March 2016 – Horseshoe Bend is a jewel of spot just a few miles south of Page, Arizona, that’s easy to access and is a fabulous place to spend a few hours or more, especially for RVers headed through northeastern Arizona. As we brought our truck and trailer up from Sedona, Arizona, we stopped at Horseshoe Bend in the afternoon.
At the Horseshoe Bend overlook it’s easy to be all smiles!
From the parking lot there is a 3/4 mile walk up and over a rise to get to the Horseshoe Bend overlook. Hundreds of people were on this trail going in both directions.
As we crested the rise and began the descent on the other side, we could see people scattering like ants as they approached the Horseshoe Bend overlook.
Horseshoe Bend is extraordinarily popular, and swarms of tourists roam along the rim all day long.
This is a Very Cool Place. Even though we were there with throngs of other people, we felt a rush of excitement as we neared the edge. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way, and the unprotected rim of the overlook was jammed with tourists peering over the edge.
Tourists were fearless at the edge.
Far down below, rafters were making their way along the Colorado River. The mighty Colorado has carved Horseshoe Bend over millenia, and it is staggering to think of the force necessary to dig this huge ditch through sandstone rock, especially with the river looking so meek and mild down there.
1,000 feet below, rafters were floating on the Colorado River
This is a great place for selfie shots too!
I wasn’t the only one who wanted a pic of themselves at this overlook.
Selfie sticks were held high aloft all around us.
Selfie sticks were everywhere!
No selfie stick? Use a folded up tripod!
Some folks were pretty creative getting photos of themselves. Others just laid on their bellies to get a shot of the incredible bend in the river a thousand feet down below.
Hmmm…. should I take a photo of me or a photo of that incredible view out there??
Some were brave and crept far out on a precipice for a very dramatic photo of themselves.
The more daring the photo the better!
I’m not sure how many people had noticed the sign on the way in saying that the sandstone is crumbly and the overhanging edges have a tendency to break off…!
Everyone liked to be right on the edge.
As the afternoon wore on, the crowd swelled as people came in to get a shot of the sun setting over the bend in the river.
Photographers lined up on the rim with their tripods.
The rim was packed with photographers getting set up for this special moment. Finding a place to squeeze in along the rim wasn’t so easy!!
We waited patiently for the sun to go down.
The excited discussion between everyone standing on the rim alternated between what kind of photography gear they had and speculation about whether we’d all have a chance to go for a starburst shot at the moment the sun vanished from the sky on the far side of the canyon. One woman said she had gotten a doozy of a starburst photo two nights before. We all crossed our fingers.
But Mother Nature had other plans for us that afternoon, and the sun slipped behind the horizon with nary a wink.
It was still very special!
We didn’t get a starburst, but the sunset was beautiful.
I had an 18-35 mm lens, but the best images were a little wider. Mark whipped out his favorite trusty 14 mm lens and got a fabulous image.
Mark was able to get a beautiful and slightly wider shot at 14 mm.
As we watched the clouds drift across the sky in shades of orange and yellow, suddenly the river down below began to reflect the color. How cool!
For a split second, the river reflected pink and orange back at the sky.
We left Horseshoe Bend on a total high, absolutely exhilarated by Nature’s show. If the sunset could be that magical, we thought, then what might be in store at sunrise?
The next morning we were on the trail before dawn. There were three cars in the parking lot, including ours, and a young couple was just ahead of us on the trail, weighed down with some serious looking photography gear.
I got chatting with Brittany as we trudged along the trail in the dark, and I discovered that she and her companion, Justin, were professional videographers with their own video production company, Chiet Productions. They had just landed a gig for a regular show on PBS about a nightclub in Washington, DC, that will begin airing in April. It’s called “Live at 9:30.”
They were here at Horseshoe Bend for pleasure, however, and they were planning to shoot the sunrise using timelapse photography.
A pair of professional videographers set up three cameras on the rim for a timelapse video of the sunrise.
Mark and I went for stills, however, since that was where our heads were at this morning. it was too early to think clearly enough to figure out everything we’d need to do to set up a timelapse, although I LOVED the idea!!
The sunrise was lovely.
The funny thing is that the sunrise wasn’t all that different than the sunset the night before. The sun had set over the horizon in the distance in front of us, but the sun rose behind us, so it would seem the canyon would look quite different. However, the colors we saw at sunrise filled the sky opposite the sun as it rose, casting a soft light across the horizon front of us.
