popularity of the canyon, it is extremely hard to even get a chance at the photo ops you paid a minimum of $60 dollars a person for due to the amount of tourists per group. However, if you have had a different experience, please let me know, maybe we will give it a shot on our next trip north.
Nice write-up! The pics you took are great – and the colors are interesting. Who is the photo bug?
Thank you! I do most of the photos but my boyfriend takes a few here and there too! 🙂 The colors were crazy, the clouds were like bright pink/red because of the red rocks and the water was something like you would see outside of the country.