Travel Guide: Lake Powell.

Last Friday we got back from our amazing trip out west to Utah where we spent a week on beautiful Lake Powell.  Today I am sharing a little about the location and a travel guide with you all, for anyone who might want to visit at some point.  (And you really should, it’s one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever been, total bucket list type place.).  Our trip to Lake Powell is one of my favorites we’ve ever done and it’s the perfect family vacation especially with kids.  Everyone is still talking about our time there, and we can’t wait to go back again.

Lake Powell is located mostly in southern Utah and is a reservoir on the Colorado river created by the Glen Canyon Dam.   The Lake is a series of canyons with beautiful reddish pink rock formations all surrounded by crystal blue 75 degree water.   It’s unreal how beautiful it is.

We stayed on a houseboat and that’s really the only way to do it when you go to Lake Powell.  We were lucky enough to have a family friend who invited us to stay with them for the week, but there are lots of places to rent houseboats for a week or more.

Staying on a houseboat is kind of like the best lake camping of your life.  Except you have a full service kitchen, bathroom, comfy beds to sleep in, an AC to escape the heat, a living room with TV to watch movies at night, a sundeck to nap on… okay, so not a lot like camping.

We started at Antelope Point Marina, which I can’t recommend highly enough.  It’s a newer marina and very nice, just outside of Page, AZ.  They’ll even drive you and all your stuff from your car down to your boat.  It’s easy to pick up all your food and things you need for the trip right at the Walmart in Page which is a short drive from the marina. Houseboat rentals are available from that marina here.  You leave the marina and drive the houseboat into the lake  where you find the perfect beach to anchor to and then you just swim and play all week, right there on the edge of the lake.  There is nothing like it.

The days are spent playing in the water, jumping off the back of the houseboat, going off the slide, reading on the sun deck, riding the wave runners, wake surfing and tubing behind the ski-boat, and eating lots and lots of yummy food.

Must-see/do’s in Lake Powell:

Wake surfing, water skiing, tubing: If you are going to rent a houseboat on Lake Powell, I also recommend renting a ski boat as well.  It’s a huge part of what makes the trip so fun.  This is a great trip to do with another family and then everyone can split the cost of the rentals.  The ski boat is so much fun for everyone to ride around on, the kids loves going tubing and Craig and I learned to wake surf while we were on the lake (he is way better than me).  We also took the boat on a few different excursions throughout the week, which was also so fun.

Wave Runners: right up there with the ski boat, rent at least one of these as well.  We rode these all over into the little slot canyons around the Lake.  Literally places you would never see otherwise.  It’s incredible.  We also knee boarded off the back of them which is so fun and easy enough that all my kids (except for Ava) picked it up in a few minutes.

Rainbow Bridge:  (see picture above) You have to take a boat or wave runners into Rainbow Bridge and then there’s a short (but hot) hike to the bridge.  (The hike is shorter or longer depending on the water levels.  (When my husband was a kid they used to swim under rainbow bridge.  Crazy!)  It’s such a neat spot to see, (nature is crazy!) And there are some dinosaur fossils around there too, which my boys thought were super cool.  The hike is extremely hot and dry so make sure and jump in the water to get wet before you start, and carry a water bottle with you.

Dangling Rope Marina: Only accessible by boat, Dangling Rope is a marina where you can get gas, shop in their general store, but the best part is hitting the snack bar for some ice cream!  We rode the boat over twice in the week to get ice cream and there is a reason.

Fishing: We didn’t fish on this trip, but it was one of my favorite things we did when I came to Lake Powell as a kid.  Huge hit for your littles and a fun way to pass the time in the evenings.

Hiking, exploring: There are tons of amazing areas to explore in the Lake, just make sure you carry water with you.  It is extremely hot!

Paddleboarding/ Kayaks: We had two kayaks on the boat and they were so fun to take out.  A paddle board would have been awesome as well.  I saw tons of people paddle boarding.

Water Carpet:  The boat we were on had one of these and it was so fun to just hang out on all day.  They are really good for kids too, because they can climb off and on and play all day.

How to pack for Lake Powell:

I’m not exaggerating when I say that all you need to pack for Lake Powell are swimsuits and coverups.  Seriously.  In and out of the water all day every day, you pretty much stay in your swimsuit all week long.  The first time I got dressed in normal clothes was the morning we got off the boat on the last day. Haha.  I would recommend having at least 2-3 swimsuits, (I took mostly one-pieces, and a tankini) 2-3 coverups, (I love a good pair of cutoff shorts as a cover-up, cute rompers, and light and airy sundresses), flipflops, water shoes, sunglasses (must-have, I wore these ray bans all week), light weight PJ’s for at night, and lots of sunblock. (I’ve started using this mineral sunblock and it’s amazing, safer to use and better for the environment.)

You’ll also want beach towels, a good sunhat and a baseball cap, life jackets for every person on the boat, and of course a great book to read.  I read this book on our trip and really liked it.  (Although it’s written by the woman who wrote the show, so there were not really any surprises.)

Have you been to Lake Powell?

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