After our tour concluded of the Lower Antelope Canyon, it was on to the next stop of our road trip, Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe Bend is also located in the town of Page Arizona so it only took us a quick 10 minutes or so from Antelope. It was just enough time to catch our breath and give our legs a break.
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However, we quickly realized Horseshoe Bend is becoming a tourist trap. The new parking lot, built in 2018, charges vehicles to park near the bend. The facility charges $10 per car and offers no amenities. It looks like they were constructing bathrooms, but I’m not 100% sure. Confirm in the comments if you can confirm they have bathrooms! But honestly, it’s literally a parking lot, where you park, to climb up a soft and sandy hill and then back down again to the bend. It was very disappointing to say the least. Isn’t that kind of crazy?
Anyways, it was around noon now and hotter than the Arizona desert. We climbed up the sandy hill and back down past the lizards and caterpillars. You wouldn’t know you were anywhere special until you literally were about to fall into the canyon below. Highly recommend getting a GoPro Selfie Stick to get some epic shots without getting too close to the edge. And I’m saying, but not saying, an epic drone with the DJI Mavic Pro shot here is priceless!
The bend was sweet, and I snapped a few good photos. We walked slowly around the edge of the bend to get different perspectives of the bend and the river down below. I found a higher vantage point by scaling a section of rock. The rock formations had to be an additional 30 feet in the air overlooking the landscape. You could really see for miles on the top. Que the video clip from Lion King where the monkey holds the young cub high above everybody else on the famous Pride Rock overlooking the kingdom.
Our our time here was short. It was cool, but not somewhere you need to spend more than an hour. Unless, you want to turn into scrambled eggs for the vultures. It might be a good spot to have a picnic or stargaze but we didn’t want to spend another minute sweating out our morning breakfast. Maybe next time.
We could’ve used a shower after the hike to the bend, but had nowhere to do so. So, we hopped back in the Charger and headed Northwest. We thought it would be best to eat before our next leg of the journey so we stopped at Big John’s Texas Barbecue for some tasty smoked BBQ ribs. This old gas station turned into a restaurant was a pleasant stop and has some great eats. We got the bbq brisket, ribs, fries and a cold corona. Delicious!
As we left Big John’s and drove down Route 89, we came across some severe weather on our way to Zion National Park. Wicked lightning storms and some bad patches of heavy downpour. It didn’t last very long and before we knew it, we were zig-zagging our way between the snow-top mountains.
The temperature was getting cooler as we headed North. It dropped from high 80’s to high 60’s. The drive was amazing and again I was glad to be ripping through the canyons in the Charger. Not only that, but the scenery was beautiful. Lush greenery, snow top mountains, curvy roads and high elevation. If I would’ve known the beauty of our next destiation, I would’ve came here years ago. How did I not here of Zion National Park sooner?!
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