Horseshoe Bend (Arizona)

Coordinates: 36°52′46″N 111°30′50″W / 36.87944°N 111.51389°W / 36.87944; -111.51389
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped

incised meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona, United States.[1] It is also referred to as the "east rim of the Grand Canyon."[2]

Horseshoe Bend is located 5 miles (8 km) downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, about 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Page.[1][3]

It is accessible via hiking a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) round trip from a parking area just off U.S. Route 89 within southwestern Page.[1] The land south of the Bend's parking area, trail, and overlook are on the Navajo Nation territory.[4]

Horseshoe Bend can be viewed from the steep cliff above.[5]

The overlook is 4,200 feet (1,300 m) above sea level, and the Colorado River is at 3,200 feet (1,000 m) above sea level, making it a 1,000-foot (300 m) drop.[5]

Geology

The Rincon on Lake Powell in southern Utah. It is an incised cutoff (abandoned) meander.

Horseshoe Bend is a superb example of an

entrenched meander.[1] Six million years ago,[6][7] the region around Horseshoe Bend was much closer to sea level, and the Colorado River was a meandering river with a nearly level floodplain. Between six[8][9] and five[1] million years ago, the region began to be uplifted. This trapped the Colorado River in its bed, and the river rapidly cut downwards to produce Horseshoe Bend as we see it today.[1]

The cause of this uplift is still a matter of research.

tectonic plate below the Colorado Plateau detached and sank into the underlying mantle. This would have allowed hotter rock from the asthenosphere, the part of the Earth's mantle that underlies its tectonic plates, to rise and lift the overlying crust.[9] Another possibility is that the uplift was the result of heating at the base of the crust. This transformed the lowest crustal rock from eclogite, a relatively dense rock (3.6 g/cm3) to garnet granulite, which is significantly less dense (2.9 g/cm3). This would have produced the buoyant forces needed to uplift the region.[12]

Whatever the cause of the uplift, it resulted in the erosion of up to a mile of overlying sediments from the eastern Grand Canyon.

concretions.[1]

It is likely that the Colorado River will eventually cut through the neck of the bend, producing a

cutoff meander
resembling The Rincon further north along the Colorado River in Utah.

Tourism

Tourists hiking Horseshoe Bend, 2019

For a long time Horseshoe Bend was mostly popular with nearby residents, but the yearly visitor count sharply increased with exposure through social media.[14] Currently the lookout is a major tourist destination with more than 2 million visitors a year.[15]

The city government of Page in 2019 started charging a fee to use the U.S. Route 89 parking area and preventing drivers from parking on the highway nearby. As of 2025, the fee is $10 per passenger car. Page brought in $20.3 million from the fees between 2019 and May 2024, some of which helped fund city services.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Horseshoe Bend Hiking Guide" (PDF). National Park Service. October 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 9, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "The Truth About Visiting Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ". Backstreet Nomad. June 18, 2019. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  3. ^ "Horseshoe Band". yourhikeguide.com. June 11, 2015. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  4. ^ "Horseshoe Bend - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Horseshoe Bend". visitarizona.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  6. ISBN 9781934656365
    .
  7. ISBN 9781607810049
    .
  8. ^ Fillmore 2010, pp. 304–305.
  9. ^ a b Ranney 2012, p. 113.
  10. ^ a b Ranney 2012, p. 110.
  11. ^ Fillmore 2010, pp. 304–308.
  12. ^ Fillmore 2010, pp. 305–306.
  13. doi:10.3133/b1137. Archived
    from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  14. ^ "Horseshoe Bend New Parking Fees". Arizona Central. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  15. ^ "National parks officials grappling with high volume as Instagram tourism booms". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  16. ^ "Page able to fund improvements — and more — with the money its Horseshoe Bend parking lot is making". 12news.com. August 5, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2025.

36°52′46″N 111°30′50″W / 36.87944°N 111.51389°W / 36.87944; -111.51389

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