Carl Hayden Visitor Center, located next to Glen Canyon Dam, is staffed by the National Park Service and open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. It offers information, films, a relief map, and views of the dam and surrounding landscape from its observation deck. Free dam tours are available daily. The National Park Service also provides a self-service ranger station at Wahweap, drinking water, restrooms, free boat pump-out stations, picnic area with grills, fish-cleaning station, and ranger programs in the summer. Wahweap Marina, 5.5 miles (8.9km) from the visitor center along Lakeshore Drive, provides a variety of services, including: lodging, food services, gift shops, 2 campgrounds (one with hook-ups), laundry, showers, and a service station. Full marina services include: slips, buoys, boat rentals, tours, repairs, dry storage and fueling. The city of Page, 2 miles (3.2km) from the dam and visitor center, has stores, motels, restaurants, churches, hospital, and museum. Page can be reached by surfaced roads year-round, and by air from Phoenix.

Lees Ferry continues to be a center of modern activity.  Here at the very start of the Grand Canyon, adventurous river runners launch their boats for trips down the canyon.  Fishermen enjoy world-class trout fishing upstream to Glen Canyon Dam.  Backpackers finish their 4 or 5 day hike through the Paria Canyon Wilderness Area here.  Day-hikers explore slot canyons and desert ridges. Lees Ferry is 42 miles (61 km) from Page via Hwy 89 and Hwy 89A.  It is 85 miles (125 km) from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon via Hwy 89A and Hwy 64.  The Lees Ferry Junction and Park Entrance is just west of Navajo Bridge .  A paved road leads 5 miles (8 km) to the Ferry area.  A National Park Service campground, ranger station, and public launch ramp are the only services available at Lees Ferry.  There is a gas station, store, post office, motel and restaurant at Marble Canyon , next to the park entrance.  More services are found west on Hwy 89A.

Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center:

Start your visit to Lees Ferry at the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center . Open from April through October, its staff provides information on the area.  A bookstore sells maps and educational material.  Exhibits show the construction of the    Historic Bridge in 1928.  The bridge replaced the dangerous and difficult ferryboat crossing five miles upstream.  Visitors can walk across the old bridge to view Marble Canyon and the Colorado River 470 feet (143 m) below.

Lees Ferry Historic Site:

Just upstream from the Lees Ferry Launch Ramp is the ferry-crossing site and several historic buildings. A “Walking Tour Guide” may be purchased at the entrance to the area.  It tells the story of the different ferryboats and the pioneers, miners, Indians, and tourists who crossed here from 1872 until 1928. Of special interest is Charles H. Spencer’s attempt to extract gold from the clay hills here in 1910.  Two of the stone buildings, a steam boiler, and the remains of a sunken paddlewheel steamboat remain from his efforts. The complete tour is about a 1-mile (1.6-km) roundtrip.  Take drinking water with you.

Lonely Dell Ranch Historic Site:

This historic ranch, near the mouth of the Paria River , was home to the families who operated Lees Ferry. 

In the 1870’s and 1880’s, the place was so isolated that the families working at the crossing needed to be self-sufficient, growing food for themselves and their animals.  Hard labor changed the barren desert into a green oasis. 

The main ranch buildings are about 700 feet (213 m) up the dirt road from the parking area.  A “Walking Tour Guide” may be purchased at the entrance to the ranch. The complete tour of the orchard, log cabins, stone ranch house, and pioneer cemetery is about a 1-mile (1.6-km) round trip. There are picnic tables and shade trees at the ranch.  Take drinking water with you.

Hiking at Lees Ferry:

River Trail - This trail starts at the launch ramp and follows the old wagon road past the fort to the upper ferry-crossing site.  A “Walking Tour Guide” is available.  The two-mile round-trip walk takes about an hour. Fishermen’s trails continue upstream another half a mile, but there is no access into lower Glen Canyon .

Paria Canyon Trail – This trail starts at the Lonely Dell Ranch parking area and continues 45 miles upstream to Hwy 89 in Utah .  Overnight hikes require a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.  Day hikers can enjoy the unique geology of the area. Please use the 14-day parking lot if you will be out overnight.

Cathedral Canyon - Parking for this hike is at the second pullout from Hwy 89A, along the Lees Ferry Road .  This two-mile (3.2-km) round-trip hike is not along a defined trail. You must find your own way down the intermittent stream bed, or wash, inside a narrow slot canyon with interesting rock formations.  Be alert for flash floods.  There is a rapid and beach along the Colorado River at the mouth of the canyon.

Spencer Trail – This historic trail climbs 1700 feet up the cliff behind the Lees Ferry Fort.  It is not regularly maintained but is passable to careful hikers.  Views down Marble Canyon are memorable.

Dangling Rope Marina, 40 miles (64km) uplake from Glen Canyon Dam, replaces the marina that was formerly in Forbidden Canyon near Rainbow Bridge National Monument. This marina is accessible only by water.

Was There Really a Dangling Rope?

