Lake Powell Travel Guide

Lake Powell has been on my travel bucket list for years since I moved to Utah 9 years ago. I can’t believe it took me this long to visit! We wanted to plan one last family trip before the baby came, and so we decided to road trip to Powell!  It exceeded all my expectations and the kids said it’s their favorite place they want to go every year, so I wanted to put together a travel diary of what we did and share some answers to some of the questions you sent on DM.

So also on my bucket list was renting an RV to cruise somewhere! So Cody got an RV for our family and his sisters (our families are close) and we cruised to Powell!

andrew family RV

Our first stop was Horse Shoe Bend its just on the other side of the border between Utah and Arizona on the Arizona side! You guys have probably seen it on insta a lot, I feel like its a popular place for engagements and wedding photos. I think there was a fire somewhere close because it was kind of hazy when we went but it was still so BEAUTIFUL! It really blows your mind when you see grand landmarks like that and how beautiful nature is.

andrew family at horseshoe bend

Horseshoe bend

lake powell sunsets

The rays were coming through the clouds it looked so pretty!

christine andrew and son and horseshoe bend

After Horseshoe Bend, we headed to our camp grounds and did a sunset swim! During the summer, the water gets over 80 degrees so it’s the perfect temperature your never cold! We stayed at the Wahweap campgrounds, they have a sandy beach you can walk to, and have showers a convenient store and other basic necessities.

Day 2: We rented a boat to explore the different areas. The lake is HUGE!! We swam up different canyons and spent so much time in the water! There are tons of options for boating on Lake Powell. A lot of people rent a houseboat for the trip, so you can live on the water during your stay. We rented a pontoon boat (it held 12-14 people). People also rent regular speed boats, the pontoon is nice because it doesn’t get as rocky when you are going through the channels. Being pregnant, this was huge, it wasn’t bumpy or rocky ever and we could go up to 55mph (which is huge because a lot of the canyons are spaced far apart) The pontoon can do almost everything that a regular boat can, the kids can still tube and everything, the only thing they can’t do is surf behind it.

Antelope Slot Canyons was probably my favorite, but all of them are really beautiful!

christine andrew in a bikini at lake powell

When your swimsuit unintentionally matches the boat 😜

selfie of christine andrew at Lake Powell with sunglasses

Got tons of questions on these necklaces – this shell set is under $10!

7 reasons to go to Lake powell

tubing in lake powell

family vacations to lake powell

Horseshoe bend view

Cody and the boys went cliff jumping at different spots, I’m starting to think that cliff diving is to Cody what sunsets are to me, haha. There are endless cliff jumping options here for the more adventurous at heart 😉

son giving mom a kiss on her cheek

andrew family picture on vacation

DETAILS: BIKINI TOP AND BOTTOMS (ALSO COMES IN WHITE AND BLACK HERE) | SUNGLASSES | SCRUNCHY (ALSO LOVE THIS SET) | INITIAL NECKLACE | SHELL NECKLACE SET

CODY: CHECKED SWIM SHORTS

DAY 3: We woke up early and headed to Rainbow Bridge, we wanted to get up there to try and beat the heat as much as we could because I am SLOW HIKER this pregnant. After we went exploring again, there are so many spots you can just anchor your boat have lunch, swim, and look over the mountains.

christine and cody andrew riding boat in lake powell

DETAILS: GREY TANK (ON SALE UNDER $25) | DENIM SHORTS | SUNGLASSES | | SCRUNCHY (ALSO LOVE THIS SET)

christine andrew at rainbow bridge

RAINBOW BRIDGE! 😍😍 The hike is about a mile long, so not at bad, some parts are a little shaded, but it’s an easy hike with family and kids. Bring a bottle of water for everyone – we had all our kids carry their own, half of it you drink, and half you poor over your head to stay cool, its high 90’s low 100’s during our trip so you start sweating quick!

family vacation in lake powell

christine and mara on boat in lake powell

LAKE POWell slot canyons

CODY AND Beckam andrew boating

christine and cody andrew at lake powell

christine andrew in woven bikini at lake powell

DETAILS: CROCHET BIKINI TOP (ON SALE 50% OFF) | CROCHET BIKINI BOTTOMS (ON SALE 50% OFF) | DENIM SHORTS | SCRUNCHY (ALSO LOVE THIS SET) | SUNGLASSES

Below are a few other common questions I got from you guys on Insta, so I wanted to answer all in one spot:

  • Where is Lake Powell located? It’s right on the border of Arizona and Utah – about a 5-6 hour drive from Salt Lake City or a 4 hour drive from Phoenix. You can also fly into Page, Arizona which is a regional airport, so you’ll have to go through Las Vegas or Phoenix, but it would save you a drive.
  • Did you rent a boat or take a tour? We rented a boat! Cody actually researched and picked out the one we went with specifically. It went up to 40-50 mph on the water (a little faster than some of the other boat options) so it was a smoother ride (if you go fast enough, the boat sits on top of the water so it’s not quite as bumpy which I wouldn’t have loved being as pregnant as I am haha.) It also meant  we could cover more area and explore more of the lake!
  • Did you stay at a hotel or in the RV the whole time? We stayed in the RV. The first night we mistakenly booked a campsite where you had to cut off your generators after 10pm (it was the ‘quiet’ campground). I was kind of freaking out that first night because we couldn’t run our AC that night  I’m already constantly hot and I thought I was going to go into labor I was so hot haha. I kept waking Cody up and making him turn on our generator just for a few minutes so I could cool down, but people kept walking by our RV and hitting it to tell us to turn it off. I felt so bad! So the next day we moved to the other section of the campsite where you could run your generator all night. So lesson learned! And after that is was smooth sailing. 🙂
  • What areas did you visit? We stayed in Page at the Wahweap campground. I liked staying in Page because they have restaurants near the campsite so we would make breakfast and lunch at camp but then go out to a restaurant for dinner. As far as other sites, we also went to Antelope Slot Canyons, Horseshoe Bend (in Page), and Rainbow Bridge. All so amazing – I can’t recommend them enough!

Have you guys ever been to Lake Powell? What did you think if so and let me know if I missed you favorite parts in the comments! Can’t wait to go back again soon!

Pin now – read later:

XX, Christine

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4 thoughts on “Lake Powell Travel Guide

  1. We’re planning on making Lake Powell our summer trip next year! We’ve done bear lake the last few summers, so we want to try something new now! Totally saving this post to reference the campgrounds later!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.com