Page, Arizona

Page sits on the shore of Lake Powell, and in summer the lake is the town's real playground. The water reaches about 26°C at the surface by midsummer, warm enough for long swims, and the dry heat makes it very welcome. Lone Rock Beach, a short drive away on the Utah side, has open sand where people camp and drive down to the water, while Wahweap and the coves around it are reached from the marina.

Much of the best swimming is done from boats, houseboats or kayaks, pulling into sandstone coves where you jump straight off rock into deep water. The shoreline rises and falls with the lake level, so beaches come and go, and there are no lifeguards or beach towns. From late autumn to spring the water is too cold for most people.

Eating in Page is practical rather than memorable. The main strip has diners, barbecue and Mexican places, pizza and the usual American chains, built for feeding tour groups and road-trippers. The one local dish worth looking for is the Navajo taco, frybread topped with beans, meat and chilli, sold in casual spots and at roadside stands on the reservation. There is no market culture, little coffee scene to speak of and no fine dining, and the town goes quiet early, so most visitors simply eat well enough between outings.

Page is a young town, founded in the 1950s to house the workers building the Glen Canyon Dam, and it has little historic fabric. The dam itself is the main man-made sight: the Carl Hayden Visitor Center explains its construction and has views down to the river and the steel arch bridge. A small museum is devoted to John Wesley Powell, the explorer who mapped the Colorado River. The surrounding Navajo Nation gives the area its deeper cultural layer, but in town there is little to see indoors, and nobody comes for museums.

Evenings in Page are short. There are a handful of bars and a brewpub, and some restaurants serve drinks late into the evening, but there are no clubs and the town is quiet well before midnight. Many visitors are up before sunrise for the canyons, and the most memorable night out is simply looking up: the desert sky away from the town lights is exceptionally dark and full of stars.

Few small towns sit amid landscape like this. Within minutes of Page are Horseshoe Bend, where the Colorado River loops around a sandstone spire hundreds of metres below the rim, and Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, narrow slot canyons whose curved walls glow red and orange in shafts of light. These slot canyons lie on Navajo land and are visited with Navajo guides. Lake Powell spreads behind the dam, a maze of flooded red canyons best explored by boat, houseboat or kayak, with Rainbow Bridge, one of the largest natural arches in the world, reached by water.

Below the dam, the river at Lees Ferry is the starting point for Grand Canyon rafting and a smooth-water float trip through Glen Canyon. The Vermilion Cliffs, with the permit-only Wave, Buckskin Gulch and the Grand Staircase lie within an hour or two, and the Grand Canyon's North Rim is a longer drive. Spring and autumn are best for hiking; summer heat is fierce by midday and is better spent on the water.

Page is surrounded by spectacular land but very few places to visit as towns or heritage sites. Lees Ferry, with its pioneer-era buildings and Lonely Dell Ranch, is an easy half day. Navajo National Monument, about two hours away, protects ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings at Betatakin. Kanab in Utah, roughly an hour and a quarter west, is a small Western town with film-set history, and Pipe Spring National Monument near it shows a fortified Mormon ranch and Kaibab Paiute culture. Monument Valley is within reach, though it is a landscape more than a place. Beyond these, the drives are long and the towns small.

Page works best for families who like the outdoors. A day on Lake Powell, splashing off a beach at Lone Rock or exploring coves on a rented boat, is an easy hit with children, and the Antelope Canyon tours are short and memorable for all ages. The town is small, safe and simple to handle, with motels that have pools.

There are no zoos, theme parks or attractions made for children, though, and the desert sun is punishing in summer. At Horseshoe Bend and other viewpoints the cliff edges are sheer and mostly unfenced, so small children need a firm hand. Some slot canyon tours involve steep ladders, and distances to the bigger parks mean long hours in the car.

A car is essential. Page itself is small, and the main strip of motels and restaurants can be walked, but there is no useful public transport and the sights lie well outside the town: Horseshoe Bend is a short drive south, the lake and its marinas are several kilometres away, and the Vermilion Cliffs and other parks need an hour or more on open highway. Antelope Canyon tours pick up from their own bases or in town, and boat tours cover the lake, but everything else depends on having your own wheels. The nearest major airports are hours away, so most visitors arrive on a road trip.

Shopping in Page is limited to necessities and souvenirs. The one thing worth seeking out is Native American craft: Navajo silver and turquoise jewellery, rugs and pottery sold at trading posts and roadside stalls, where buying directly from the maker is part of the appeal. Otherwise there are outdoor and boating supply stores, gift shops and supermarkets for stocking a houseboat or cooler.

Page is not a budget destination. Casual meals and fuel are priced like any small American town, but rooms are in short supply in the busy months and their rates reflect it. The main sights add up: Antelope Canyon can only be seen on paid guided tours, and boat rentals, houseboats and lake tours are expensive. Camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap and visiting in winter are the ways to keep costs down.

There is essentially no performing arts scene in Page. Some evenings bring Navajo cultural presentations or dinner shows with traditional dance put on for visitors, and the odd bar has a local band, but there is no theatre, concert venue or regular programme to plan a trip around.

Page has no spas or bathing tradition of its own beyond a few hotel offerings and motel pools. Its restful side lies in the desert itself: quiet evenings, wide views and very dark night skies. Most stays are busy, though, built around early starts for the canyons and long drives, so this is a place for active days rather than for slowing down.