It looked a little bit too busy for us so we continued on to the east side to the Sims Mesa Campground and arrived at sunset in an impending lightning storm and found a wonderful campsite.
Our campsite was nestled in some juniper trees right on the shore of the lake in a quiet bay.
Navajo lake was a sandstone canyon that was damned sometime in the late 1950s to create the lake. The lakeshore is virtually all public land and there is little development on the lake. The water is clear and deep (396 feet at it's depest point) and perfect for kayaking. Our first day we kayaked south to a narrow canyon on the east side of the lake.
There were many side canyons to explore and with the storm clouds past we kayaked about 15 miles. We found these cliff swallow squatters up one of the side canyons.
After a spectacular sunset we slept like babies to the sounds of the lake and forest. Pretty good accomodations for $10 a night.
The next morning we hit the water again for a look at the west side of the lake. The west side is more open than the narrow canyons of the east and has beaches here and there for picnicing or swimming.
We got to explore only a small portion of the 15,000 acre lake and will revisit on another trip some day.
NEXT: Chaco Canyon National Historic Park, New Mexico
Thank you for posting these wonderful photos. I am taking my son on his first camping trip (he's 8) and my first in 24 years. We are going to Navajo Lake and I was worried about it being too desolate and desert-like. Your photos have really reassured me that it's not a desert and there are so many great things to see and do there!
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