Navajo Bridge & Lees Ferry Near Page, AZ: Underrated Grand Canyon Sites!

Grand Canyon East: Navajo Bridge & Lees Ferry

Navajo Bridge and Lees Ferry are two sites located near Page, Arizona, that were surprisingly fun! Here are the basics you need to know if you’re thinking about visiting these sites.

Getting There

These sites are located about 45 minutes away from Page, Arizona, 1.5 hours from the North Rim, and 2 hours from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

If you’re driving between the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and the North Rim (4 hours), you will drive across Navajo Bridge.

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Navajo Bridge

Navajo Bridge is the only bridge spanning the Grand Canyon (a narrow section of the Grand Canyon known as Marble Canyon), not counting Hoover Dam or the Glen Canyon Dam.

Two Bridges

There are actually two bridges here. The original bridge was constructed in 1929 for vehicles to cross the Colorado River. As traffic increased and vehicles got larger, a new bridge was needed. In 1995, a new bridge was built, patterned after the old bridge.

Thankfully, the old bridge was kept as a walking-only bridge, providing us with some fantastic views of the canyon!

The bridges are tied for the 9th-highest bridges in the United States.

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Visitor Center

A small interpretive center is located in the parking lot to give you some history and sell some merchandise.

California Condors

California Condor birds were re-introduced to the area in 1996 as part of a major conservation effort. They are bred in Arizona and are often released at the Vermillion Cliffs nearby.

The cool thing is they are often found on the Navajo Bridges, so if you’re fortunate enough, you can see them up close.

We really loved seeing them hang out underneath our feet and fly overhead. They have the largest wingspan of any bird in North America.

Lees Ferry

Lees Ferry is located just a short drive from Navajo Bridge. It was the original ferry that humans took to get across the Grand Canyon, as it was the only easy way to get down to the river for hundreds of miles in either direction (there was another path named the Crossing of the Fathers, but it has since been covered by Lake Powell).

Rafting Trips in the Grand Canyon

Today, Lees Ferry is where the big rafting trips through the Grand Canyon begin. There are also half-day rafting tours that begin in Page (at the Glen Canyon Dam) and end at Lees Ferry.

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Water Access

You can also just walk into the water and swim a bit! This was a lifesaver for us on an insanely hot 115-degree day when we visited. But beware: the water is freezing cold, somewhere around 45 degrees since it comes from the bottom of Lake Powell.

Historic Buildings

Some of the original historic buildings are located near the parking lot. Just imagine being the ferry operator here before vehicles, with few travelers coming through, in the blazing heat!

Nearby Rock Formations

The road between Navajo Bridge and Lees Ferry has some fun rock formations. We stopped here to play Where’s Waldo with our kids, where they hide in the rocks and we try to spot them.

Things to Do Nearby

There are a number of other things you can visit in this general area:

• Horseshoe Bend
• Antelope Canyon
• Jacob Lake and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Visiting the Grand Canyon and Need a Game Plan?

We highly recommend visiting these two spots if you’re visiting the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is so huge that you need a good game plan to visit it. That’s where our Grand Canyon Itinerary comes in. Bonus: it comes with an audio guide to tell you all about the stories behind the canyon!