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National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Glen Canyon

Welcome to the Horseshoe Bend trailhead. Whether this is your rst or hundredth visit to this awe-inspirinbend in the Colorado River, you are guaranteed to see something new. The colors o the rocks changethroughout the day, the shadows move in and out o the canyons, and as the river ows, it sparkles and shinin dierent shades o green and blue. As you make your way along the trail, use this guide to bring you closesome o the details others may have missed along the way.

he Trail

Horseshoe Bend Hiking Guide

As you walk up the path, the trudge up the sandyhill might seem like a nuisance; but it is actually awalk through cycles o time. About 200 million yearsago this sand was part o the largest system o sanddunes the North American continent may have everseen. These sand seas are known as ergs. Our

enormous erg was eventually hardened by water andminerals into Navajo Sandstone, an amazing uniorm,smooth sandstone layer. It stretches rom Arizonato Wyoming, and it can be over two thousand eetthick in some places. When you reach the edge o

Horseshoe Bend you will be looking down 1000 ( 305 meters) o the sandstone to the river. Ater thNavajo Sandstone hardened, other layers o sandsmudstone, and dierent sedimentary layers piled top o it. Then, ater a couple o million years, patwater in the orm o rain, ice, oods, and streams,

worked to erode away the dierent layers.Today thNavajo Sandstone is once again exposed, and its sis slowly wearing away. So now, what you are walupon is sand rom the Navajo Sandstone, which wrom the giant Jurassic erg recycled sand!

ecycled Sand

Are you at the top o the hill? Look around you. In ront o you is the rest o the trail to Horseshoe Bend, abeyond that are the Paria Plateau and Vermillion Clis, managed by the Bureau o Land Management. To yright the river leads up to Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Behind you, the ever-growcity o Page. And to your let stretches the vast Navajo Nation. You are standing at the crossroads o theseunique natural and cultural meeting places.

Where am I?

As you descend, the path is a little bumpier. Italternates between a whitish gravel, more sand,and some pretty solid, sloping rocks, the NavajoSandstone. Notice how the rock itsel has diagonalstriped layers. These are the remnants o the layerso the ancient massive sand dunes beore they werepetried into stone. The whitish stones tell us howthe sandstone was petried. This rock is calcite,or limestone, the same rock that drips itsel intocave ormations. Back 180 million years ago, thismineral mixed in with the rain and snow to cementthe grains o sand together. The process took about

runchy Rocks 20 million years, but eventually all o the sand dunwere petried by the calcite, retaining their beautisloping dune shapes. Today, as the grains o sanderode, chunks o the calcite also present themselvAs you get closer to the viewpoint, some o the rocare covered with hard, sandy bumps. These areconcretions o iron. Iron, being heavier than sandgrains, was attracted to itsel in ball shape while thsandstone was being petried. Now that the sandis eroding away, the iron concretions are coming iview as well. When the little concretion balls brea

rom the rock, they are known as Moki Marbles

ouve seen the pictures, now visit the real thing for yourself! Ahead of you lies Horseshoe

end, the tremendous curve in the Colorado River.

fety Comes First

ake plenty of water. Wear sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat. Avoid hiking during the hottest

art of the day. Tell a friend where you are hiking and when you will be home. There are nouard rails at the viewpoint. Watch your footing, and keep track of your children!

ave No Trace

ack garbage out. Dont disturb any plants, rocks, or animals you come across. Dogs must stay

n leashes no longer than six feet.

ail Details

istance: 1.5 miles(2.4 km) roundtrip. Walking time: 45 minutes. You will be walking up and

own a sandy hill and across a gentle sandstone incline.

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E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A

Youve made it. Worth the walk, wasnt it? The view o Horseshoe Bend rom the rim o the canyon is

extraordinary. (Youll need a wide-angle lens to get the entire scene in your picture!) I you nd the height adaunting, try lying down on the ground and looking over the edge that way. It gives you a much better senssecurity. Make sure you keep an eye on your animal companions as well; they can slip as easily as you.

Below you, the Colorado River makes a wide sweep around a sandstone escarpment. Long ago, as the rivermeandered southward toward the sea, it always chose the steepest downward slope. This downward journenot always occur in a straight line, and sometimes the river made wide circles and meanders. As the ColoradPlateau uplited about 5 million years ago, the rivers that meandered across the ancient landscape were trapin their beds. The rivers cut through the rock, deep and ast, seeking a new natural level. Here at HorseshoeBend, the Colorado River did just that, and as the river cut down through the layers o sandstone, it created 270 horseshoe-shaped bend in the canyon.

Conceivably, at some time ar in the uture, the river could erode through the narrow neck o rock, creating natural bridge and abandoning the circular channel around the rock. Maybe in a ew million years, this will

the site o a brand new natural bridge ormed the same way as nearby Rainbow Bridge National Monument

orseshoe Bend

Down on the river, you could stop here to see theonly petroglyph panel available or the public to seein Glen Canyon below the dam. These rock carvingswere let here by Ancestral Puebloans (called bysome Anasazi) over 800 years ago. At this particularterrace, we have evidence that the people who madethe carvings also did some arming: corn, beans, andsquash. But they dont seem to have lived down atthe river level, because although the river water wasgreat or arming, it was ar too silty or drinking.These messages the ancients let to each other arebeautiul and precious to us. Your messages to eachother today are not. Grafti carvings in the rock aredisappointing to see and illegal to make. Please leavethis stunning view the way you ound it.

ncient Messages

Front: Map to Horseshoe Bend Hiking Trail.Approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of Carl Hayden Visitor Center on U.S. Hwy 89, just south of highway marketurn at the sign onto the dirt road which ascends the small hill. Park at the base of the hill. Vehicles are prohibbeyond the end of the parking lot at the base of the hill.