Things to Do, See, and Experience

Page, Arizona - A sleepy desert town with lots to do

Six years ago, Fred and I first visited Page, Arizona. We took a float trip down the Colorado River and did a little hiking on the bluffs above Lake Powell. A few things we noticed at the time were how green and lush the margin was between the Colorado River and it's canyon walls, Page was a pretty lay-back kind-of a town, and enormous size of Lake Powell.

From space Lake Powell must look a little like a giant chicken's footprint. The natural flow three Rivers is hampered by the Glen Canyon Dam which in turn forms Lake Powell in the Colorado, Escalante, and San Juan rivers' basins. It is more than 140 miles from the Glen Canyon Dam to the furthermost end of the Colorado River's "pool"! Lake Powell's shoreline is longer than the United States' Pacific coastline. The size of this body of water in the middle of the desert just amazed us.

Three years later, we stopped in Page en route to our research in Utah. Now, we lived in the Southwest and had learned just how important Lake Powell was to the region. We were experiencing our first drought in a desert area. We had seen the effects of the prolong absence of moisture was having on the land. Even the Pickle Pear cactus were beginning to look thin and limp. Forest fires were numerous already. We knew things were getting bad but didn't realize how serious the situation was until this visit to Lake Powell. The shoreline was below the one we marveled at just three years earlier. Between the red-colored cliffs and the sapphire-blue water was a wide strip of water clear evidence to the drought.

In 2004 we again visited the sleepy little desert community of Page for a couple of days. Now, a Walmart store, several new and modern hotel/motels, and a beautiful huge fire station join the emerald-green golf course, spacious high school campus, and many houseboat rentals found in Page. While Page grew larger, Lake Powell got smaller with the continued drought. Lake Powell's shoreline is reported to be 38 foot below where it was for our first visit!

Frankly, Page is not a place we would want to live but it is a delightful place to visit. With each visit we enjoy the dramatic scenery and friendly people and discover something interesting. Click here to see some of what we discovered this visit.