Lake Powell: A beginners guide

Lake Powell is a freshwater lake located in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Northern Arizona/Southern Utah. It was created with the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, which was built to create water storage and hydroelectric power for the West. The lake is 150 miles long, up to 500 feet deep, and boasts almost 2000 miles of shoreline due to all the craggy fingers branching out from the main body of water. The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is known for its adventures- such as off-roading, boating, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and canyoneering.  

How to enjoy Lake Powell: 

There are several ways to make the most out of your visit to Lake Powell. 

• Stay in a hotel: There are many choices for hotels in Page, Arizona, which offers a great base for restaurants and is a close proximity to the water. Our personal favorite option is Lake Powell Marina Hotel, which is right on the water and has lovely views from its many restaurants and bars, and a great pool. If you are coming with your own boat, make sure to rent a boat slip overnight so you aren’t having to pull your boat at the end of every long day. 

• Camping: You can drive your car or RV right up onto the sand and dry camp at Lone Pine Beach, or choose one of the numerous campgrounds with full hook ups. You can also tent camp anywhere along the shoreline you can access by car, foot, or boat. Beware that the harsh desert climate is not always suited for tent camping, more on weather later. 

• Rent a houseboat: This is by far the best option and one of our favorite adventures of all time! Because of the lakes shape and length, it is impossible to access most of the water except by boat. And even then, you can only see a small section of the lake by small boat day trips. Renting a houseboat gives you the opportunity to camp in a secluded cove somewhere near the middle of the lake, and take short small boat day-trips over several days, allowing you to discover way more of the untouched beauty of the region. 

Things to see without a houseboat: 

• Lone Rock Beach. This is one of the best places to spend time if you do not have a houseboat. Its accessible by car, you can camp on the beach if you want, and it still offers some of the iconic rock formations Lake Powell is famous for. You can take a small boat out for tubing or wakeboarding, or just get out on the water in a kayak or stand up paddle board. 

• Explore Page and the surrounding area. Horseshoe Bend is a great viewpoint to start your day, before the crowds. You can also take a kayak or stand up paddle board tour down the Colorado River from the dam, which brings you around Horseshoe Bend on the river. If you have time, we highly recommend doing a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. The engineering and history of the area is really eye opening. Nearby, the town of Page offers lots of yummy restaurants such as Big Johns Texas BBQ. There are great golf courses, rock jumping, and hiking paths to round out your day as wel
• Antelope Canyon. We love Antelope Canyon, but access can be tricky to visit depending on the recent rainfall. If possible, we recommend stand up paddle boarding right from Antelope Marina boat ramp, south around to the slot canyon, paddling about a mile to the base of the Antelope Canyon hike. You can hike in a crazy sandstone slot canyon, as far as your energy will allow. Alternatively, you can take a tour down into the canyon from the top. This is a much more touristy option, but if you really want the experience of Antelope Canyon it may be your only choice. We recommend starting this adventure early in the morning as the area is known to get busy and hot. 

Best things to see with a houseboat: 

Now, things are starting to get more interesting because a houseboat brings another layer of adventure! You can see all of the things listed above, plus add the following to your itinerary: 

• Wahweap bay and Castle Rock Cut. Chances are, you are renting your houseboat from Wahweap Marina, and therefore will cross both of these to reach the main body of the lake. Most people just cruise through on their way to finding the best campsites, and that is okay. However, if you have the time, there are lots of great gems to discover in the small coves and beaches tucked into this area. 
• Warm Creek Bay. This spot is popular for its close proximity to “town” if you are nervous about being so far from the Marina and civilization. It offers sandy beaches, good fishing, and nice coves. However, it does fill up and get more crowded than the locations further up lake. 
• Padre Bay. This is the largest open water on the whole of the lake, making it a great place for whipping the kids around on a tube in the early mornings. It does get super busy and can get very choppy here the rest of the day. The best part about Padre Bay are the opprotunites for smaller canyon offshoots and the big Buttes rising from the lake. 

