Rainbow Bridge National Monument
In October 2020, myself and three buddies took a week long hiking tour of Arizona and Utah seeing the sites worth seeing. Rainbow Bridge National Monument is one of those of those sites you need to see in your life. Actually making the visit is the hardest part - you either take a day long ferry boat tour, rent a boat of your own for the day, or try to get a permit to spend a few days hiking overland. We, of course, opted for renting our own boat and enjoying the day on Lake Powell. I've included a number of helpful tips for how to make this visit a success at the bottom of the page. The only disappointing part of this trip was that due to covid, I wasn't able to snag a physical stamp at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center and had to settle for using internet resources for copies.
Tips for Visiting Rainbow Bridge National Monument that we learned:
1) During a normal non-pandemic year, they offer day long ferry boat tours out of Waheep Marina that would run from 9-4 with time to visit the monument, etc. A better option, if you have someone comfortable driving a boat and knows how to navigate the waters is to rent a 21 foot boot. The 21 footer fits 4-5 people comfortably. Despite what they may say when you call them, you can rent a boat, be on the water by 10/10:30am, visit the monument and be back in time on a single tank of gas. Going nearly full speed, it takes about an hour and 45 minutes each direction and you will want to allow yourself 30-45 minutes to enjoy your visit to the site. It's about a 15-20 minute walk each direction from the dock to the actual monument viewing area.
2) Boat rentals can start getting picked up at 8am. Assume 20-30 minutes for training and pre launch safety check. They have to be back in the marina by 4pm officially, but there is no penalty if parked by 4:30pm. Allow yourself 20-30 minutes to refuel the gas tank once you return, so best to be back at the marina by 3:45/4pm. Make sure you take the path through Castle Rock cut out to save yourself time. If you go a different way (which we didn't) you will likely add 2-3 hours minimum boating time.
3) Arizona does not acknowledge daylight savings time. Although the monument is in Utah, the marina is in Arizona and adheres to Phoenix, AZ time zones. Take a few minutes at the start to adjust your phone away from automatic time zone adjustment and locked into Phoenix, AZ time. Otherwise you may find your self not having a clue what time it is.
4) Marina folks said there was no longer a dock to tie up your boat due to low water levels. Either they're lying or they're clueless. There's a dock. You'll be fine and won't need to beach your boat onto the sand. Also - the bathrooms at the Marina are terrible, but the ones at the dock at the monument itself are great.
