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Walking in the Sand: Lone Rock Beach
Lone Rock Beach, the longest sandy beach at Lake Powell, is a particularly popular destination. It’s easily accessible by vehicle, sanctioned as a grounds for camping (including legal campfires) right on the beachfront, and is flat out gorgeous.
Mystery is not part of its allure, however – it’s name is about as self-explanatory as it gets. There is one beautiful rock that rises up into the landscape, providing a stark backdrop to the sandy beach. Apart from just lounging around and marveling at the natural beauty, boating and swimming are popular activities for lucky visitors.
Be aware that there is a fee for overnight camping. Also note that the sand is soft at parts of the beach – wonderful between your toes, but not nearly as friendly for vehicles that get stuck in it.
There’s one other sight at Lone Rock Beach that is not part of the natural landscape, but may be just as comforting as anything else you’ll see here – restroom facilities at the site.
Hidden Gem: Upper Antelope Canyon
This is a stunner. Located on Navajo land, the Upper Antelope Canyon (also known as Corkscrew Canyon) is easy to miss – but don’t you dare. A narrow slit in the cliffs conceals a formation of remarkable beauty. Sunlight plays remarkable tricks against the sandstone. The diversity of colors, shapes and patterns is pretty remarkable for a space that’s not that big – and words really don’t do it justice. This is one you really need to see for yourself; don’t forget your camera (and a tripod helps).
1,100 Ft. High: Horseshoe Bend
Everyone in our party agreed that this was the most spectacular view on our tour. At about 1,100 ft. above the Colorado, on a rock formed by the elements over millions of years, it is invariably humbling.
“It gave depth and perspective to how small we really are. Just the massive depth of the canyon; the beauty of the river running through the rocks. It’s phenomenal,” said one of our featured pair of travelers.
“I felt so powerful standing up there. It was so quiet and I felt like I was a little tiny thing in a huge universe,” said his counterpart. It was a fitting end to our tour, which shows how a volume’s worth of memories can begin at just one Page.
Robert Fliegel: Our Faithful Guide
Robert Fliegel made his first trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon in 1990; before the year was over, he was calling Sedona home. Drawing on his academic background in geography and archaeology, he began guiding archaeology tours for a company in Sedona; by 1991, he launched his own tour company, Discovery Treks, which he still runs today.
He’s no stranger to outdoor adventures. His personal travels have led him rafting and wildlife viewing on the Alaska Peninsula, back country skiing in British Columbia, to archeology studies on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, kayaking the Queen Charlotte Islands of Canada, climbing Haleakala Volcano in Hawaii, scuba diving in the Coral Sea, and trekking remote jungles of Papua New Guinea.
Feeding his own passion for the great outdoors, he now devotes his time to helping travelers make their own outdoor memories with custom tours. He says his favorite pastime is heading out into remote areas he’s never seen and explore, researching new experiences for clients in Arizona and Utah. To learn more, see www.discoverytreks.com.
MORE SEDONA ROAD TRIPS: Havasu Canyon, photographing Arizona, 3 slot canyons, 10 places to go to beat the Arizona heat, Acoma Pueblo, Grand Canyon, The Wave, Oak Creek Canyon, Crown King, Jerome, Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki National Monument, Arizona animal parks, Monument Valley, Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum, Navajo National Monument, Mormon Lake, Canyon de Chelly
