Start your day at Lee’s Ferry, the historic gateway to river travel on the Colorado. After meeting your guide, hop aboard a motorboat for a scenic 10-mile ride upstream, fast-tracking you into one of Glen Canyon’s most dramatic stretches—where Navajo Sandstone walls rise high above the water and the river bends towards the base of Horseshoe Bend.

Your boat lands at Petroglyph Beach, where you’ll step onto shore to explore ancient rock carvings etched into the canyon walls. Learn how Indigenous peoples travelled through this corridor long before modern dams, and take time for photos beneath the towering cliffs and open desert sky.

Next, launch your kayak and begin a 10-mile paddle downstream through Glen Canyon. With the Colorado River’s current helping to carry you along, you’ll glide past sheer sandstone faces, quiet beaches, and wide canyon vistas. Keep watch for desert wildlife—this area is known for Desert Bighorn Sheep moving along the steep canyon walls, and you may also spot the region’s wild horses near Horseshoe Bend.

Midway through the journey, stop at Waterholes Canyon for a short guided hike into a sculpted side canyon filled with desert vegetation and swirling sandstone textures. Then return to the river to complete your paddle back to Lee’s Ferry, finishing a unique, point-to-point-style river experience that combines boating, kayaking, and canyon exploration in one unforgettable half-day.