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Lake Powell


racer808

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I am trying or trying to decide if I want to go to Lake Powell in July, would be the 13th through the 16 in case anyone else is going & wants to meet up. I've never been & am not sure what to expect. We are planning on staying at the lodge @ Bullfrog. Are there places to eat around there? I don't see anything. The water is down, is it still worth going?

Anything else I need to know or to plan for?

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The water level is low but it's fine, we've been going at the end of June for 10 years. Outside of the marina/hotel facilities which is in the national park, there's nothing else around. On the upside, the runoff will be slowed down by mid July and the lake will be dropping which means that debris will be settled on shore and the lake should be pretty clean. Downside is it's busy season, and good water will be hard to come by within 10 miles of the marina. The best way to do Powell is a houseboat with a toy tank, and get the hell out of Dodge. But doing the hotel the first trip to scout out if want to plan a bigger trip isn't a bad way to go either. You could get to Rainbow bridge, refuel at dangling rope, check out side canyons and have a nice long day exploring. Then spend the other days heading upriver to find better water.

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The water level is low but it's fine, we've been going at the end of June for 10 years. Outside of the marina/hotel facilities which is in the national park, there's nothing else around. On the upside, the runoff will be slowed down by mid July and the lake will be dropping which means that debris will be settled on shore and the lake should be pretty clean. Downside is it's busy season, and good water will be hard to come by within 10 miles of the marina. The best way to do Powell is a houseboat with a toy tank, and get the hell out of Dodge. But doing the hotel the first trip to scout out if want to plan a bigger trip isn't a bad way to go either. You could get to Rainbow bridge, refuel at dangling rope, check out side canyons and have a nice long day exploring. Then spend the other days heading upriver to find better water.

Wish we had a houseboat! Looks like I am booking room at the lodge at Bullfrog, it will be during the week, hopefully it won't be too busy in the marina Mon through Thursday, I am not one for adventurous boat trips on large bodies of water with these ski boats. But will get a feel when we get out there. If anyone else will be in the area shoot me a message.

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You will love Lake Powell, I have been going at least once a year since 1988. A houseboat is the way to go, but you can see a lot of the lake being based at the lodge, you will just go through a lot of gas. There is a restaurant at the lodge and that is the only place to eat out at Bullfrog. Make sure that you watch your gas, it is about 35 to 40 miles between marinas and you don't want to run out of gas out there. Keep an eye out for storms and it is a good idea to have a marine radio in case of emergencies, been there done that!!

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Snow pack is insane this year, so the level will rise a ton. The bad thing about bullfrog is that it's really just a large marina, no real amenity choices. If you can do the extra 2 hour drive page is a full size town with tons of amenities.

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Wish we had a houseboat! Looks like I am booking room at the lodge at Bullfrog, it will be during the week, hopefully it won't be too busy in the marina Mon through Thursday, I am not one for adventurous boat trips on large bodies of water with these ski boats. But will get a feel when we get out there. If anyone else will be in the area shoot me a message.

I've been from Wahweap to Bullfrog in a little Euro skier, you will be fine. It is really hard to enjoy Powell from a hotel though, camping a long the way or houseboat is the way to go.

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I've been from Wahweap to Bullfrog in a little Euro skier, you will be fine. It is really hard to enjoy Powell from a hotel though, camping a long the way or houseboat is the way to go.

Did you have to stop for fuel? Are their fuel stops? House boat just not an option this year. Would still like to just see what we can, enjoy the water know more for when we plan our return.

Edited by racer808
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Did you have to stop for fuel? Are their fuel stops? House boat just not an option this year. Would still like to just see what we can, enjoy the water know more for when we plan our return.

Marinas are roughly every 50 miles.

I always carry at least 10 gallons.

Edited by LS-One
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Definitely want to try and camp, but if you can't coming out of page makes the most sense. You can run from wahweep to dangling rope every day if you want.

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Racer,

We do Powell every year in July/August. We always put in at Wahweap since there's more peeps and marinas with restaurants to get off the boat and out of the sun if need be. That time of the year is the monsoon season so you have to watch for afternoon storms that build up and bring rain and sometimes crazy winds. Antelope canyon is amazing to do in the boat and there's all kinds of sand beaches to tie up and swim to. As well, there's lots of vertical canyon walls to jump from. We've never done the houseboat thing but it would definitely be easier. If the storms head in just remember to get to open water and not the canyons. The waves bounce back and forth off the walls building bigger and it'll sink smaller boats fast! I watched a nice supra get sunk from the wake of two or three houseboats going the opposite direction and it filled the supra to the top of the gunnels in about two seconds!

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Racer,

We do Powell every year in July/August. We always put in at Wahweap since there's more peeps and marinas with restaurants to get off the boat and out of the sun if need be. That time of the year is the monsoon season so you have to watch for afternoon storms that build up and bring rain and sometimes crazy winds. Antelope canyon is amazing to do in the boat and there's all kinds of sand beaches to tie up and swim to. As well, there's lots of vertical canyon walls to jump from. We've never done the houseboat thing but it would definitely be easier. If the storms head in just remember to get to open water and not the canyons. The waves bounce back and forth off the walls building bigger and it'll sink smaller boats fast! I watched a nice supra get sunk from the wake of two or three houseboats going the opposite direction and it filled the supra to the top of the gunnels in about two seconds!

Is that the same Supra that was featured in a boat sinking thread on here about 10 years ago?

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I am going in September and was also wondering about water level, bullfrog launch ramp is closed right now???? When does the lake actually start filling up?

We go every sept too, but out of wahweep. The lake started to fill up early April. The snow run off will be in full gear here in a couple weeks, the mountains just got hit with another snow storm.

Antelope canyon is in the narrows, which I try to avoid at all costs. The ferries and houseboats make that place crazy rough and dangerous. The cut will be open this year, and it will allow faster access to the better parts of the lake. For short trips in padre bay and gun site are great as long as the cut is open.

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That's crazy the lake will fill that much, last year it was low, when we launched at bullfrog it was a crazy walk up to parking lot. Like a 1/4 mile walk.... I was the newbie on the trip so I volunteered to get the truck during launches. How much is the lake expected to fill?

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Bull frog has been that way for quite a while, that ramp is nuts. The wahweep one a is a little better, but still pretty long. 3 years ago the lake was way high, the year after still fairly full, last year really low. It's all about how much water they let out vs the snowpack. Last year they let more water out than they should. The snow pack this year is crazy, so it will get a ton of water. High water and low water can both make it tough to find good camping beaches though. Water levels change the lake sooo much

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I am going in September and was also wondering about water level, bullfrog launch ramp is closed right now???? When does the lake actually start filling up?

I was at bullfrog this last weekend the main launch is closed, but they opened a much better one closer to all the houseboats on the west side. In my opinion they should always use the one that is open now. Much less of a walk. Water will be fine there

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