$450,000
Wide-open water, level to the shoreline
3 bd4 ba
3,650 sqft
180 ft shore
Single-slip stationary
$2,500/ft
W. Bulach
· CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Photographs of Lake Powell via Wikimedia Commons. Credit and licence on each image — hover to view, click through to the source.
Lake Powell covers 161,390 acres in Arizona and drops to 583 feet at its deepest point. It is a reservoir impounded in 1963 and managed by Bureau of Reclamation. Water level is the thing to understand here: the pool can move roughly 40 feet, typically drawn down in variable. That changes dock function, boat access, and what the shoreline looks like in listing photos versus in person. Water clarity averages around 25 feet, placing it among the clearer bodies of water in the country. Short-term rental posture: Allowed outside NRA. Confirm at the municipal level before underwriting rental income.
Each axis is computed by published formula from this lake's own attributes. How we score.
Computed from measured clarity, trophic state, and drawdown magnitude — not an opinion. See the formula.
Weighted: water 26% · recreation 22% · investment 20% · value 18% · access 14%.
The dock sits at full-pool elevation. At low pool the waterline retreats and the reach to navigable water changes. Scale is illustrative; the 40 ft figure is from published operations for this lake.
Idealized cross-section. Max depth 583 ft, average 187 ft. Depth at a specific dock depends on local bathymetry — verify at the property.
Allowed outside NRA
What a median-priced home on Lake Powell actually costs to carry, with waterfront-specific line items most calculators omit.
| Principal & interest | $51,529 |
| Property taxes | $8,558 |
| Hazard insurance | $3,423 |
| Flood insurance | $2,400 |
| Utilities | $2,700 |
| Maintenance reserve (1.1%) | $8,965 |
| Septic service | $520 |
| Well & water testing | $260 |
| Dock maintenance | $900 |
| Winterization / seasonal close | $750 |
| Shoreline / seawall reserve | $960 |
| Total | $80,964 |
We bought in 2005 and have never regretted it. The lake is busy on holiday weekends and quiet the rest of the time. Get a dock on the main channel if you can — the coves warm up and weed over by August.
Main channel is fantastic. Some of the back coves get shallow and mucky by late summer. Walk the actual shoreline before you commit, not just the listing photos.
Prices here are meaningfully lower than the lake an hour north for water that is nearly as clear. Fewer restaurants and services, which is the tradeoff.