Get there: Lake Powell sits inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which spreads across the border of Utah and Arizona. Bullfrog Marina in Utah is a 480-mile drive from Denver, and Wahweap Marina in Arizona is 649 miles.
Great Lakes Airlines, Frontier and US Airways fly from Denver International Airport (DEN) into Page Municipal Airport (PGA) in Page, Ariz., which is a 10-minute drive from Wahweap Marina. One-stop flights start at $303.
You also can fly into Las Vegas, which will cut the drive to Wahweap down to 267 miles, or Phoenix (280), but then you will have to rent a vehicle.
Driving from Denver to Bullfrog means taking the ferry from Halls Crossing to the marina, which costs $20 per vehicle 20 feet and under, and $1.25 per foot over. It takes slightly under a half hour to get across; it’s first-come, first-served, and the ferries depart on alternating hours (so if it leaves at 8 a.m. from Halls Crossing, it leaves at 9 a.m. from Bullfrog to return). Entry into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area costs $15 per vehicle (seven-day pass) or $30 for an annual pass.
There is limited, free, first-come, first-served parking at the marinas, with many of the spaces large enough to accommodate RVs.
When to go: Peak season is June through August, but you can rent a houseboat year-round. Most of the houseboat rental companies drop their rates starting in September. The air remains seasonably warm all year, but the water drops below 50 degrees in January and stays there through April or May. It can get as low as in the 30s and 20s. While swimming is out then, the fishing is still good. On the other hand, the air temperatures in August can go above 100.
Costs: Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas (888-486-4665, ) rents houseboats, power boats, tubes, sea kayaks, Jet Skis and other water toys, as does Antelope Point Marina (800-255-5561, ).
Houseboats are divided into three categories: Standard, deluxe and luxury. A 46-foot standard Voyager, which sleeps eight people and has a water slide and gas grill, costs $2,160 for three days during peak season ($1,725 in fall). A 75-foot luxury Excursion, with a hot tub and wet bar on top and sleeping 12, costs $11,880 for 7 days. For a comparison of sizes and amenities, check /houseboats/comparison-chart .cfm or lakepowellhouseboating . Power boat rentals range from $375 to $695 per day.
In addition to the rental rates, be prepared to put $500-$2,000 down for a houseboat, $200-$600 for a power boat and $50-$200 per toy on your credit card as security deposits.
Houseboats average 10 mpg and power boats about 2 mpg; for a three-day trip we spent $282 in gas. Lake Powell is offering a “Gas on Us” promotion through the end of 2009 that includes a $50-$100 in gas credits per day for rentals.
Stay: There are several options for staying right near the water before or after your houseboat adventure. RVers and campers can check out the spacious, lake-view campgrounds, which have some shaded sites, as well as full hookups, showers and restrooms at both locations ($43 RV or tent at Bullfrog; $43 RV or $23 tent at Wahweap). There also are rooms at Defiance House Lodge at Bullfrog Marina right on the lake, and three-bedroom double-wides. Some of the rooms are fancy by National Park Service standards – flat-screen TVs, MP3 player clock radios, mini-fridges and microwaves. Rates start at $136. And then there’s the Lake Powell Resort at Wahweap Marina, which features simple, spacious rooms with TVs, desks and mini-fridges starting at $99. Check lakepowell . for lodging deals.
What to take: The houseboat kitchens are very well stocked; we brought a blender for margaritas but otherwise found that we needed nothing for cooking or serving except the food itself. There is an issue with mice climbing aboard, so they recommended that you bring disposable aluminum pie plates to string along the anchor ropes to discourage them; we hadn’t brought any and so fashioned deterrents out of pieces of aluminum foil (which we also brought, along with Ziplocs and other food-storage containers).
Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas also offers shopping and chef services that vary in price, level of gourmet quality and how involved in your life you want the chef to be; call 888-486-4665.
Otherwise, bring whatever you would want to have along on a water-oriented vacation: sunscreen and plenty of it, a hat or sun visor, sunglasses, beach clothes and towels, fishing gear, water skis, tubes. Some boats come with linens. Binoculars come in handy, as does an extra fish cooler.
The marinas have some convenience-store basics (beer, milk, eggs, frozen ice cream treats, firewood), but don’t count on them. Oddly, they were ill-equipped to provide us with two crucial things one might seek at a place next to one of the largest fishing destinations in the West: fishing licenses and fishing hooks (the computer was down for licenses, and they were out of hooks). Buy your fishing license online ahead at .
There are full-size grocery stores in Page, Ariz., and smaller ones in Monticello and Blanding, Utah.
More info: and .