• West Canyon and Last Chance Bay. We have camped in West Canyon several times and found it perfect. Not too far up lake, but far enough to escape the crowds. It is centrally located for day trips and wide enough for wakeboarding, while being narrow enough to stand up paddle board safely from camp. Last Chance Bay is directly across the lake and offers some of the coolest caves and rock formations for exploring. 
• Dangling Rope Marina. If it is open, this is the best place for fuel, ice, and ICE CREAM on a hot day! It’s been closed recently due to storm damage though, which is why carrying enough fuel and ice for your own trip is so critical. 
• Labyrinth Canyon. One of my favorite places on the lake. This narrow canyon offers the ability to boat, paddle, and hike through massive slot canyons. Absolutely make this one of your day trips from camp!  
• Rainbow Bridge National Monument. A unique rock formation that can be accessed from Forbidden Canyon. You will need to hike in to it, so be prepared with walking shoes, water, and snacks. If you are visiting in the summer be prepared for major heat mid day. Another great day trip from camp! 

Is a houseboat a good option for me? 

Houseboating is one of the most fun recreational activities in the world, and I think everyone should experience it! However, this kind of adventure is not for everyone. Here’s the hard truth about this experience: 

• Can you think of other humans you can stand to be in close cramped quarters with for days on end? Under high stress and potentially dangerous situations? If not, this is not an experience for you. If you need your own quiet space with few people and low stress on vacation, please avoid a houseboat. 
• Same question above, but in regards to your spouse. Can you and your spouse be in high stress situations and work together rationally? If not, stay in a hotel. Many a marriage has been crumbled on the shores of Lake Powell in the summertime. 
• Can you prepare enough food, ice, water and fuel for an entire week off grid? If you are the kind to forget things and need to “run to the store” please don’t endanger yourself and others by participating in a houseboat adventure. You will be several hours from any services facing over 100 degree heat, monsoons, thunderstorms, and potential illness or injuries. Not having prepared with adequate ice, fuel, water, food, and emergency supplies will absolutely get someone killed.  

• Do you need to do your makeup and blow dry your hair each day? This is not the trip for you. Not only will you not have the power, but you will be miserable the rest of the day trying to keep that hair and makeup looking good. Its hot AF, sometimes windy, with little to no shade and your surrounded by millions of gallons of lake. If you’re not happy looking your worst when you will likely not see one other living human than your houseboat mates, then find something else to do.
• Do you need to  run an A/C to sleep all night? You’re probably out. You will not have enough gas to run the A/C, maybe at all the whole week, depending on how much extra fuel you can carry on board. You absolutely can bring a portable A/C for your bedroom that is battery powered, and a battery powered fan like the kind that run on DeWalt batteries. However, you won’t be charging said batteries unless you bring a solar charger, so think ahead. Most of the time, we end up sleeping outside under the stars praying for a slight breeze because its just that miserable to sleep in the bedrooms. Plan accordingly.
• Can you be okay taking a bath in the lake all week? If not, please pass on this. There are R/V showers and toilets on board, but again, you are on limited water on the boat, and you need to wash dishes and other more important things. You are surrounded by millions of gallons of clean, cool snowmelt, so take your soap out on that lilipad and scrub away my friends.
• Finally, are you afraid of fun? Because there is almost nothing as rewarding for a mom than launching her husband and kids off the wake and watching them tumble from a tube! If you are scared to have a good time- stay home.

Tips for renting a houseboat: 

• Go with someone that has experience on Lake Powell specifically, or someone with significant nautical knowledge. Lake Powell can be incredibly dangerous because the weather is unpredictable in the high desert, and you will be very isolated once you get out on the lake. Remember you will be several hours from any emergency help at all times, so you need to be able to handle most situations on your own. In addition, driving a houseboat is like driving a floating RV, but twice as tall, twice as wide, and three times as long. It doesn’t turn well, the power is run off a gas generator, and they only hold so much water and fuel. If you or your party has never driven a houseboat before, I highly recommend asking the employees at the marina to drive it out to open water, and back in to the dock when you return. These are the two most common places for a boat accident and can be easily avoided by asking a professional for help. 
• Pay the extra fee to load on the houseboat the night before! This is the most critical piece of advice I can give you. The most important reason is that you can be the very first boat to depart the marina the next morning, before the house boat traffic jam. Second, you can load all of your luggage and groceries on the boat in the cool evening rather than the hot mid-day sun. 
• Which brings us to the next tip- loading and unloading. Most people rent from Wahweap Marina, which is awesome and where we rent too. However, the parking area is up an extremely steep boat ramp, which you need to trek all your shit up and down when loading and unloading. There are hand carts you can use and complimentary golf carts, when available, but still you should plan on doing some cardio to unload and load. Actually loading is by far worse, because its usually hot as shit, you’re exhausted from a week on the lake, and everyone is on edge. Starting your trip by loading quietly in the cool evening air without the crowds will absolutely get you off on the right foot. 

