Overview

Hype:

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area encompasses 1.2 million acres around Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona. Lake Powel is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States and is a popular destination for boating, hiking, and canyoneering.

Time:

Fees: Entrance fee, optional camping, optional boating

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Getting There

Navigate to 36.937260, -111.484314.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Utah and Arizona

Coordinates: 36.937260, -111.484314

Interactive Guide Map

Download Guide Map

View map fullscreen.

April 23, 2025 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Luke Galyan, Tracy Kwan, Tom Collins, Mark Burnham, Austin Wilkins, Dan Schurtz, Hanna Zwemke, Tanner Jensen, Luke Murray, Julia Rose,

Story

Wednesday, I worked a full day then drove to Payson to meet up with and carpool with several others heading down to West Canyon. I did some grocery shopping and filled up with gas. Dan was 1.5 hours late because he got stuck on I-15 going 10 miles an hour due to an accident. We drove down to Lone Rock Beach and spent the night cowboy camping.

Thursday, we caught a boat shuttle to West Canyon. We hiked in for 5.5 hours and set up basecamp.

Friday, we got an early start and did Full House Canyon. After that, we had a little extra time in the evening, so we went and did Hostage Release as well. 

Saturday, we did Arch Rival Canyon. The approach was super long but the canyon was really good and had a cool triple arch and lots of canyon scenery. 

Sunday, we got an early start at 6:30 and did Hall of Horrors Canyon. This one had a much shorter approach and was a lot of fun. It's pretty shallow and there are lots of bypasses available, but we generally stuck to the main drainage and did all the challenges. We got back to camp by about 3:30 and played hearts and hung out. It got very windy and started raining in the evening. I put my bivy sack on but didn't have any trees to keep it open, so during the night, there was a lot of condensation on my sleeping bag. 

Monday, we did a new exploration canyon, which we named Kitty Litter. It had some fun obstacles and was decently short for an exit day. We started the canyon at about 7:00 and finished up around 10:30. We dropped our canyon gear at the mouth of the canyon and hiked back to camp. We then had lunch and packed up our backpacking backpacks. We hiked down West Canyon, picking up our canyon gear on the way and made it to our camp near the mouth of West Canyon around 3:00. We played some more cards and swapped stories until it got dark. 

Tuesday, the final day of my West Canyon trip. We packed up camp and hiked about 1.5 mi from camp to the lake. We played cards until our boat shuttle came shortly before 8:30. We rode our boat shuttle back to the marina, arriving around 10:15. We grabbed Navajo tacos at a restaurant. Then we drove home, stopping at the creamery for ice cream on the way.