Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Description

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) offers unparalleled opportunities for water-based & backcountry recreation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah, encompassing scenic vistas, geologic wonders, and a panorama of human history. Additionally, the controversy surrounding the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of Lake Powell contributed to the birth of the modern day environmental movement. The park offers opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, backcountry hiking and four-wheel drive trips.

Site Information

Hours & Seasons:  Carl Hayden Visitor Center, Page, AZ, daily, Memorial Day - Labor Day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; rest of year, daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Bullfrog Visitor Center, Bullfrog, UT, intermittently in March, daily April - October, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed November - February. Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center, near Lees Ferry, daily mid-April - October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends only, early April and November, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Directions:  Lees Ferry and the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center is located on Arizona Highway 89A. Carl Hayden Visitor Center in Page, Az is on Highway 89. The Bullfrog Visitor Center is located on Utah Highway 276. Halls Crossing is also reached by Highway 276. Hite is located just off Utah Highway 95.

Weather:  Summers are extremely hot, with little, if any, shade. Winters are moderately cold with night time lows often below freezing. Spring weather is highly variable with extended periods of winds. Fall weather is usually mild. Temperatures range from 110° F (38°C) in June & July to O° F (-16°C) in December & January.

Fees:
Individual - $7 - 7 Days
Vehicle - $15 - 7 Days
Glen Canyon NRA Annual Pass - $30

Activity Fees:
Boating (first motorized vessel) - $16  7 Days
Boating (each additional motorized vessel) - $8 7 Days
Boating/Annual - $30 Annual

John Wesley Powell was the first person to fully explore and write about the canyons of the Colorado River. On the first of two trips down the Colorado, Powell and his men saw and named many features, including Glen Canyon. Though several people, both before and after Powell, lived, worked, and traveled in Glen Canyon, it remained a place largely unknown to most of the United States. It was still terra incognita in the early 1950's when the Bureau of Reclamation proposed building a dam, one of many proposed for the Colorado River, at Glen Canyon's southern end.

The nation's environmental movement, though still in its infancy at this time, had just waged a successful campaign (led by the Sierra Club) to prevent the construction of a dam at Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument. The wonders of Glen Canyon, however, were still undiscovered by those who might have preserved it.

Construction of the dam began in 1956. It was completed in 1962, but the lake did not completely fill until 1980. Lake Powell, which covered most of Glen Canyon, was named, ironically, after the man who had first written of the canyon's many charms.

Today, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) and Lake Powell serve the needs of a diverse population. The lake provides opportunities for a variety of water-based recreational pursuits. The dam provides water storage for irrigation and produces electricity for millions. Most of the backcountry (the lake comprises only 13% of the total recreation area) is still as vast and remote as it was before the dam. In addition to their recreational and practical uses, the dam and the lake sparked a controversy which contributed to the birth to the modern-day environmental movement and began a debate which continues today. To what extent can humans alter their landscape before they lose their connection to the land? What is the price of progress and is it ever too high? What is the legacy we will leave to our children?

It's easy to relax and have fun at Glen Canyon. But it's also important to appreciate the remaining wonders of geology here, marvel at the stories of the different people who lived and traveled here, and be in awe of the enormous silence and solitude in the backcountry. And to remember a remarkable place that existed just a few years ago -- a place that no one knew.

Camping

Open All Year
There is a National Park Service campground at Lees Ferry ($12/night). Concessioner operated campgrounds are available in Wahweap, Bullfrog, and Halls Crossing on a first-come, first served basis. The fee is $18.00 per night (Golden Age and Golden Access cards are honored). RV campgrounds are available at Wahweap, Bullfrog, and Halls Crossing. Primitive camping is available at the following vehicle accesible shore line areas: Lone Rock (Wahweap area), Stanton Creek, Bullfrog North & South (Bullfrog area), Hite, Dirty Devil and Farley Canyon (Hite area). These sites have no facilities except for pit toilets. The fee is $6 per vehicle per night. Shore line camping outside developed areas is possible lake-wide (campers must have self-contained or portable toilets). There is no fee.

For More Information on this campground please call 800-528-6154

Other Activities

Fishing, boating, boat camping, water-based recreation, summer ranger programs, half and full-day tours to Rainbow Bridge, a guided tour of Glen Canyon Dam, four-wheeling on some of the park's backroads, backpacking in the Escalante or Orange Cliffs, exploring the lake's numerous side canyons by boat.

Visitor Centers

Bullfrog Visitor Center
Open From 05/01/2000 To 10/21/2000 8 am - 5 pm
Phone - 435-684-7400
Location - Highway 276
Closures - Closed from approximately November 1 to February 28. Open intermittently in March
Exhibits - Exhibits relating to geology and the human and natural history of Glen Canyon. Ancestral Puebloan ("anasazi") and pioneer artifacts. A life-size model of a slot canyon.
Available Facilities - Bookstore, rest rooms, medical clinic (May thru early October only).

Carl Hayden Visitor Center
Open All Year
Open From 05/29/2000 To 09/04/2000 7 am - 7 pm
Open From 09/05/2000 To 05/27/2001 8 am - 5 pm
Phone - 520-608-6404
Location - Located at Glen Canyon Dam on Highway 89 in Page, Arizona.
Closures - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years
Special Programs - Rangers give map talks in the summer. Orientation Film.
Exhibits - Dinosaur tracks exhibit, Glen Canyon during the Ice Age, three-dimensional map of Glen Canyon NRA, photos and history of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam.
Available Facilities - Bookstore, rest rooms, dam tours.

Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center
Open From 04/15/2000 To 10/30/2000 9 am - 5 pm
Location - Highway 89A near Lees Ferry, Arizona
Closures - Weekends only early April and November (hours: 10 am - 4 pm). Closed December thru March.
Exhibits - Pedestrian walkway across the old Navajo Bridge which spans the Colorado River in Marble Canyon, an interactive video.
Available Facilities - Bookstore, restrooms.

For Additional Information Contact:

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
P.O. Box 1507
Page, AZ 86040-1507
520-608-6404

For more information visit the National Park Service website