This morning’s sunrise was just as lovely as last evening’s sunset.
A little while later, the sun lit up the top of the peak in front of us. As the sun rose higher and higher, the shadow on the cliff slipped lower and lower.
As the sun rose it lit more and more of the cliffs across the canyon, while the shadow crept slowly downwards.
When the big show was over, we found Justin and Brittany where we had left them with all their gear on the edge of the canyon. They had done three timelapse videos, one on a GoPro, one on a Sony mirrorless camera and one on a cell phone. Brittany showed me the one she’d done on her cell phone. She had caught the sun lighting the top of the pinnacle in the canyon and had captured the shadow slipping down its front as the sun rose higher. Wonderful!!
Brittany and Justin captured some great timelapse video of the sun rising in the canyon.
The morning wasn’t over yet, though. In fact, the day was just beginning. Where there had been just four of us on the rim at sunrise, we could now see a steady stream of people pouring down the trail, cameras and tripods in hand. The rim slowly became crowded with photographers and tourists once again!
After sunrise, we were joined by lots of photographers at the rim.
Curious about some rock formations nearby, we headed off to the right (north). Leaving behind the growing rush of visitors arriving at the rim, we walked out into these cool rocks.
Away from the fray, to the north, we found some wonderful rock formations.
There were lots of curvy lines and ripples in the sandstone.
The curving lines and formations in the rocks were beautiful.
What magical shapes and formations!
We were both really intrigued by the contours of this fantastic land, and we roamed around this spot for quite some time.
The lines and patterns in the rocks drew us in.
If your RV travels take you to Page, Arizona, a stop at Horseshoe Bend is a must.
A few tips:
To avoid the crowds, the best time to get there is early in the morning.
If you are driving your RV, your best chance for finding a place to park it in the parking lot is early morning, not too long after dawn. There is turnaround room (big buses come and go regularly all day long), but it seemed to me that on weekends at peak season, especially holidays, this parking lot probably fills early and would be nearly impossible for an RV. We were there midweek in mid-March, and the number of tourists was mind boggling. The numbers intensify in the afternoon, especially near sunset.
Horseshoe Bend is an overlook that deserves more than a fleeting glimpse over the edge
As you hit the walking trail to Horseshoe Bend, there’s a sign that says this is a Fee Area managed by the National Park Service. Interestingly, no money was being collected and no one asked to see our Federal Interagency Pass. The National Park Service could be making a small fortune here, as I’m sure several thousand people visit every day.
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More info about Horseshoe Bend:
National Park Service Website – Official description of Horseshoe Bend
Allstays – RV Parks near Page, AZ
Location of Horseshoe Bend – Google Maps (it is mis-labled “Houseshoe” and called a “chapel” – funny!)
Other blog posts from our RV travels in northeastern Arizona:
- Beehive Trail in Arizona – A “Mini Wave” hike by Lake Powell 07/19/24
- Lake Powell – Heart of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 05/10/24
- Navajo Bridge, Arizona — A Scenic Roadside Attraction in Red Rock Country 06/03/22
- Canyon Country Highlights – Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend & More! 02/01/19
- Canyon de Chelly – Breathtaking Views Under Vibrant Skies 05/09/17
- Blue Mesa Trail – Lavender Beauty in Petrified Forest National Park 05/05/17
- Petrified Forest National Park RV Trip – Magic in Jasper Forest 04/28/17
- Getting Our Kicks on Route 66 by RV in AZ – Cool Springs, Winslow & Holbrook 04/24/17
- “Cliff Dwellers” on Arizona’s Vermillion Cliffs Scenic Drive – A Fun Stop! 12/03/16
- Navajo National Monument, Monument Valley and Bears Ears 03/28/16
- Lees Ferry & Marble Canyon AZ + Pretty Paria River Hike 03/26/16
- Horseshoe Bend Overlook – Page, Arizona – Stunning! 03/24/16
- A Glimpse of the Navajo (or “Diné” as they call themselves) 12/16/14
- Mysteries in the Navajo Nation, Arizona 11/29/14
- Wire Pass Trail – Slot Canyon Hiking! 05/22/14
- Canyon de Chelly, AZ – A Canyon of Indian Cliff Dwellings 06/27/12
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