Photo Essay: A Boat Tour of Lake Powell

The resort was kind enough to provide the following boat ride for free. As always, though, opinions are my own.

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Lake Powell.

I’ll be honest, it isn’t a place that was on my to-visit list. I didn’t know much about it, and I came to northern Arizona to visit the slot canyons. They were my mission.

But when I found a resort right on the lake and they offered us a free boat tour, I thought “why not?” And I immediately realized how foolish I’d been to discount this crazy beautiful and seriously unique lake.

The lake is the second-largest man-made reservoir in the states (Lake Mead is the first). When we were there, the water extended 400 feet down and the cliff walls were another 400 feet up. As the spring wears on, though, they said, the water levels will rise (which is why spring is the best time for a boat ride if you want impressive cliffs all around).

Arizona and Utah are full of canyons and red rocks and interesting scenery, but there’s something really remarkable about floating through a flooded canyon. Seeing it from a different vantage point. Contrasting the bright blue water with the dusty red and white canyon walls and distant buttes

But enough words. Photos tell the story better than I ever could.

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(Psst, this post may contain affiliate links, which means if you purchase something through one of my links, I get a commission at no extra cost to you.)

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Our boat tour was the panoramic Lake Powell tour at Lake Powell Resort. Try to go in the shoulder season (we did it in early May and the boat was about half full) and make sure to spend part of the time on the top deck and part on the bottom deck in the bow of the ship. Both views are different and interesting.

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All photos taken with my Sony a6000.

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