The absolute most awesome scenic view in the universe!!!!!

... and, it's within driving distance of Las Vegas. (Assuming you don't mind driving, of course.)

This is Horseshoe Bend, just south of Page, Arizona.





If you're looking for a nice day-trip get-away from Las Vegas, this is it.

The photos above are the way it is, which may or may not look as awesome depending on your monitor. There's no "photoshopping" in there, just levels and some cropping. These were taken using Cinestill film, which is actually re-spooled Eastman movie film.

The good: It's the most awesome view anywhere in the universe! Well, maybe on this planet, that is. Well, maybe on this continent, anyway. There are also some other very scenic views on the route, including a scenic loop right outside of Page.

The bad: It takes about 4 hours to get there from Las Vegas! That's if you're lucky. We planned to leave at 4:00am, do breakfast in St. George, and get to the Bend around 9:00am to catch the morning light. Well, my brother could not get his hung-over bod outa bed and we ended up leaving Las Vegas at about 5:10am. Then, we hit this super heavy pea-soup fog right as we pulled out of the Virgin River Gorge approaching St. George. I was driving, as my brother was not in the condition to do so as planned, and it was 4 of us in my little rental Chevrolet Alveola or something like that and we pulled off into a truck stop. Make that two truck stops, at the first one the line for the ladies room was 30 people deep outside the entrance! We looked at the weather map and looked at the forecasts and they still looked good for that area so we decided to continue. We did not stop for breakfast. We drove out of the fog just east of St. George.

Then, yours truly missed the turn by Hurricane and we had to back-track. We ended up getting there around 10:15am Las Vegas time which we realized was 11:15 local (Mountain Time) in Arizona.

The ugly: The wind! The sand! The hill to climb! It was not obvious on the map, but there's a fairly long high ridge you need to climb to get to the view of the Bend. It didn't look too bad from the parking lot, but when you get to the top it's obvious that the climb BACK is about twice as high and about twice as steep! Then the wind and the sand hits you! It's this very fine red sand that gets in your shoes and is difficult to walk in. Sandblasted makeup on the way down, and sand in the hair on the way back! On the way back we stopped at a Denny's for our eventual breakfast and I know I looked like a bag lady! It took me an hour and a half to get my hair halfway presentable! OMG I wish I brought a scarf or something!

The light wold be better during the summer months but I would hate to see the temperature when the light is good!

Anyway, the view is well worth the drive and the hike and maybe the sand!

 

You should see the view from the river level. I took a raft trip starting at the Navajo Bridge a couple of years ago. Finally pulled out 14 days later at Diamond Creek. The scenery was incredible. This was a paddle trip, no motorized rafts. We would observe an hour of silence on the river each morning to take in the sunrise and listen to the canyon "wake up". Best two weeks of my life. Thanks for posting the pics...brought back some great memories.

 

I really need to get out there on one of those GC tours.

 

You almost had us hooked until we got to The Ugly: that nixed it for us.

 

That looks incredible. Thanks for posting this! I am going to have to add this to my to do list.
Is there much hiking in the area around here? One of my all time favorite trips to Vegas was hiking the Gold Strike Canyon all the way to the river beneath the Hoover Dam, lots of beautiful rock formations and scenery there as well.

 

Dang, people are discovering my favorite camping area.

Taken from the saddle of my Russian Ural:


Base dry camp. Sheer drop off to the Bends on the right.


Bill

 

I really don't think the sand and the wind and the fog happens all of the time. We were checking the weather off and on for a few days before, and the forecast for the whole route was supposed to be clear and relatively calm. The fog was a total surprise, and once we got out of the St. George area we could see that it was clearing waayyyyy off in the distance to the east.

 

Thanks for the photos, guys.

Funny, we had maps out yesterday talking through some late spring/early summer getaway options.Utah Route 12 then over to Moab is high on the list.

 

Very nice indeed!

 

http://www.scenicbyway12.com/wp-content/themes/sb12/library/media/images/route_guide.pdf

Excellent choice ken.

 

I took that drive from Bryce Canyon on my way to Moab several years ago; hardly any traffic on the road and incredible expansive vistas. I had to stop in the middle of the road for ten minutes at one point in order to let a cowboy on horseback and his two dogs herd a bunch of cattle across the highway.

 

Been checking that out, Andy. Really good guide. As a kid my dad took me up that way several times, but that was eons ago and Terri's never been to that part of the Colorado Plateau.

 

Cool pics!