Horseshoe Bend | Arizona
“You have to visit Lake Powell!!” seems to be the hot one-liner since we made the move from Central Texas to Southern Utah. It’s funny because it didn’t occur to me that a couple of the landscapes that I’ve saved from surfing the internet (like the panorama above) were apart of the Lake Powell experience! The truth is that I would screenshot or save them without researching further to figure out where the heck they were located on the map. Well, I’m here to share all the little things you need to know as you plan your first trip to this magical area!
THINGS TO NOTE
TAKE A BOAT: Without a doubt, I’d take a boat or rent a pontoon boat (this is usually what larger groups do). Luckily our friends (Jerrod and Ruthie) that we made the trip with have their own! I’m not sure how I can say this any more clearly: it’s not worth the trip without having a boat to get around. I say that partly because getting away from the marina is where the beauty truly begins, but also because Lake Powell is HUGE! It’s 186 miles long, with over 2,000 miles of shoreline. Don’t strand yourself to the shoreline! Having a boat also allows you to take a few more items that will make the experience that much better!
PORTABLE TOILET: This is a requirement. Lake Powell is not a place where you can run into the woods or other grassy area and use the restroom. You can actually get a good portable toilet for roughly $100 and if you camp as much as our group does, it’s totally worth it for future trips too! With that being said, there are floating bathrooms around the lake that double as dump stations. Yes, you can pour your crap out at the stations before leaving the lake. Caution: the water pressure might be high on the hose used to rinse the portable toilet at these stations. I’ll just leave it at that.
SHADE: Figure out a solution for shade. This lake is wide open, surrounded by rock. In other words, don’t plan to have a tree to crawl under to escape the heat. I highly suggest finding a camping spot on the West side of a higher elevation rock formation so you can enjoy the morning for much longer than we did. Our group made the mistake of camping in the wide open, fully exposed to the morning sun at 7:00am. Yes, I had boob sweat by 7:30 every day. My bad if that’s TMI. I will also be sure to take a canopy for my next trip. It’s worth having that escape from the mid-day heat. If you’re a fair-skinned ginger like I am, load up on your sunscreen, lightweight hooded fishing shirts, and floppy hats too!
GASOLINE: Assuming you take my advice of having a boat (or jet skis), one of the best tips I can give is to pack a handful of gas cans. I know that sounds extreme but the gas at the marina was $5.50/gallon. I’ve got the receipt to prove it! Honestly I’d take 3-5 cans if you plan to cruise a lot. I will say that we were fishing most of the day so we may have burned through more than most would. Worst case scenario, you come off the lake with gas instead of outrageous gas receipts!
FOOTWEAR: I had flip-flops and tennis shoes this trip, but I will for sure be trading them both in for one pair of Keen’s or Chacas the next time. The flip-flops would get too much sand in them (and my feet burned easily), while tennis shoes aren’t water friendly. Meet in the middle with a hiking sandal of some kind! Trust me on this one.
COOKING: One of the best decisions we made was bringing a flat top griddle to cook all of our meals on. There’s very little brush to start a fire for cooking and I’d be nervous to start one anyway due to how dry it is. Note: if you go this route anyway, check the regulations to see if you can legally have a fire while you’re there. Having this Camp Chef stove with the separate griddle allowed for some nutritious meals, rather than the freeze-dried meals we usually take camping!
MUST SEE/DO
ROPE SWING: I imagine there are rope swings all around the lake, but we took full advantage of the one we found (seen in the YouTube video here), which has the following coordinates: 37.09785, -110.97176. Watch the video to see how we got the most momentum. PSA: I’m not responsible for any injuries if you follow suit! This is right around the corner from my next suggestion - see below!
RAINBOW BRIDGE: Although we visited in the middle of the day, it was still beautiful. There’s a little bit of a hike to get there (less than half a mile from where we docked the boat) depending on the water level, so take some water and some comfy shoes! They’ll move the dock closer/further as the water level fluctuates.
HORSESHOE BEND: Don’t leave the area without seeing this beauty! It’s possible to drive a boat through the horseshoe while on the water, but I suggest getting the full experience by driving to the lookout ($10 entry fee) in your vehicle once you get off of the lake! Pictures just don’t do it justice.
DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP: Keep your eyes peeled for sheep around the lake! I’m not sure how many opportunities you’ll get to be as close as we were numerous times. They blend into the rock really well, but in the middle of the day they’d come down for water and we could drive the boat SO CLOSE to them. They’re incredible animals and not something you’ll see many times in your life by accident!
FISHING: If you enjoy fishing, you’ll have fun chasing schooling stripers and beautiful small-mouth on the rock points. Most of the small mouth we caught were feeding on crawfish, so slow fishing soft plastics that resemble crawfish had the best results. Many people use anchovies for stripers or jigging spoons as well.
CLIFF JUMPING: I’m scared to death of water, but having clear water to jump into certainly makes it better. There are so many areas to jump, so pick your poison and have fun with it!
