Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Glen Canyon In A Nutshell
More than one million acres of incredibly diverse and beautiful land await you in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Lake Powell forms the heart of Glen Canyon, but there is so much more to see beyond the lake! The canyons, buttes and desert sands invite you to discover a place that tells the story of nearly 650 million years of the earth's history.
Glen Canyon NRA is nestled in the center of the Grand Circle, a collection of seven national parks, eight national monuments and numerous state parks, historical sites, prehistoric Indian ruins, colorful ghost towns and stunning geologic formations that reach from northern Arizona into southern Utah.
Established by Congress in 1972, Glen Canyon NRA is one of only 18 national recreation areas under the National Park Service (Lake Mead was the first). National Recreation Areas often consist of lakes and reservoirs created by major dams and are often located in urban areas. The park is the 6th largest national park unit in the lower 48 states!
The park is open 365 days a year. A seven-day entrance permit costs $15 per vehicle and an annual pass costs $30. For boats, a seven-day entrance permit costs $16 per boat, each additional boat $8, and an annual pass costs $30 per boat. Stop at a visitor center or ranger station for current park information, or visit www.nps.gov/glca.
The America the Beautiful— National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass is available to the general public for $80 and provides access to Federal recreation sites that charge entrance fees for one year, beginning from the date of sale. The pass admits the pass holder and up to three additional adult passengers in a non-commercial vehicle (children under 16 are admitted free). The pass can be obtained in person at the park, by calling (888) ASK USGS or via the Internet at www.parkpass.net. Lifetime passes are available for U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are age 62 or over ($10 Senior Pass) or those with permanent disabilities (free with the required documentation). Visit www.parkpass.net for more detailed information.
Getting to Glen Canyon and Lake Powell
By Land: There are two main entry points to Lake Powell. From the south, drive two miles north of Page, Arizona, on U.S. Highway 89 to the Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon Dam. From the north, take Utah Highway 276 to Bullfrog Visitor Center, which is on the highway just before you reach the lake. A free NPS brochure on Glen Canyon NRA, containing a detailed local map, is available at both visitor centers. For marina access information, please see page 20.
By Air: Great Lakes Airlines offers service from Phoenix to Page, Arizona. Several services at the Page Airport can provide the last link to your Glen Canyon destination. Free shuttle buses, rental cars, and charter and scenic air services are available to take you to Wahweap, Antelope Point and Page. Public airstrips with limited tie-downs serve those visitors headed up-lake to the marinas at Bullfrog or Halls Crossing. Pilots of small aircraft can arrange pickup for guests of Bullfrog and Halls Crossing Marinas by communication (Unicom frequency 122.8) before landing at the nearby airstrip. ARAMARK provides free shuttle service to Halls Crossing and Bullfrog. Please call (435) 684-3000 to make arrangements.
Visitor Centers
Carl Hayden Visitor Center has a large-scale relief map of the Colorado Plateau region that can help you to orient yourself. Audiovisual exhibits are available on the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, power operations and Glen Canyon NRA's scenic highlights. It is open daily all year except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with longer hours in summer. Please call (928) 608-6404 or visit online at www.nps.gov/glca for more information. Note: Due to heightened security, visitors may not bring packs or large purses into the Visitor Center.
Bullfrog Visitor Center offers current weather and lake conditions, general park information, a bookstore and exhibits on the natural and cultural history of the area, including a scale model of a slot canyon, an extremely narrow gorge with convoluted walls that is taller than it is wide. You can often touch both walls with your outstretched arms. The visitor center is open seasonally. Call (435) 684-7400 for more information.
Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center near Lees Ferry features outdoor exhibits and a pedestrian walkway over the Colorado River. It is open April through October from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (928) 355-2319 for more information.
Escalante Interagency Visitor Center (NPS/BLM/USFS) is located in the town of Escalante, UT and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, April through November; and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, December through March. Call (435) 826-4315 for more information.
Smaller NPS offices at Dangling Rope, Halls Crossing, Wahweap, Lees Ferry and Hite are open on a limited basis during the summer. For general information, write the National Park Service, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040. For information about services and facilities in nearby Page, Arizona contact the Page-Lake Powell Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 727, Page, AZ 86040; call toll-free at (888) 261-7243 or visit online at www.pagelakepowellchamber.org.
