We decided to rent a small power boat for the day. Since the Stateline Marina for Lake Powell is in Utah but is also within walking distance of the campground in Arizona it made for easy access to hop over there and get a boat and spend the day out on the lake! The marina also rents a variety of houseboats, other larger powerboats, jet skis, canoes, and kayaks along with water toys such as paddleboards, kneeboards, water skis, wakeboards, ski tubes, and the disk. Almost anything you can think of to have fun in the water.
It didn’t take long to get the paperwork in order and get checked out on the boat and soon we were off! We rented a small 19′ powerboat with 150hp outboard that seats 8, or so they say. It would have been tight for 8 but it worked just fine for the 2 of us! They do rent larger powerboats for a much higher price.
Lake Powell is a man made reservoir formed by damming the Colorado River. The lake is in both Utah and Arizona and is part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. With a length of almost 200 miles long and 90 or more canyon coves there is more than enough area to keep us busy for a day. Of course, it would be better to have a houseboat where we could have explored for days. Maybe next time!
We decided to head to Rainbow Bridge first since it was quite a distance away and would take us a few hours of boating full out to get there. The Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah is administered by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and is described as the world’s largest natural bridge with a span of about 275 feet. It is back in a canyon cove where we wandered back and forth through the canyon not knowing which turn to take. We arrived at a dock and luckily the tourist boat was not operating at the time due to COVID so we had plenty of space to tie up our boat and wander around. The bridge is a little over a mile hike from the dock along a trail that runs through the canyon.
We departed the dock at Rainbow Bridge and started heading back to the marina knowing we wanted to stop for our picnic lunch somewhere along the way. We had the boat rented for about 8 hours but with the long trip to Rainbow Bridge (both directions), time to hike to the arch, time to stop for lunch, and time to refuel before returning the boat, we knew we needed to get going to do it all in 8 hours. We made it. Did I mention the scenery was spectacular?
We made it back to a refueling dock (the fuel pump at the Stateline Marina was closed so we had to make sure and fill up at the marina nearby, Wahweap Marina). We made it there and pumped in about $125 worth of fuel to fill it and got back to Stateline Marina to return the boat in time. We were told if we were even 5 minutes late with returning they would charge us a hefty fee. The boat rental fee (plus tax) plus fuel ran us over $500 so even though it was a bit expensive it is still cheaper than owning your own boat. We sure do miss our boat but this worked fine for us. Oh yeah, there was also a $500 security deposit which they refunded us (a few days later) after we returned the boat in good shape.
We’ll be back!
Wow I think I just added something to my bucket list. Thank you very much for the post 🙂
You are welcome!! Do it! Enjoy!!
Isn’t the Rainbow Bridge just spectacular! We took the boat trip out a few years back. It is a long day but so worth it. Such a beautiful ride. We rented a party boat a couple years back with another couple. It’s definitely not cheap but so much fun!!
The party boat sounds fun! We have been wanting to rent a houseboat there and take the grandkids but with Covid we just haven’t had a chance. Maybe one day? We love it there and it is quite the change from the lakes in Northern Idaho. Both great but different.