Overview

Hype:

Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds 24,322,000 acre-feet of water when full, second in the United States to only Lake Mead. Lake Powell was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the Glen Canyon Dam, which also led to the 1972 creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a popular summer destination of public land managed by the National Park Service. The reservoir is named for John Wesley Powell, a civil war veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats in 1869. It lies primarily in southern Utah, with a small portion in northern Arizona.

Time:

Fees: Park Admission, Boat Admission

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
Features:
  • Lakes and Reservoirs
  • Swimming - Outdoor
  • Swimming
  • Boating
  • Paddling
  • Wildlife and Birding
  • Fishing

Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Powell
https://www.nps.gov/glca/index.htm

Maps

Closest City or Region: Utah and Arizona

Coordinates: 37.065135, -111.291933

Interactive Guide Map

Download Guide Map

View map fullscreen.

September 26, 2025 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Story

Cooper went with Miller’s family to Lake Powell for a week.

Pictures

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. 

More Trip Reports from 2025 West Canyon Canyoneering

May 3, 2024 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Anthony Dye,

Story

Thursday, May 2 - Assuming that I would be over my stomach bug by the morning, I offered to help Anthony on his houseboat work trip that weekend. My stuff was already packed so I just needed to grab some food.

Friday, May 3 - Anthony and Kevin Boothe picked me up at 6:30 a.m., and we drove down to Lake Powell. We launched Anthony's boat, drove out to the house boat, and spent the day making all sorts of repairs. We played Quiddler before bed.

Saturday, May 4 - I helped Anthony and Kevin with houseboat repairs in the morning. We made a parts run. Then in the afternoon, Anthony and I slipped away and did a canyon. We had a great time. We took wetsuits but didn't wear them, although by the end I was wishing I had mine on. 

I was feeling fairly sick Friday evening and Saturday but felt fine during the canyon. Saturday evening I started feeling a lot sicker. I still helped out with repairs as much as I could, but I took a few breaks to rest.

 

Pictures

September 17, 2023 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Cooper Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Kingston Dye, Killian Wagner,

Story

Cooper went to Lake Powell with Anthony's family for a week.

Pictures

September 29, 2022 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Booths, Tom Collins, Luke Galyan, Tracy Kwan,

Story

We house boat camped in Moki Canyon for 6 nights. We had a great time hanging out, exploring the lake, and doing some canyoneering in the area.

Pictures