No paved pathway, no vending machines, no bathrooms, no tacky souvenir stands selling keychains with images of the river. And when we arrived at the parking lot, we realized it was not only free but completely uncommercialized. I’m sure one aspect of its popularity is the fact that it’s totally free, despite being located in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. I was impressed to see that in an area absolutely bursting with adventure tours and natural wonders, visiting Horseshoe Bend was the number one thing to do on Tripadvisor.

Our first stop of the day was the iconic lookout for Horseshoe Bend. While we had a pretty full day planned, we woke up at sunrise so we could squeeze in a bit of pool time before setting of on our latest round of adventures.

It was the most we paid per night to park our JUCY camper, but man, was it worth it. We were completely enamored with the Wahweap Campground, which for less than $24 a night gave us access to the full facilities of the Lake Powell Resort, including a lake access beach, a fitness center, and one of the most vista-blessed pools I’ve ever taken a dip in - and that’s saying something. After our rainy and stormy first day on Lake Powell, we were thrilled to wake up to a clear-sky forecast for our second. I’d quickly fallen for the RV life I wondered if I’d be able to adapt to, and suddenly I yearned for an open-ended adventure with no set date we had to return our keys.īut for now, we’d made the most of what we had.

We’d done and seen so much already, but I wanted more. Already, we’d driven a desolate stretch of Route 66, marveled at the Grand Canyon, stood on the shores of Lake Powell and explored Antelope Canyon. I woke up on day four of our mini American Southwest road trip wishing I could stop time.

Horseshoe bend arizona tours