Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Grand Canyon North Rim, and Zion National Park
This trip was literally a last minute plan. We had plan to
visit Glacier National Park, but due to wild fires we had to cancel that plan.
Thanks to Southwest Airlines we were able to change our travel plan.
Day 1 - Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe bend, Page AZ
We landed at Las Vegas at 7.45 am, picked up rental car
and started driving north towards Page, AZ. It is about 4.5 hour drive and goes
via St George, Utah. Drive from St George to Page is very scenic drive, but
when you drive near sunset. The road crisscrosses state border between Utah and
Arizona a couple of times. We reached Page at around 1 pm. After grabbing lunch
we headed to lower antelope canyon.
Antelope canyons are on an Indian reservation and there
are 2 different canyons – Lower Canyons and Upper Canyons. If you have time to
visit only one canyon, then visit the upper canyons. But you have to buy
tickets ahead of time. Since this was a last minute trip for us, we visited
lower canyons. For lower canyons you have descend about 90 feet below the
ground in a narrow canyon. The tour operators have put steel ladders, but it
can still be little tricky. But going down in the canyon is worth it. The tour
takes about an hour and you can see one of the best works of water and wind!
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| View at the entrance of Canyon. People can be seen descending ladders |
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| Shape of Mountain peaks |
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| Sea Horse Shape |
We visited Horseshoe bend after antelope canyons.
Horseshoe bend is part of Grand Canyon east rim – Glenn Canyon. Parking lot at
Horseshow bend can fill up fast on long weekends – especially near sunset time.
The viewpoint is about 0.5 mile walk from parking lot and is a good hike. Carry
water and wear closed toed shoes.
Day 2 – Grand Canyon North Rim
We drove from Page to Grand Canyon North Rim. This is a
very scenic drive. It takes you via Glenn Canyon and gives some of the
breathtaking views of American West landscape. I will highly recommend this
drive – it is worth driving every mile on this drive. It takes you from Colorado
Desert environment to mountainous environment of North rim which is at 8,000
feet.
You won’t see as much traffic on this route. Also, there
are fewer gas stations along this 100 miles drive. So make sure you fill up gas
tank at Page, AZ. There is town of Jacob Lake about 30 miles north of the park
where there is a gift shop, café and gas station.
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| Drive from Page to North Rim |
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| Add caption |
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| Near Navajo Bridge |
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| View from Navajo Bridge |
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| At Navajo Bridge |
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| Navajo Bridge |
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| Change in Vegetation near North Rim |
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| Meadow and Pine tress near north rim |
Due to heavy snowfall north Rim of park is open only from
Mid-May to Mid-October. Seasonal hours coupled with remoteness from a big city is
reason why this is lesser visited part of this park. Only about 1/10th
of people visiting Grand Canyon visit North rim. We were pleasantly surprised
to see only 2 cars ahead of us while entering the park! Visitor Center is about
15 miles drive from Park entrance. North rim has only a handful of viewpoints
and one scenic drive. North rim is a much smaller than south rim when it comes
to rim circumference. Apart from 5 viewpoints along the scenic drive, one has
to hike to see Canyon rim.
Visitor Center is at Western end of road inside the park.
Famous Grand Canyon lodge is near visitor center. This is only lodge/hotel
inside the park north rim and is open from Mid-May to Mid-October. Plan really
ahead if you want to stay at the lodge. People plan as ahead as 1 year to get
canyon facing rooms at the lodge. Bright Angel point is at visitor center and
is a short hike from parking lot. Don’t forget to carry water and sunscreen.
You are at 8,000 feet and this trail is exposed to sun. You can get really
great views of Grand Canyon from this point. This point shows vastness of the
canyon and one can get idea of width of canyon from bright angel point.
Bright Angel Point
Bright Angel Point
After spending an hour at Bright Angel area, we started
driving on scenic drive. Don’t get too excited with words scenic drive. This
drive is beautiful, but doesn’t live up to expectations of a scenic drive. There
are 5 points along the way with last point being Cape Royal.
Cape royal is where you can see Angels Window – famous feature
of North Rim. All along the way we barely saw 5-6 people at every viewpoint. So
we got an opportunity to soak in the views of canyon. It was a very serene
experience with nobody obstructing views or causing noises! Everyone visiting
this rim was traveler than a tourist. Hardly anyone was flashing their Digital
Cameras. Rather people were carrying hiking poles. This showed that people were
interested in exploring the canyon than just taking pictures – what typical tourists
do at any national park! This was a pleasant experience.
