The Truth About Visiting Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ

The internet misled me. Shocking I know.

“Go to horseshoe bend,” it said. “See an incredible stretch of the Grand Canyon few others will make the effort to see”, it also said.

The problem is that only part of that statement is true. Yeah, Horseshoe Bend is a really cool feature of the long and winding canyon carved out by the Colorado River; but it has also made its way onto the “to do” lists of many other visitors as well.

Welcome to Horseshoe Bend

I’ve seen Horseshoe Bend referred to at the East Rim of the Grand Canyon and while it is technically part of the Grand Canyon, in reality, forms part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The Colorado River flows from Glen Canyon and Lake Powell, through Horseshoe Bend (and many other bends) down to the Grand Canyon most people are familiar with.

I’ve been to both the West Rim and South Rim of the Grand Canyon and both were vastly different but incredible experiences. Horseshoe Bend is different again. It’s a relatively small area and there’s only one viewpoint. I must have taken over 50 photos in the hour I was there and let me tell you, they all pretty much look the same. Most have now been deleted.

First Impressions of Horseshoe Bend

In preparing for this trip to Utah and Arizona I read a lot of blogs and I’m sure it was one of these over the last few years that brought my attention to the now iconic U-shaped bend in the Colorado River. I didn’t expect to have the entire trail to myself. Maybe I’m a bit naive, but not that naive. But equally, I also didn’t expect a huge parking lot at $10 per car and a shuttle coach ferrying the overflow of visitors at $5 a head. I was picturing a small, probably gravel parking lot with a handful of cars, where we’d park and wander over a trail for 15 minutes to the canyon and try and not fall down. In fact, this is what it used to be not so long ago, but social media has caused an explosion of popularity and now is estimated to receive over 2 million visitors.

The large parking lot was recently completed so most people that have written about it probably wouldn’t have seen it. The lot includes a pay station with 3 drive through booths. I believe the fees are also quite new — gotta pay for the parking lot somehow I guess.

When I visited, which was admittedly in a peak month (April) at peak time (11 am) the lot was completely full and cars were being turned around by local police and told to catch the shuttle from a mile down the road. It also seemed like a larger parking lot was also being constructed right next to it, which now seems like a brilliant idea.

As an aside, I found my self wondering as I visited, with the incredible popularity of this section of the river, surely there must be equally impressive parts that are not visited at all, just like this used to be. But because this particular viewpoint has blown up on Instagram, its popularity has snowballed. Will another section of the Grand Canyon explode in popularity one day?

How to Visit Horseshoe Bend

So after being turned around and using the shuttle (and thus adding our an hour or so to our outing), we began our half mile walk towards the canyon edge. The path led up and over a hill before snaking back downhill towards the canyon. It’s not a particularly long walk, but with no shade, on hot days a bottle of water would be useful. There is a small viewing deck with railing, but the vast majority of the site is canyon ledge with nothing to stop visitors plummeting to a grisly death if they are not careful. And this does happen so don’t be an idiot.

A few hundred metres to the right there is a large rock formation you can climb up for a higher view. I walked along the edge to this and took photos all the way along. I found that the best photos were actually the first ones I took from the observation deck and railing. The photos are right in the centre of the bend and there is no ledge obscuring the river below. The further I walked, the more was missing from the photo, even as I climbed the rock formation.

When to Visit Horseshoe Bend

The view of the Colorado River from the canyon edge is wonderful and despite the crowds and the people management involved it is still absolutely worth going, I cannot emphasize this enough. But next time (if there ever is a next time) I will be ensuring I go outside of the peak time. Sunrise and sunset would both be great times to go in terms of lighting and I’m sure you won’t be alone, but I can’t imagine the parking lot being full at 5am or even 8pm. In fact the shuttle only runs from 10am to 5pm so this in itself is indicative.

Best time of day for photography

In terms of the best time for photography, you will find many competing arguments on the internet about this. The best article I’ve read about the subject suggested that while sunlight is obviously important, I think what’s more important is the weather. If you have a clear day, you’ll get good photos and due to the shape of the canyon (being circular with vertical walls), it is actually difficult to avoid shadows altogether.

The day I went it was mostly sunny/partly cloudy (I’m never sure the difference) and it was just about perfect, despite the presence of some shadows on the canyon walls. The vivid colours that the lighting produced more than made up for any shadows apparent in my photos.

Sunrise and sunset will have favourable lighting, as is true for any photography event. Late morning and in the early afternoon the sun will be overhead casting shadows in different spots. Late afternoon you’ll be looking into the sun as it sets. One guy took a day to take a series of photos through the day to help you decide.

Personally, my guess is that the best experience would be as early as possible in the morning because it will be quieter and the lighting will still be nice with the sun behind you. 

Horseshoe Bend is a prime example not only of the world’s most Instagrammable spots becoming too popular for their own good, but also in Instagrammers’ ability to tell the real story. As a blogger and Instagrammer obviously I’m a part of the problem but I do like to try and tell it how it is, like I’m doing right now.

So, if you’re visiting Page or Lake Powell, you must visit Horseshoe Bend too, but don’t expect a quaint outdoors experience; expect crowds, fees and selfie sticks. it’s a relatively easy way to see a part of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River, and one of the best things to do while in town.

Let’s keep in touch

Sign up for the mailing list below for the chance to become best friends.