Page, Arizona: A hidden gem
Page, Arizona is located about 5 hours north of Phoenix, along the Arizona/Utah border, and let me tell you..... it is worth every minute of the drive. Even if your children are losing their ever loving minds in the back seat, your best laid plans of occupying them are fading fast and you feel like jumping out of the car window only to perform your best tuck and roll.... DON'T give in! Once you take your first step into the breathtaking slots canyons, or peer over the eerie 1,000 foot drop at Horseshoe bend, or dip your toes into the crystal waters of Lake Powell, you'll be glad you hung in there!
The reason we decided on Page, was to tour what I believe to be one of the most incredible places on earth, Antelope Canyon. We were visiting for four days which gave us just enough time to scratch the surface and explore both the Upper and Lower canyons, see bits and pieces of giant Lake Powell, and watch the sunset over the unique sandstone formations in Utah.
I hope that after reading this, you find yourself inspired to take your family to visit Page, Arizona and experience all of the beauty and wander for yourselves!
Where we began:
We booked our stay with the Hampton Inn and Suites, and were pleasantly surprised to find several other amenities close by. (Walmart was right across the street from the hotel, which was a lifesaver when we needed to grab a few last minute items for our adventures!) There were also a variety of restaurants, (fast food and casual dining) within a ten minute drive of the hotel. The hotel is brand new, at only 2 years old, and every staff member was friendly and helpful. The rooms were spacious and clean and gave us plenty of space to play board games, set up a fort, and have our dinner, "picnic style'' our first night. The hotel offers a 24 hour fitness room and has a nice size indoor pool and spa for the kiddos, as well as on sight laundry if you just have to throw in a load!
Of course, we love anywhere offering a continental breakfast to avoid having to shuttle the fam somewhere and spend even more money. We also like to grab a few pieces of fresh fruit or other easy to pack snacks from the breakfast bar to take with us for the day. (Don't worry friends....my piece on budget travel and how to stretch your vacation dollars is on the way!) There was plenty of room to sit and enjoy breakfast, whether you wanted to sit inside and enjoy the hotel ambiance or sit right outside and admire the mountains in the distance. I bet you can guess what we decided on!
***I have to note, because morning coffee is a priority to me, I normally find myself having to wait until at least 6am most places before coffee is readily available. So, you can bet your bottom dollar that I was over the moon when my husband told me that coffee was brewing 24/7 here!***
SIDE NOTE: Your cell phone clock may switch back and forth between Arizona time and Navajo time, but everywhere, including the tours run on Arizona time. If you get confused on what the current time is, just do what we did and call the front desk like we did. They said they get that question a lot!
Another bonus you will find, is the proximity of the hotel to stunning Horseshoe Bend. Just under a five minute drive and you can watch the sunset behind the famous bend in Colorado River like we did.
If you stick around just a few minutes after sunset, you will get a chance to experience a little bit of the bend's magic... The floods of chatty tourists clear out, the sky feels romantic, while the colors of the canyon become more vivid with each passing moment.
Vacation sunsets have become some of my favorite memories while traveling. It's a beautiful close to a day with my family, and leaves us with excitement for what adventures the next day will hold.
One of the biggest surprises I found, was how many people were visiting the bend. Witnessing the huge amount of people visiting from all over the globe gave me an even bigger sense of pride for our beautiful home state, however, crowds, children, cliffs can be tricky to navigate. There is no railing of any kind to prevent falling over the edge (although, I heard a rumor that they are planning to build one in the near future), so you need to weigh the safety risks if you plan to take the kids....
Next stop, Antelope Canyon:
The only way to see Antelope Canyon is by tour with one of the local guide companies. Lower Antelope is best viewed at either sunrise or sunset because of the renowned beams of light that shine down between the canyon walls. By the time we booked, those tour times were already completely filled, however our 11:45am tour was still nothing short of jaw dropping. It's easy to get "tunnel vision" (no pun intended...) and forget to look all around you while in the canyon. We had an excellent guide, Drea, who would periodically remind us to stop, look around, and take in a new perspective. She took the time to point out unique rock formations and revealed hidden silhouettes in the sandstone. My exact words to my husband were, "I feel like we are walking through Pinterest!''
