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LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Part 9 in a series exploring the American West with an 8 week old baby - Canyon X and Horseshoe Bend

By Tommy Nagle

April 6^th, 2020

FYI: This episode of the +baby series isn't just about a lake. Oh no ma'am sir. Lake Powell was our basecamp, is part of the 'Glen Canyon Recreation Area', and as such is surrounded by multiple activities on which one is required to recreate. Stay tuned...

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

R/ODDLYSPECIFIC

150 miles west of our previous destination, the Valley of the Gods, is lake Powell.

This isn't just any lake.

• First of all, it's man-made.

• Secondly, it's not really a lake, it's more of a reservoir.

• Thirdly, it's massive.

In fact [oddly specific fact alert], it's the second largest man-made reservoir by maximum capacity in the United States. You're supposed to be impressed by that. i.e:

"Welcome to our museum! See here, this is the county's third largest elastic band ball made from yellow and green elastic bands found on the ground outside post offices between the hours of 6 and 8pm!"

Lake Powell was named after one-armed American Civil War Veteran and man who wants you to get off his lawn before he does something he'll regret, John Wesley Powell. It's a major vacation spot in northern Arizona and southern Utah.

We stayed at Wahwheap RV campground for one night, mainly because we needed to empty the RV's grey water tanks. The campground was one of the more, ahem, functional RV parks we'd visited. It felt a bit like a giant car park, albeit a very clean and well maintained one.

The following day, we went for a short morning walk to take a gander at a bit of green among all that red.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

HANGING GARDEN TRAIL

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

HANGING GARDEN TRAIL | Easy | 1.2 miles round trip | 62ft elevation change

ALLTRAILS | NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

A 360° panorama from before my phone forgot how to do it:

The prize at the end of this short sandy hike over slickrock is an oasis of sorts, the titular Hanging Garden, not far outside the town of Page, AZ.

One assumes the "hanging garden" moniker was adopted because the lush greenery hidden by jurassic Navajo sandstone reminded someone of the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Not that anyone's seen them recently.

Did you know that Babylon was in what is now Iraq?

Well I didn't, smarty pants.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

At points it feels like you shouldn't be walking on these rocks, such is their fragility. But there are no paths. You can pretty much go where you like.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Soon we arrived at the hanging garden, a wide expanse of green tucked under a cliff.

The way this type of desert vegetation forms is interesting. Spring water, originating some way off from the garden itself, soaks through the rock and moves downward through various layers of porous stone and cracks.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

When the spring water reaches a layer of stone that's less permeable, it flows sideways, eventually emanating at the wall of a canyon, a cliff or other vertical rock surface. Apparently it isn't all that uncommon, and they appear throughout the Colorado plateau.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Hanging gardens support an amazing diversity of water loving plant species, such as ferns, lilies, sedges, and orchids. About 35 species of Colorado Plateau endemic plants are associated with hanging gardens and related spring communities. These gardens are also “hot spots” of biodiversity, with many species of plants, associated terrestrial invertebrates, aquatic invertebrates, as well as birds, mammals, and amphibians.

- National Park Service

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

If you're understandably reluctant to pay $68 a night to stay in a glorified car park (albeit with electricity and water hookups), you can pay $14 a night and stay on the beach instead! Specifically Lone Rock Beach.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

CANYON X

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

There are a few slot canyons that you can tour in this area, the most famous being Antelope Canyon, which is divided into 'Upper' and 'Lower' portions. Both can get very busy, and tours were full for the day we wanted to visit.

However, there's also Canyon X, part of the same canyon system as Antelope Canyon. It's less well known, and cheaper, so we thought we'd check it out instead.

Oh, and it's called Canyon X, because at a certain point when you look up...

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

To be totally honest, the whole 'canyon tour' thing feels very touristy, and, as cynical as it sounds, they come across like a bit of a cash grab. There are multiple tour companies of varying reputation and flashiness spread around the town of Page, all vying for your attention and dollars.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Arriving at the car park for Canyon X, you can see that this isn't a flashy affair. In fact it's a small, dusty patch of land with people sheltering from the sun under a small temporary gazebo.

When the tour guide drives you down into the canyon in the rickety 4x4 ATV, complete with a roof made of strand board, cable ties and trash bags, and mentions that he lives on Navajo Nation land with no power or running water, you start to understand why folks would want to leverage what they have available to them, however touristy and cash-grabby it might seem.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Canyon X costs $30 per person to visit, and tours last about an hour and a half. 'Tour' is a strong word. You're very much left to your own devices, which is how we like it.

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Then, before heading back to our beach-campsite, we stopped off at Horseshoe Bend, the path to which you can see below:

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

🐎👞⊃

It looks like a horseshoe!

It's free to visit!

People fall off the edge!

LAKE POWELL, ARIZONA +BABY

Next up:

Grand Canyon North Rim +Baby

⇣

And if you missed the previous story in this series, then you can find it here:

Valley of the Gods +Baby

Thanks for reading! If you liked this, click the 'ENJOY' button (either at the top or the bottom of the page), it tells me I'm doing something right.

Subscribe below to get updates for the last few destinations in this photo story series, including:

White Pocket, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, the Grand Canyon North Rim and The Wire Pass.

Footnotes

All photos taken with Panasonic Lumix GH4. Processed in Lightroom.

FootNotes

All photos taken with Panasonic Lumix GH4. Processed in Lightroom.

© 2026 Tommy Nagle

THE WIRE PASS +BABY

The final part in a series about exploring the American West in an RV with an 8 week old baby

WHITE POCKET + BABY

Part 12 in a series about exploring the American West in an RV with an 8 week old baby

CORAL PINK SAND DUNES +BABY

Part 11 in a series about exploring the American West in an RV with an 8 week old baby

GRAND CANYON NORTH RIM

Part 10 in a series exploring the American West with an 8 week old baby

VALLEY OF THE GODS +BABY

Part 8 in a series about exploring the American West with an 8 week old baby

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK + BABY

Part 7 in a series about exploring the American

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