Seeing the contrast between the “blue” of the water in the lake / canyon, the “brown” of the rock surface of the rocky mountain, and the “blue” of the sky, feeling my heart washed.
This is lake area starting from the town of Page on the edge of Lake Powel. To be exact, it is not “National Park”, but “National Recreation Area”. This lake area was formed by blocking the river due to the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. Looking at the map, the town of Page seems to be able to stop by on the way from the Grand Canyon, but it takes two hours by car one way. It also takes 5 hours one way from Las Vegas, the gate city to the Grand Circle, and 2 hours one way from the nearest Zion National Park. Glen Canyon is a headache when planning a tour of a national park. It requires some time and power to visit.
This national park has a unique landscape surrounded by water and rocky mountains, and stands out among American national parks. I stayed at Lake Powell Resort, which is located along Lake Powell, and the view of Lake Powell from this hotel is wonderful. Houseboats are lined up, and once I want to take a vacation elegantly for about a month with such a houseboat. Above all, the “Blue” of the water of the lake, “Brown” of the rock surface and the “Blue” of the sky, the contrast is vivid, and just looking at, it will bring me the happy state of mind.
For activities, taking a boat and go to Rainbow Bridge. By taking a tour called “Rainbow Bridge Tour”, by boad starting from the pier of Lake Powell Resort mentioned above, head upstream on the lake, and make a round trip to the vicinity of Rainbow Bridge. In nearly three hours to the place where the Rainbow Bridge is, can see the “Blue” of the lake, the “Brown” of the rock surface, and the “Blue” of the sky all the time.
It takes 5-6 hours on the boat and some people may get bored on the way, but I never got bored. The Rainbow Bridge is located about 30 minutes after getting off the boat. It’s the largest Natural Bridge in the world and it was great, but I’ve seen “Delicate Arch” and other Natural Bridges in Arches National Park, and many of the people on board are in the same place. I didn’t have much stimulation than expected. I think it may be related to the fact that the shape of this Rainbow Bridge is too neat. The Rainbow Bridge is a sacred place for Native Americans, so there is a sign saying “Don’t go straight down” and have to look at it from a distance.
In addition, the sun light is strong anyway, so if sitting outdoors on the boat, sunscree must be mandatory to protect. I didn’t do anything, so I got a terrible sunburn, and when I came back to Japan, my foreign colleague asked me, “Did your house catch fire?” Please be careful.
By the way, if driving along Lake Powell Blvd, which is the center of the town of Page, there is a place where churches are lined up. Just checking it on Google Maps, I could find eight churches within about 800m along the street. This place was constructed when the Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1957, and many churches were built at that time. The street where the churches are lined up is called “Church Row”. Personally, I have never seen such a view of churches lined up. By all means, it is worth to visit this unusual landscape.
In the vicinity of the town of Page, there are “Antelope Canyon” and “Horseshoe Bend”, which are famous tourist spots. Both of them are wonderful landscapes, it is recommended to visit.
Visited in 2006.
Basic Information
■ Name of Place：Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
■ Address : Arizona, Utah, USA
■ Homepage : https://www.nps.gov/glca/index.htm
■ How to Get here? / Input
- This place is difficult to integrate into the planning for Grand Circle trip. There is some distance from “Las Vegas”, no big city in the east, “Phoenix” located in the south has more distance than “Las Vegas”. One option must be “Flagstaff”, just located in the south. “Flagstaff” is used as gate city when visiting “Grand Canyon” National Park, and therefore, “Grand Canyon” will be visited together with this “Glen Canyon”.
- In case of having one week of schedule, realistic itinerary is to visit “Zion”, “Bryce Canyon”, “Grand Canyon” and this “Glen Canyon” National Park.
- Another option is to visit this “Glen Canyon”, as participating onto the one day advance walk-in permit lottery for “the Wave” in North Coyote Butte. Its lottery is conducted in the town, Kanab, Arizona and distance is 80mile (130km), 1.5 hours by car, which is relatively easy to access. In this case, “Kanab” instead of “Page” may be the gate city.
- Distance/Time
・300mile (480km), 5 hours by car, from “Las Vegas” to “Page”
・80mile (130km), 1.5 hours by car, from “Page” to “Kanab”
・320mile (520km), 5 hours by car, from “Phoenix” to “Page”
・120mile (200km), 2.5 hours by car, from “Grand Canyon” to “Page”
・130mile (210km), 2.5 hours by car, from “Flagstaff” to “Page”