Point Imperial (8,803 Ft)
Point Imperial (8,803 Ft)
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| Point Imperial - 8,803 ft |
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| Point Imperial 8,803 ft |
Vista Encantada (8,480 ft)
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| Vista Encantada |
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| Vista Encantada |
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| Vista Encantada |
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| Roosevelt Point |
Angel's Window and Cape Royal
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| Angel's Window |
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| View from top of Angel's window |
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| Wotan's Throne - Cape Royal |
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| View From Cape Royal (7,865 ft) |
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| Vishnu Temple - From Cape Royal (7,865 Ft) |
Things to remember –
1)
North Rim is open only from Mid-May to Mid-September.
If you want to stay at GC lodge, then plan really ahead. As ahead as 1 year!
2)
North Rim shows width of this canyon, whereas
south rim shows depth of canyon. You can see Colorado River from only one point
on North Rim – which is near Angel’s window.
3)
Definitely visit this rim if you want to
experience serenity of a national park. Fewer tourists, unobstructed views and opportunity
to soak in the canyon! North rim is an experience in itself– drive from Page to
Park, canyon itself!
4)
There are only 6 viewpoints on this side. You
will be disappointed if you want to take a lot of pictures and see different
views of canyon. For first time visitor to the park – Go to South Rim.
Day 3 - Zion National Park
We drove from Page to Zion and entered park from eastern entrance. From there we drove to visitor center just to realize that the parking lot was overflowing. We parked in town of Springdale and walked 0.75 miles to visitor center. There is also a free shuttle from Springdale to visitor center, but we decided to walk instead.
There is a park shuttle from visitor center which takes you across the canyon. Temple of Sinawawa - last stop of the canyon, where famous narrows start.
Start of Narrows is a 1 mile walk from shuttle stop. Walking in the narrows is a unique experience in itself. You will come across a lot of tourists for first 15-20 mins of walk, but number of people reduce as you go deeper in narrows. Walking in water is no easy feat! We explored narrows for 30 mins and then started retracing our way back to shuttle stop.
We decided to return to visitor center since Angel's landing was closed due to landslide. Angel's landing is yet another feature of Zion which is a famous hike in United States.
Things to remember -
1) Avoid long weekend to visit this park! This park is not designed to have the crowd which visits on long weekends.
2) If you go on long weekend, then plan to arrive early. Preferably before 7am. That way you can get parking near visitor center. Later you arrive, farther away you have to park in town of Springdale.
3) Make sure you carry closed toed shoes for Narrows. People often go bare feet to avoid wet shoes, but that is not recommended.
Virgin river water is cold even during peak summer. Make sure you carry jacket when you go to narrows.
4) Go to Narrows early in the day and then retrace your way back to visitor center one stop at a time - if you want to go to all spots. It gets really crowded at narrows in the evening and there are long lines to get on the shuttle bus.
Day 3 - Zion National Park
We drove from Page to Zion and entered park from eastern entrance. From there we drove to visitor center just to realize that the parking lot was overflowing. We parked in town of Springdale and walked 0.75 miles to visitor center. There is also a free shuttle from Springdale to visitor center, but we decided to walk instead.
There is a park shuttle from visitor center which takes you across the canyon. Temple of Sinawawa - last stop of the canyon, where famous narrows start.
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| Zion Shuttle Map - Springdale shuttle + Canyon Shuttle |
Start of Narrows is a 1 mile walk from shuttle stop. Walking in the narrows is a unique experience in itself. You will come across a lot of tourists for first 15-20 mins of walk, but number of people reduce as you go deeper in narrows. Walking in water is no easy feat! We explored narrows for 30 mins and then started retracing our way back to shuttle stop.
We decided to return to visitor center since Angel's landing was closed due to landslide. Angel's landing is yet another feature of Zion which is a famous hike in United States.
Things to remember -
1) Avoid long weekend to visit this park! This park is not designed to have the crowd which visits on long weekends.
2) If you go on long weekend, then plan to arrive early. Preferably before 7am. That way you can get parking near visitor center. Later you arrive, farther away you have to park in town of Springdale.
3) Make sure you carry closed toed shoes for Narrows. People often go bare feet to avoid wet shoes, but that is not recommended.
Virgin river water is cold even during peak summer. Make sure you carry jacket when you go to narrows.
4) Go to Narrows early in the day and then retrace your way back to visitor center one stop at a time - if you want to go to all spots. It gets really crowded at narrows in the evening and there are long lines to get on the shuttle bus.
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