After a brief stop at the Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell), we arrived at Marble Canyon. We stayed at the Marble Canyon Lodge, which was very close to the canyon, but a bit run down. At first we were going to stay at their “apartments” which were run down cabins that smelled disgusting and with broken air conditioning, and pretty much every thing else. Fortunately, they also had a roadside type motel, which wasn’t great, but was livable. I’d recommend staying at a hotel in Page.
The Marble Canyon was narrow, but deep, and very scenic. At this point, the Colorado river is only about 200′ wide, but the canyon is a formed by shear 470′ high cliffs. The river is crossed by the Navajo Bridge, which is the ninth highest bridge in the US, which really surprised me.
At this point, we are only about 50 miles North of the Desert View Watch Tower at the Grand Canyon. So, this area is the precursor to the Grand Canyon as the Colorado River carves it’s way down.
Next to the Marble Canyon, are the Vermilion Cliffs. These too are spectacular cliffs, rising 3,000 feet above their bases, and about 70 miles long.
Here is a nice cross section through the canyon regions showing the relationship of the Grand Staircase, Vermilion Cliffs, and Grand Canyon.
On the recommendation of our waitress, we took rte 89A West to Bryce Canyon rather than 89 up past Lake Powell. If you stay in Page, I would still recommend taking this route to Bryce Canyon. As you climb the Kaibab Plateau to about 7,500 feet, you can see Vermilion Cliffs and Grand Staircase in the distance, and get a good sense of the scale of these features.