Continuing west on 95, you’ll drive for miles alongside White Canyon. The road is straight, while the canyon winds. I’ve read of places where you can easily climb into the canyon, but I didn’t find them.
Another view of UT 95, as we head towards Lake Powell, and Hite Marina.
Lake Powell – Glen Canyon
Imagine if they built a dam, and filled the Grand Canyon halfway up with water. That is, in a sense, what Glen Canyon is now like. Under ideal conditions, you could rent a houseboat and float around for days, exploring one side canyon after another.
Unfortunately, during my visit in March, 2004, much of the western US was dealing with a severe drought. Since for the past few years, more water has been running out of Lake Powell, than running in, the water level has dropped dramatically.
This is the view of Lake Powell from the boat ramp at Hite Marina. I drove my car down to the end of the boat ramp, and was still a long distance from water.
Hite is near the northern end of Lake Powell, during the best conditions. But now, all you can see of the lake is a glimmer of blue, in the distance.
The UT 95 bridge over the Colorado.
As you continue west on 95, there’s an excellent viewpoint for looking up, and down, the Colorado River. Notice the concrete slab, on the left side of the above picture. That’s the boat ramp, where I took some of the pictures on the previous page. As you can see, it’s nowhere near water.
The view looking North.
Hog Springs Rest Area: Northwest of Hite
A suspension footbridge takes you over into the Hog Springs picnic area.
A view up the canyon, from the picnic area.
Hanksville, UT – Hwys. 24 & 95
UT 95 comes to an end at Hanksville, where our route turns left onto UT 24. Stop and fill your tank at the Hollow Mountain gas station.
This may be the most unusual tip on this website, but here goes: Use the bathroom at the Hollow Mountain convenience store. The facilities are clean, but the main attraction is the hallway leading back to the restrooms. You’ll see, the walls and ceiling really are carved out of rock.
Note: This trip was first published in 2004. I visited this area again on a later trip. You can check it out here.
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