My advice would be to book early if you want any of the prime tour times. With that being said, pick a time slot that works best for your family. We booked our tour roughly a month in advance with Dixie Ellis. Most of the companies offer a photography tour as well, although a little pricier, it's a chance to get more professional looking shots without any people in them. Unfortunately, there are no children allowed on the photography tours, so we opted out this time and booked the group tour. There are no bags, purses, backpacks, camera bags or selfie-sticks allowed in the canyons. Cameras, water bottles, and phones are allowed however. The great thing about these canyons are that you don't need any fancy equipment to get amazing photos. The tours are approximately an hour and a half, we each took one bottle of water and were fine. (They offered us a complimentary cold bottled water at the end of the tour as well.) The tours are easy walking, however you do have to descend some stairs down into Lower Antelope Canyon, as well as navigate a few small and secure ladders. After your tour, make sure to dump your shoes out BEFORE getting in the car. I think our son brought about half the canyon's sand back with him!
The guide companies ask that you check in at their offices approximately 30-60 minutes prior to your tour time. They were very appreciative when we showed up early with our signed waivers, that we completed online ahead of time. There were a few shaded benches and picnic tables for us to wait at, while we were entertained by an traditional hoop dancer.
Touring the upper canyon is much like the lower, however the prime time for visiting this canyon is actually at noon! By the time we booked this tour, there were only a few time slots left open and we went with an available 3:45pm tour.
The guide company that we went with for this tour was Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours, and similar to our first tour, there was a shaded waiting area with benches. There were port-a-potties here, just the same as Dixie Ellis. (There are NO restrooms near the canyons, so make sure that everyone uses the John before beginning your tour--even if you don't think you have to go that bad! ) When it was time for our tour, they called us over to one of their trucks for a 10 minute open air ride to the canyon entrance. It helps immensely to bring a handkerchief to keep from breathing in all of the dust that will be flying through the air, as well as having it for inside of the canyon, as periodically dust will snow down on you from the opening high above you. (This is where a hat comes in handy too.)
While we were here in the late afternoon, it was difficult to take decent photos (especially ones with us in them) because of such low lighting. This is where is probably would have paid to book early.....lesson learned. While the brighter light in Lower Antelope provided much different photos, the dark walls of Upper Antelope were deep and rich, and filled us with wonder for what was around every turn.
One of the coolest and most unexpected parts of the tour were all of the hidden silhouettes throughout the canyons. Here are just a few. Can you spot the chief, the bear, the candlestick, the dragon's eye, (or as the guide and I liked to call it, the eye of Sauron...) the lady in the wind, and the lion?
Next stop, Lake Powell:
You have to dip your toes into the clear blue waters of Lake Powell at some point while you are visiting. Before we went, I had no idea how BIG Lake Powell actually is. Parts of the lake lie in Northern Arizona, but the majority is actually in Utah. The first time we went down to check out the water we didn't really know what to expect, but what we found was heavenly.
From afar, the lake looked like deep blue sea, but upon closer inspection the waters were crystal clear, changing from blue, to aqua, to emerald green at times. The golden sun sparkled as it danced over the water’s surface. I couldn’t believe that I was standing in northern Arizona, and not on a breathtaking beach along the coast of some far off country.
There is a $25 fee to use Lake Powell, at Glen Canyon Recreation area, however, this IS a 7 day pass for everyone in your vehicle. Since we will be visiting more parks throughout the year, we decided to purchase an America the Beautiful Pass on site (which gets you into all of our National Parks and federal recreation sites) because you can actually apply the $25 vehicle fee towards the 80 bucks it costs for the annual parks pass.
The first spot we decided to explore on the lake was, Lone Rock Beach. Before going here the only thing I knew about this area was that you could launch kayaks here. What we found out while we were there, was that you can also bring your camper or a tent and post up on the lakefront for the week! (Guess who's trying that next time??) We didn't have our kayaks with us but we had a couple of beach chairs in the back of the car, so we set up along the water’s edge and watched our boy play for almost two hours. Originally, I thought this would probably be about a 30 minute stop because there is no shade, but everything just felt so right to keep sitting there. Luckily, we carry sun block in the car at all times, because you just never know where you might end up! So if you do decide to hit up the beach, bring an umbrella, a canopy, or tent of some kind to beat the rays.
One of our goals was to actually get our kayaks out into the water during this trip, so we ended up launching the following day at Antelope Point.
