The “Smoky Mountains” and road’s namesake that greet you at the beginning of the drive.
This weekend my husband and I decided to sneak away for the weekend for our anniversary to Page, Arizona to do Antelope Canyon. With our Saturday adventure taken care of, it left Sunday open and we aimed to do the boat tour to Rainbow Bridge. The only problem is once we arrived, we realized that the shuttle boat is only open on Saturdays in down season and that option was off the table. Wes immediately started hunting for recreational roads around Lake Powell with lake access on his satellite map.
It didn’t take long to find one taking off from highway 89 in BigWater, Utah just a stone’s throw from Page, Arizona. Recreational Road 230, or Smoky Mountain Road, winds it’s way down Warm Creek toward and through Crosby Canyon to the edge of Lake Powell. We headed over expecting to find a 4×4 only trail and discovered that it was actually a paved road leading to a well maintained a graded dirt road suitable for almost any vehicle. (can’t vouch for the condition during wet season, it was bone dry when we went). This road was a beautifully pleasant surprise.
The last 1/4 section of road gets sandy and it would be best to walk it rather than drive it (if you don’t have 4wd) to Water’s edge which is just out of sight in this picture.
It navigates it’s way through all sorts of amazing geological features and ends with a gorgeous lake view. It’s literally like driving a Canyon that would usually be accessible only on foot. I have bookmarked it as a great future spot for Camping and photographing the sunset. If you’re looking for a fantastic thing to do near Page without owning a boat, this may be your lucky find. I think kids would love the “Flinstonesque” landscape. If you’d like further information on this area I found this website that covers the details intimately. http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/glen_canyon/smoky_mountain.html