Glen Canyon In Depth
News from the Parks
In Boston Harbor, but a World Away
July 24, 2008 - 2:31pm
BY many measures, the view from the arched doorway of the cobblestone home on Bumpkin Island, off the Massachusetts coast, has most likely not changed much since the 19th century, when hay farmers lived there. Now, as then, the sun dazzles off wind-streaked waves beyond a pebbly shore fringed with staghorn sumac and bayberry. Yet in other ways, the landscape is startlingly altered, thanks to Boston’s skyline, whose clustered, gleaming high-rises jut from a flat horizon like Oz’s Emerald City.
July 24, 2008 - 2:31pm
BY many measures, the view from the arched doorway of the cobblestone home on Bumpkin Island, off the Massachusetts coast, has most likely not changed much since the 19th century, when hay farmers lived there. Now, as then, the sun dazzles off wind-streaked waves beyond a pebbly shore fringed with staghorn sumac and bayberry. Yet in other ways, the landscape is startlingly altered, thanks to Boston’s skyline, whose clustered, gleaming high-rises jut from a flat horizon like Oz’s Emerald City.
Rescue at the Grand Canyon
July 24, 2008 - 10:09am
More than a dozen tourists and two guides had to be rescued from the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon after their raft became stranded. They were taken from their raft to the shore by the National Park Service's inflatable rescue boat.
July 24, 2008 - 10:09am
More than a dozen tourists and two guides had to be rescued from the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon after their raft became stranded. They were taken from their raft to the shore by the National Park Service's inflatable rescue boat.
South Dakota's Wind Cave offers night hikes to see black-footed ferrets
July 24, 2008 - 10:06am
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, S.D. (AP) — Visitors to Wind Cave National Park this summer have the chance to see black-footed ferrets at night. To mark the one-year anniversary of the reintroduction of the creatures to the Black Hills park, rangers are offering night hikes through prairie dog towns in hopes of seeing the rare animal. The program starts at Elk Mountain Campground at 9 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Aug. 16. No reservations are necessary.
July 24, 2008 - 10:06am
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, S.D. (AP) — Visitors to Wind Cave National Park this summer have the chance to see black-footed ferrets at night. To mark the one-year anniversary of the reintroduction of the creatures to the Black Hills park, rangers are offering night hikes through prairie dog towns in hopes of seeing the rare animal. The program starts at Elk Mountain Campground at 9 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Aug. 16. No reservations are necessary.
Illegal jump under investigation in RMNP
July 24, 2008 - 10:02am
Park rangers are investigating after someone leaped from the top of Longs Peak on Wednesday morning, descending with a parachute. BASE jumping is illegal in Rocky Mountain National Park, as it is in all national parks. BASE jumpers are skydivers who jump from buildings, antenna, spans or the Earth rather than aircraft. It's considered an extreme form of skydiving, since a jumper literally has only seconds before impact to deploy their chute. Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson confirmed the 9 a.m. jump from the east side Diamond face of the 14,259-foot peak and said the incident is under investigation.
July 24, 2008 - 10:02am
Park rangers are investigating after someone leaped from the top of Longs Peak on Wednesday morning, descending with a parachute. BASE jumping is illegal in Rocky Mountain National Park, as it is in all national parks. BASE jumpers are skydivers who jump from buildings, antenna, spans or the Earth rather than aircraft. It's considered an extreme form of skydiving, since a jumper literally has only seconds before impact to deploy their chute. Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson confirmed the 9 a.m. jump from the east side Diamond face of the 14,259-foot peak and said the incident is under investigation.
No new cases of virus seen in Yosemite
July 24, 2008 - 9:54am
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- Park officials said Wednesday that they haven't seen any new cases of a gastrointestinal illness that sickened hikers and hospitality employees in the Tuolumne Meadows area over the past two weeks. About 30 people came down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus infection at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and High Sierra camps in the area, said Shane Sims, a specialist in the safety office at Yosemite National Park. The lodge, at an elevation of 8,775 feet, serves as a base camp for day hikers and backpackers. Park rangers began receiving illness reports the weekend of July 12-13; the cases tapered off last week.
July 24, 2008 - 9:54am
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- Park officials said Wednesday that they haven't seen any new cases of a gastrointestinal illness that sickened hikers and hospitality employees in the Tuolumne Meadows area over the past two weeks. About 30 people came down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus infection at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and High Sierra camps in the area, said Shane Sims, a specialist in the safety office at Yosemite National Park. The lodge, at an elevation of 8,775 feet, serves as a base camp for day hikers and backpackers. Park rangers began receiving illness reports the weekend of July 12-13; the cases tapered off last week.