The parking lot sits atop a long boat ramp, so make sure to unload the car down at the bottom by the water. With a little team work, we were ready to hit the water in no time. (Even stuffies like to pitch in!)
The kayaks that we currently use are our inflatable Intex kayaks from amazon, which we absolutely love. I know, an inflatable kayak? I thought the same thing.... but they ARE fabulous. We purchased them because we wanted to try kayaking without initially investing a lot of money and we don't have a vehicle that we could tow the bigger kayaks with, so these are great for whatever vehicle you currently have. Throw them in the trunk and you're ready to go! (Keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming piece on "Kayaking with Kids" for more inflatable kayak tips and tricks.)
Early on, the waters were calm, but as the lake filled with other users and tour boats, the waters became a little choppy, adding to all of the excitement. My husband loved floating along side of the massive canyon walls, being able to paddle right up and touch them. My favorite part was peering over the kayak just enough to see the deep, dark, slots in the canyon as we sailed over them. Talk about a rush! I think my son's favorite part was playing captain and "helping" paddle.
If you aren't able to actually get out on the waters of Lake Powell, you can still take in all of it's beauty at Wawheap Viewpoint. And if you love sunsets as much as we do, take a picnic dinner and enjoy! There are a couple of benches and a handful of big rocks to rest your weary legs on.
One of our last stops on this trip was the Carl Hayden Visitor's Center. They have a nice little gift shop where we were able to snag an ornament for our Christmas "travel" tree. There is a short film continually running inside that explains more details about the dam.
We made this one of our last stops but you may want to stop in the beginning of your trip to learn about Glen Canyon Dam and ask the rangers about some unique places to explore in the area. You can actually walk out onto the dam on one of the $5 tours that they run about every two hours. Like the canyons, there are no bags or purses and no food or drink allowed on tour and because the dam is federally owned, you will pass through a metal detector before hand.
We were running out of time, so we weren't able to tour the dam, but it is on my list for our next visit. There is just so much to do, so many nooks and crannies of Page Arizona to explore and discover, and hopefully this piece will help you make the most of your family time while visiting the area.
And of course, we had to get our Junior Ranger badges before leaving. (See my previous piece on The Junior Ranger program!) There are two badges that you can actually earn while at Glen Canyon. One, is the Glen Canyon Rec area badge, and the other is for Rainbow Bridge National Monument. You can earn the latter even if you aren't able to make it to Rainbow Bridge. (Which apparently is only accessible by boat and a hike. Guess who's adding that to the list for next time??)
In an effort to save money, we packed our lunches and snacks for the trip but we agreed to try some of the local eateries for dinner. Our first night, we stopped at a little tavern called State 48.
The menu has enough variety from tacos, to burgers, to steaks, and salads that everyone in the family should be able to find something that they like!
And if you're wondering if it tasted as good as it looked, the answer is, yes. The service here was excellent as well. We had the adobo chicken fries, fish tacos, and the pear burger and we were extremely happy with our first choice of dinner spots. (Winkee the dog also approved!)
If you're in the mood for some fried chicken, make sure you stop in and check out The Birdhouse. From the open air patio, to the twinkling strand lights,
this place couldn't get any cuter if it tried! You order at the service counter, grab a number, and they will deliver your food shortly as you listen to an awesome country playlist. (We even danced to a song or two....which is great for tiny legs who can't sit still for too terribly long.)We had the honey butter fried chicken combo as well as the spicy chicken , while our son had some awesome tenders. If we'd had more room in our bellies, our plates would have been empty!
Glass chandeliers, brass light fixtures, and the checkerboard floor made RD's drive in the perfect, quintessential, "small town" dive that I was looking for. The eclectic atmosphere was really what captured my heart. The vintage video games and a juke box mounted on the wall made it feel as though I had taken a step back into my own childhood for a moment. So, make sure to bring in a few dollars worth of quarters if you and the kids wanna take a crack at Donkey Kong! The food was basic- burgers, chicken, and dogs but it fuelled us up for our next adventure.
Friends, I hope that after reading you are inspired to visit and create your own adventure in one of my new favorite places of all time, Page Arizona. There are still so many things left to discover here and our family can not wait to go back and experience the magic of northern Arizona again!
