Turn into Page, Arizona for Spectacular Canyon Views

The last stop on our National Parks road trip is Page, Arizona, where we wanted to visit a few well-known attractions — Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell/the Glen Canyon Dam. These three spots are national treasures and are must-see landmarks among travel Instgrammers.

First up: Antelope Canyon. From what I have read online, there are two passages open to the public; upper and lower Antelope Canyon. You can drive to the upper canyon area, pay your Navajo fee, park your car, pay for the tour and wait for the next tour to start. The best time to visit is mid-day. If your hotel is in Page,there are tour operators who will drive you to both the upper and lower locales.

But here is what we discovered: As we were driving into Page, we saw signs for tours of the Canyon. But it was neither upper or lower Antelope Canyon tours, but a totally different canyon. It seemed sketchy at first, but it turned out to be one of our best decisions. We basically paid for a guide show to us around at $30 per person (or $70 for a group if you want the photo tour).

The canyons are not as long as the upper or lower canyons but it also wasn’t as crowded. There were only 10 of us in the entire section of the canyon. We didn’t feel rushed at all, and we were able to enjoy the canyon in peace. It was sublime to walk through the slots without anyone pushing us, or someone’s selfie stick getting in the way. As an added bonus, our tour guide brought his guitar and he played Navajo music along the way. Given the excellent acoustics in the canyon, the music sounded incredible. This tour lasted about 90 minutes, and just eight miles down the road is Horseshoe Bend.

I have seen this image a lot on Instagram and I just had to see it for myself. If you have a fear of heights, you may not be able to enjoy it as much, since viewing from the rim is best (and mind you, there are no fences or protective walls). From the parking lot, it is a 15-20 minute trek to the rim. It may be a short walk, but don’t forget to bring a bottle of water, because you can get quite thirsty on the way. It’s about a 1.5 mile round trip, all told. The best time of the day to go for photographers is late morning or middle of the day, when the sun is above the river and there are no shadows on the rocks.

Our last stop before sunset was the legendary and historic Lake Powell. The lake is a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona. It is a major vacation spot that close to two million people visit every year. They go for sightseeing, to visit the dam and to enjoy different water activities such as house boating, fishing, swimming, jet skiing and water skiing. We stayed only for the day, but you could stay for a week and not run out of things to do.

Lake Powell is the second largest manmade reservoir by maximum water capacity in the United States, behind Lake Mead. While there, we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Lake Powell which was a nice hotel. However, if you want a place with an amazing view, try to book at the Lake Powell Resort right on the lake, offering incredible views of the lakes and the stone formations in the surrounding area. This property is a only a six-minute walk from the beach. The resort also offers boat tours and an outdoor pool. On-site dining and dinner cruises are available along with a refrigerator and coffee facilities in the rooms, and plenty of free parking. It’s also surprisingly very inexpensive. Rooms in the spring are only around $140. It is definitely worth it. Page was definitely a great place to visit and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We only had one regret: we wish we had stayed longer.

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