Kayak camping in Bullfrog or Halls Creek Bay area.

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shifty

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Thank you to everyone that had input on launching kayaks in the blue notch area. With the conditions and reports I am seeing on this website we have decided that heading North may not be the best idea for us kayakers this year.

So that leads me to my next question for the group. Knowing that we can launch and camp in the Stanton and Bullfrog marina area, is there any where else to launch around Bullfrog? Maybe further up the bay away from the marina? Also with the water being so low, what would the shoreline camping situation be like in Bullfrog or Halls Creek areas? Are we going to be better staying close to the marina or are there a lot of options?
 
Your destination will probably be Stanton Creek as there is no other access to the lake North of that. Both Halls & Bullfrog bays are wide open shorelines as far as the eye can see with very little cover. Sq
 
So if we wanted to head further up into Bullfrog bay it would be better to launch at the marina and we should be able to find camping somewhere along the shoreline? We just wouldn't have cover?
 
I think your only real option for launching will be around the marina. At this water level, vehicle access to the shoreline is limited. As for camping, Stanton is obvious, however, if you're willing to spend the time/effort to scout (from the water), there should be opportunities at the back half of both BF and HC bays. I think you'll have a better selection in HC, but it's further away. BF Bay has some steep walls around the marina, but opens up as you travel northwest.
 
For example, this pic is looking out of the back of the houseboat docks. You can see where it starts to change from steeper slickrock on the left to flatter and more sandy on the right.BF Bay Small.png
 
You should be able to use google earth to get a good idea of what the area looks like.

How far are you wanting/willing to paddle? If you aren’t in Bullfrog you are going to need to paddle for several miles, even just to Halls Creek.
 
Thanks for the suggestions everybody. To answer your question Ryan the distance we are willing to paddle is yet to be determined. When we came down last year we launched from Stanton Creek and paddled to forgotten canyon and then back. Total distance was around 50 miles in 4 four days, with all the side canyon sight seeing trips. This trip we are going to try and do more fishing and less sight seeing, so I would like to do a little less paddling. So traveling the 10 to 20 miles to get to Halls Creek would not be bad at all. We would like to paddle over to Lost Eden but that looks like an easy paddle and shouldn't take more than a half a day.

Our main concern is with being able to find a camp spot away from the marina. With a kayak you are pretty committed to the trip after paddling all day, and being uncertain if you will find a camp spot is not a very warm fuzzy feeling. So sounds like if we go to the back of either Bullfrog or Halls Creek we should be able to find spots to pull out of the water and camp. I really appreciate the efforts of everybody on this page to educate a Lake Powell rookie. We will be down there this Thursday to Tuesday, so if you see a couple of old men out on a couple of kayak come by and say hello.

One last question, as I said we would like to spend a little more time fishing this trip. Would the fishing be better this time of year in Bullfrog or Halls Creek? Or is it like any other body of water in Utah and it just depends on what the fish are feeling like on that particular day?
 
Actually a bunch more questions now that I looked at the bullfrog marina map a lot closer. It looks like launching kayaks from Hobie Cat beach should be possible. Can you camp on the beach as well? We will be driving in Thursday and will need a place to stay that night before setting out on our adventure. Will we be able to leave the truck at Hobie beach while we are out on the lake or would it be a better idea to take it back up to the parking lot?
 
I don't use that area of Bullfrog regularly. Hopefully someone with actual knowledge will respond. I think the main part of the beach is day-use only. However, I've seen people camping very close to that area (just to the east). The official primitive camping area is Stanton - though that area encompasses much more land than just the shoreline inside Stanton Creek. People regularly leave their vehicles in that area. I probably wouldn't recommend it on the beach.
 
Might be worth it to try to snag a lift with someone at the executive ramp. A few $100 could get you a ride to iceberg. I was there last week and saw a 250 hp Lund heading that way in the AM. Just two guys no gear. Less than one hour trip in a fast boat.
 
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We were there, at Stanton last summer and there were 2 trucks parking in the middle of a prime motor home camping spot for 3 days, including prime boat parking. Nobody around the whole time. Turned out it was 3 people in kayaks that used that spot to only park their trucks. It was all legal, but frustrating. Rant over. Sq
 
You have to be a !/4 mile away from any park service structure or road . Cant camp at hobie cat or ferry ramp , I have tried and been busted by park rangers. Just spent 4 days in bullfrog on the sandy beaches that bartplace pictures show . I bring A lot of carpet remnants with me . Was perfect for me. Trolled a day and half and was skunked at Bullfrog and Halls then went to Lake Canyon and bait fished < ended up with about 50 striped bass . 2 to 1 bad . They are digging out the ferry ramp with alot of equipment .I had a fun time, Seemed to be less muscles ( and smaller in size) this year compared to last years.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I really do appreciate it. We are heading out tomorrow and I can't wait! We will probably head over to Halls Creek for a day or two then come back to the Bullfrog area. If you see a couple of old guys out paddling a couple of kayaks come say high. I'll be in a camo hobie outback and my buddy is in a green ascend 12T.
 
shifty said:
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I really do appreciate it. We are heading out tomorrow and I can't wait! We will probably head over to Halls Creek for a day or two then come back to the Bullfrog area. If you see a couple of old guys out paddling a couple of kayaks come say high. I'll be in a camo hobie outback and my buddy is in a green ascend 12T.
Click to expand...
Wear your sunhats and sunscreen the temperature is going up dramatically.
 
Depending on how heavy your kayaks are, you might want to launch from Bullfrog and do a portage into Halls Creek Bay. If you look at a map, you will see an area that connects Bullfrog Bay and Halls Creek Bay when the water gets high enough. Even though the water is low now, I am confident you can find a place to pull your kayaks and jump across the land that separates Bullfrog Bay and Halls Creek Bay. There is a lot of exploring to do in Halls itself. If you decide to head downstream to Lost Eden Canyon, Lake Canyon, or even Iceberg Canyon, Halls would make a great base for starting such an adventure.
bullfrog.jpg
 
...but keep in mind that aerial was taken when the lake was close to full... direct lake access between Bullfrog and Halls doesn't open up until you reach 3670... so you'll have to climb roughly 100 vertical feet and walk your kayak nearly a mile to get to Halls from Bullfrog at that spot at current lake levels...

Even once the lake reaches 3600, your overland walk is about 3000 feet with a 70-foot vertical rise...

And even if we somehow got to 3640, you'd be walking 1200 feet overland with a 30-foot rise...

Good exercise for sure...

Here's a couple of images to illustrate lake level 3574, which is close to where we are now...and 3655, which is higher than we can expect this year...
Halls Creek 3574 8-24-04.jpgHalls Creek 3655 9-14-11.jpg
 
I wouldn't recommend trying to move a kayak between Bullfrog Bay and Halls Creek Bay using the old cut.

I walked the cut in 2016 to remember and reminisce how it was the first time the water height made it possible to cross in the 70's. We were there the weekend it first opened up. It was a big deal...now ICE was close by.

Its a long haul now...very long..on land, and the water is much lower now making it even more to cross.

and to be honest......, kayaks move very fast. We always stop to talk to them along the lake in our Zodiac RIB and see if they are ok, can we help? I saw some down by Iceberg and they said it wasn't that far for them to paddle there.

We have kayaks and it wouldn't be a big deal to paddle to Halls Creek or Forgotten Canyon.

Erik
 
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