Our Lake Powell Aerial Photography Excursion starts ends in Phoenix, AZ with helicopter transportation between Phoenix and Page, AZ. It includes lodging, ground transportation in Page, AZ, helicopter flight time over the lake, an Antelope Canyon tour, and a full-day boat ride up to Rainbow Bridge.
This three-day photo excursion for two begins at 8 AM in Phoenix, AZ, where your pilot will pick you up at the Phoenix area airport of your choice. From there, it’s a 2-1/2 hour flight to Page, AZ on the southwest end of beautiful Lake Powell. Along the way you’ll pass by the former ghost town of Jerome and incredible red rock formations west of Sedona. Our flight path will skirt the restricted Grand Canyon airspace to enter the Painted Desert right over the Little Colorado River Gorge. From there, you’ll fly over the remote homesteads of the western most part of the Navajo Reservation before landing at Page Municipal Airport.
From the airport, you’ll head directly to Antelope Canyon a magnificent slot canyon carved into solid sandstone. Arriving at mid-day, the light will be just right for photography. You can choose from Upper Antelope Canyon, which is more accessible and dramatic but often quite crowded, or Lower Antelope Canyon, which is longer and more difficult to maneuver in, but seldom crowded. Either way, you’ll have time to photograph the swirling patterns of erosion on the rock walls.
Afterwards, check into your hotel room at Wahweap Marina, right on the shore of Lake Powell. Depending on the time of year, you can relax for a while on your room’s balcony or with a dip in the pool.
Two hours before sunset, you’ll head back out to the airport for your first hour-long photo flight along the lake. The helicopter will be prepared with doors off, so there’s nothing between your camera lens and the lake’s outrageous scenery. Your flight will include views of the Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge, famous Horseshoe Bend, the Wahweap and Antelope Marinas, Padre Bay, and Gunsite Butte, before heading uplake as far as the Confluence of the San Juan River to more remote canyons and scenery. At that time of day, the low-lying sun will accentuate the colors of the rocks and deepen the shadows.
The next day, you’ll board a tour boat for a full-day trip up the lake to Rainbow Bridge. You’ll see from the water what you saw from the air the evening before, for a dramatically different view. The boat will dock at Rainbow Bridge so you can make the 1/2 mile hike to this magnificent work of nature. You’ll have plenty of time along the way and at Rainbow Bridge to take photographs and enjoy a day out on the water.
After an evening on your own back at the lodge, you’ll get an early start the next day with an hour-long flight beginning as early as sunrise. You’ll retrace the route you followed on the day of your arrival or tell the pilot where you want to go to capture the images you have in mind.
After checking out and lunch on your own, you’ll return once more to the airport for your flight back to Phoenix. The pilot will take you on a different route that includes an overflight of Meteor Crater, a fuel stop at Flagstaff, and a quick red rocks tour of Sedona. You’ll touch down in Phoenix before 4 PM.
Several customization options are available for this excursion. You can learn more on our Lake Powell Options page.
