Hanging Gardens - Page, AZ

Hanging Gardens is a short interpretive trail recently created by the park service that leads to a small, lush riparian oasis parked under the shoulder of a row of buttes overlooking Lake Powell. The route is short and easy to follow. The scenery and colors along the way are fantastic, and the gardens are a neat little place to chill for a while.


Cross over the cable lines and follow the cairns out to an old jeep track. Follow this flat section for a short while. It leads out to the formation straight ahead, which you will climb. Jackrabbits go running all over, and lizards scurry about here. There are a couple of trail markers.Soon you will break off to the right away from the track. Look for cairns to your right. You now head to and climb up the butte ahead. Follow the cairns up the formation, which greets you with fantastic views out into canyon country. A short scramble across the butte is easily navigated by following an easy cairn network. Green vegetation also starts to follow you along the way. Finally, you peak out on the summit of the small butte and fantastic panoramic views over Glen Canyon, the dam, Lake Powell, and north/east into canyon country great you. There is a trail sign here.

Look down the formation to your right and spot some smaller cairns. Follow them down to the Hanging Gardens, which are tucked up under the shoulder of the ridgeline. An impossibly green oasis sits here, with ferns growing from the undersurface of the ledge. There are small sand dunes here and rabbits scurrying about. A very peaceful place to hang out for a while.

Two points of note here: First, you can go exploring all over the place from the gardens, making as long of a trip as you'd like. I went exploring for a while before the sun went down and it was great... HIGHLY recommended. Second, taking this walk near sunset is the best. It brings out some of the most striking colors I have ever seen. The sandstone and sky play off each other amazingly.

2006-07-19 fricknaley