PADDLE BOARDING THE COLORADO RIVER
You have the mind-blowing opportunity to view Horseshoe Bend as few do – while paddling down the Colorado River.
In addition to kayaks, rental paddle boards – often called SUPS or Stand Up Paddle Boards – are available at a remarkable $35 per day. Kayak Horseshoe Bend rents the 5-inch-thick Cruz XL boards that provide optimal performance and stability for paddlers up to 220 pounds.
An article in a recent issue of Men’s Journal magazine perhaps described the adventure best –
Shortly after you start paddling, look for a waterfall on the canyon wall to your right, at about chest height. You can paddle up to it and take a drink – the water is pristine, filtered through hundreds of feet of sandstone rock. Further down, also on the right, a small crescent-shaped beach hugging a hanging garden makes for a spectacular photo stop.
Just before the river winds its way through Horseshoe Bend, an iconic 270-degree meander that’s a popular tourist destination some 1,000 feet above on the canyon rim, paddle across the river to the campsite on your left known as Ferry Swale. Be careful to park your board high enough on the beach that the small waves generated by passing motor rafts won’t pull it back into the river. Walk a quarter mile to see the petroglyphs on the canyon wall, an ancient display of some of the animals that live in the canyon, like big horned sheep.
Back on the board, continue through Horseshoe Bend and select your campsite for the evening. Nine-Mile Camp, 8-Mile Camp, and 7½-Mile Camp all appear, one after the other, on the right side of the river. You don’t need to be picky – they’re all spectacular, and include bathroom facilities and soft sand beaches. It’s considered more courteous to select an empty one, so as not to intrude on another group’s experience of solitude. There is no fee, and no permit required. Sites are first come, first serve.
A paddleboard trip down the Colorado River might be your best bet for viewing wading birds, flying condors, diving Peregrine falcons, big horn sheep in the rocks or any of the hundreds of other critters that inhabit the area.
For rental information and to reserve your paddleboard, phone 928 355 2261.
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