When planning our Arizona road trip, there was one photo that kept popping up during our research that we couldn’t resist, the beautiful Horseshoe Bend! Horseshoe Bend is a piece of the Grand Canyon near Page, Arizona where the Colorado river “bends” in a U shape. Since we had already planned to visit Page to hike the Lower and Upper Antelope Canyons, we were excited to learn that Horseshoe Bend was only 5 minutes away!
Horseshoe Bend is actually relatively easy to find. It lies just off of route 89 between mile marker 544 and 545. Take the exit lane onto a small dirt path and you’ll find a dirt parking area complete with public restrooms. We went in mid December around sunset and the lot was fairly full, so parking may be difficult in the peak summer months. The best part about visiting Horseshoe Bend is there was no entrance fee!
After you park there is still a 0.5 mile hike on slick sand to reach the cliffs edge of Horseshoe Bend. The trek does have a good amount of uphill portions and is slow going due to the sand. If you get tired, there is a pavilion to stop and rest in about halfway to the cliffs. After the short hike, you’ll finally be able to see the bend in the Colorado river from the cliffs 1,000 feet above it.
Wandering the cliffs above you’ll see that Horseshoe Bend is breathtaking. There are no guard rails obstructing the views so be very careful around the edges. Many other tourists were taking great risks climbing out on rocks to take the perfect photo and they almost gave me a heart attack!
Visiting Horseshoe Bend was simple and free. If you are in the area Horseshoe Bend is a must see natural phenomenon!
