Sunset at Horseshoe Bend

Driving after our morning stop in the Grand Canyon, we arrived in Page in the late afternoon and pretty much immediately headed to watch the sunset at Horseshoe Bend. I’m not sure if it was because we visited during a holiday weekend or what, but I have NEVER been to a place as rabidly packed with crazed humans than this place. I suspect social media has exponentially increased the popularity of the spot, but the itty bitty parking lot (and even overflow parking lot) are completely insufficient to support the seeming thousands of tourists vying for a parking spot in hopes of landing an Instagram-worthy pic. If and when you find a spot to park amongst the foaming-at-the-mouth masses, you’ll walk about 0.6 miles along an uphill, sandy trail to reach the Bend’s overlook. Once I reached the viewpoint, people were completely unaware of their space and at times, super pushy (which is not an adjective you want to use when you’re talking about standing on a 1,000 foot edge of a cliff) so please be super careful and mindful of your surroundings (some locals told us that several people had fallen to their deaths in recent months due to the insane crowds). All that being said, the canyon was completely gorgeous at sunset, turning these crazy shades of indigo and violet as the sun sank beneath the horizon. If you’re looking for any kind of serenity or are especially averse to falling off a cliff, I may recommend coming back to enjoy this spot as sunrise instead.