• Finding the perfect camp is key. With the destruction of the fuel station at Dangling Rope Marina, it is now much more difficult to camp further up lake. You will likely travel to somewhere around Padre Bay, which will take several hours, and find a campsite. Make sure you don’t use more than 1/2 the tank of fuel, because you’ll need to get back to the marina at the end of the week! Try to find a sandy bottom cove, alone or with just a couple of boats, and anchor extremely. This is critical because you do not want to risk the houseboat getting damaged in a storm. You’ll need to bring your own anchors and heavy duty rope, and tie off in several directions. 
• Be prepared for anything. Often times first time houseboats run out of ice, water, fuel, or all three. Do not be that person. You will need an entire 150qt cooler (or more) dedicated to only ice, nothing else. Get some blocks of ice and then put bagged ice on top. Use blocks of ice for your food coolers as well as they last longer. Choose cold foods sparingly. Consider cooking the bulk of your raw meats on the first couple of nights and storing leftover cooked meat to use in recipes through the week so you aren’t risking food born illness from not keeping your meat cold enough. Plan your recipes to use meatless or canned items for the final nights (such as chili), just in case you run out of ice and need to eat pantry items the last couple of days. Pack more water than you think you need, and then pack some additional emergency water as well. We recommend bringing fuel cans for emergency use only. Use the toy tank on the houseboat to fill the toys (small boat, jet ski, etc.) and save your emergency fuel in case you can’t get back to the marina on what you have. 

What to Pack: 

• Obviously you’ll need some minimal clothes, bathing suits, hats, and sunscreen. Potentially you will want a rain jacket or a sweatshirt/sweatpants for colder nights, if you get so lucky. Aside from the usual, here are some things we recommend: 
• Battery Powered Air Compressor. You’ll be shocked how many things you might inflate this week. 
• Fuel cans and coolers for extra fuel and ice. I cannot say this enough. 
• Rope and anchors. 
• Small Toolkit
• Plenty of Life Jackets!

• Stand up paddle board or kayak or both. I love the inflatables for space saving but of course regular is great too. 
• Toys to keep kids busy such as sand toys, bubbles, water guns, water balloons, etc. You will definitely want some cheap floats in different styles (donut style and the sling seat are my favorite). Purchase them in multi packs online and keep them in the package until you get situated at camp, because they are annoying to keep contained while the boat is moving. 
• Personal air conditioning unit or portable fan with batteries such as Dewalt, preferably with a solar charger. 
• Emergency supplies such as sunburn ease, anti diarrhea, electrolytes, a well built first aid kit, flares, ropes, survival blankets, etc. Remember, you are several hours from emergency services and subjecting yourself to harsh weather and water activities. Someone is probably getting hurt.
• Not really packable but you’ll want to bring your own boat or jet skis or both- or rent them. If you have these, you’ll need a tow behind inner tube, wakeboard, waterskis, etc. 

Weather: 

We have mentioned this several times now but the weather in the Glen Canyon Recreational Area is no joke. The best time to visit is June to September, when the air is warm and the cold snowmelt water is refreshing. The closer you get to the shoulder seasons the better, because the days are warm but the nights get cool, which makes sleeping easier. However, sometimes the weather is too cold in the shoulder season, and you can face cold rain or even snow. The crowds are much lighter in the shoulder season but you run the risk of not being able to enjoy the water as much if the climate is too temperate. July and August is just plain old hot, with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees during the day and hot nights to boot. The water is so cold you can keep refreshed in the daytime, but there’s not much you can do about the nighttime heat. In addition, the high desert faces extreme summer storms, such as monsoons and thunderstorms. We have faced several scary storms on the lake, one where our houseboat broke free of its anchors and slammed into the rocks. Houseboats are situated on big pontoon so a puncture could sink a boat quickly. You just want to be prepared for any type of weather here. 

Your Lake Powell adventure is coming to an end. We hope you enjoyed the long days full of exploring, but even more we hope you made some lasting memories with people you love. Sometimes the most impactful experiences are those quiet moments of just being together. Lake Powell provides a perfect backdrop for just these kinds of moments. Have fun!