Hiking The Hanging Garden Trail Near Page, Arizona

The Hanging Garden trail is located in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona. This easy, family friendly round-trip hike is a little over one mile long.

After traveling through the desert landscape, experiencing incredible views along the way, you will come to a little alcove on a mesa hiding a secret oasis.

The trailhead can be found off US Highway 89 less than a mile from the Carl Hayden Visitor Center. The turnoff is marked with a little brown hiker sign which can easily be missed so I provided GPS coordinates above. The parking lot for the trailhead is a short distance down the road.

Pets are allowed on this trail as long as they are leashed and please pick up after them. There is no fee to hike the trail either. This trail offers no shade during the hike until the end so slather on your sunscreen and bring plenty of water.

Lined rocks mark the path of the trail so it’s easy to follow. After traveling over the sandy dirt the trail turns into flat red slickrock. Slickrock gets it’s name for a reason so be careful while crossing it especially if it has rained recently.

At one point you’ll come to a fork in the trail.

A sign informs you to continue right to reach the gardens. If you’re felling adventurous take the fork to the left to reach some large sandstone domes. After a climb to the top you will get better views of the surrounding landscape.

After making your right turn at the fork the slickrock gives way to sand again before you begin the short climb up a stretch of wavy slickrock. This climb allows you to reach the alcove concealing the Hanging Garden.

It’s a little bit of a rock scramble, but no worse than climbing a set of stairs so don’t worry.

After that little scramble you’ll reach the trails end and your reward. The Hanging Garden consists of maidenhair ferns and is about 50 feet long and 15 feet high. I’ve read that orchids also grow here, but we saw none during our visit.

Hanging gardens are formed when water, usually a spring, emerges from the cracks in the wall of a cliff. As the water seeps out it flows down the rock allowing plants to grow directly on the cliff wall.

These hanging gardens are often formed in alcoves, because the conditions are cooler and moister than in the surrounding desert.

These gardens are fragile though so please just admire and don’t touch. I’ve also read that poison ivy commonly grows in these gardens and no one wants to catch that.

Many hanging gardens occur throughout the Colorado Plateau, but this one is one of the easiest to get to.

Besides the very cool reward at the end of the hike the journey there is quite a treat as well. During the entire hike the views go on forever and are quite beautiful.

If you happen to be visiting Horseshoe Bend, which is only ten minutes down the road, and have a little extra time on your hands why not take a hike out to the hanging gardens as well.