According to the late author and Glen Canyon historian C. Gregory Crampton, the answer to that question is "yes." The canyon was named Dangling Rope Canyon in the pre-dam days when some river runners found a rope dangling down from a 40-foot (12m) cliff wall. At the same location were some pecked steps, possibly of prehistoric origin. It appeared, however, that the steps had been enlarged at some time, probably by uranium prospectors in the region in the 1940's and 50's.

Dangling Rope Today

At Dangling Rope, the National Park Service provides a ranger station, restrooms, free boat pump-out station, and emergency communications. During the summer season, interpretive rangers are stationed at nearby Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Rangers from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area patrol Rainbow Bridge National Monument and provide visitor information, even though the monument is a separate unit of the National Park Service and is subject to more stringent regulations regarding visitor use & activities than is Glen Canyon NRA.

The Escalante Subdistrict has no marina or launch ramp to access to Lake Powell. It does, however, provide for some of the best backcountry hiking and camping experiences within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The lower section of the Escalante River, approximately 12 miles, can be reached by boat from the main channel of Lake Powell. All of the canyons in the Escalante drainage feature excellent hiking opportunities.

Early Days

The Escalante River was named in 1872 by A.H. Thompson, a member of the Powell Survey who passed through the upper basin area on a mapping expedition. He was travelling through the area again in 1875 when a group of Mormon pioneers were planning a settlement in the area. Thompson suggested they name their new town Escalante. The name comes from the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776. Two Spanish priests, frs. Dominguez and Escalante, traversed much of the southwest in a grueling expedition in an attempt to reach California from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The party did not reach the Escalante drainage, but Thompson, who knew the history of the area, thought it would be a good way in which to honor one of the first known explorers of the Southwest. Ranching was one of the primary occupations of the new village and the cowboys soon began to push their way into the many canyons of the Escalante seeking good grass and lost cattle. They were among the first non-Indians to see the arches, bridges, alcoves, and other wonders which draw visitors today.

Just prior to World War II, a proposal was put forth in Congress to create Escalante National Park. This proposed park included not only the canyons of the Escalante, but most of southeastern Utah. World War II intervened however and the proposal was all but forgotten in the crush of legislation related to fighting the war. Afterwards, some felt that national priorities had changed and Congress was, perhaps, more reluctant to restrict extractive activities such as mining on so large a chunk of land. Eventually, several national parks and monuments were created in this area, though even their combined size did not approach that of the original Escalante National Park - the park that almost was.

". . . there is always an undercurrent of restlessness and wild longing, 'the wind is in my hair, there's a fire in my heels,' and I shall always be a rover, I know." Everett Ruess

In 1934, an aspiring artist and adventurer, 20 year-old Everett Ruess, arrived in Escalante to continue pursuing his vision of wandering wild areas, including the vast canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. After spending time in Escalante getting to know local residents, he struck out with his burros in the direction of the Escalante canyons. He was never seen again and the mystery that resulted endures as one of the greatest known in the region.

At first, his parents, accustomed to not hearing from Everett for long periods, waited for word from him. Some four months later, however, they began sending letters to various people in the region seeking assistance in finding their son. Over the next year, four different searches were conducted, one of which enlisted the assistance of an expert Navajo tracker. During one of the searches, they found his burros, nearly starved but alive, in Davis Gulch. Also found was an inscription: "Nemo 1934." What "Nemo" meant remains open to speculation, but his parent thought that it might mean "no one," perhaps reflecting on Everett's desire to be a part of the unknown wilderness. Several theories exist to explain Everett's disappearance. Some speculate that he continued his wanderings with a backpack and departed the region altogether. Some suggested that he might have climbed up crumbling cliffs to explore ancient ruins and fell to his death, the body covered by blowing sand. Others suggest that he may been murdered by cattle rustlers. It had been rumored at the time of Everett's disappearance that the government was sending an agent to the area to investigate a series of livestock thefts. It was speculated that Everett might have been mistaken as such an agent. The Navajo tracker, however, claimed that Everett had entered Davis Gulch, but had not come out; he stated there were no other tracks except Everett's.

For more information about Everett Ruess and his wanderings, read Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty, by W. L. Rusho, Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City.

Escalante Today

Escalante is a small town, typical of rural southern Utah, however most major tourist services are available, including: 6 motels, 1 Bed & Breakfast, 2 RV Parks, 3 gas stations (including towing service and auto mechanic), 6 restaurants, 2 grocery stores, a farm supply center, art galleries and gift shops. There is a medical clinic that is open Monday through Friday. The nearest hospital is in Panguitch, about 70 miles west of Escalante.

Halls Crossing Marina:

Halls Crossing was a place well-known on the Colorado River long before the creation of Lake Powell. It was the site of a popular river crossing for many years. Today, Halls Crossing Marina, located on the eastern shores of Lake Powell across from the Bullfrog Marina, offers many services to visitors.

Charles Hall

Special Collections Department
J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Charles Hall was one of the first pioneers to settle in southern Utah. A skilled carpenter and one of the founders of Escalante, Utah, Hall built the boat at the Hole-in-the-Rock which ferried the pioneer company across the Colorado River in 1870. Hall continued operating the ferry with his two sons at that location, but the route was very arduous. In 1880, he found an easier crossing 35 miles (56km) upstream, the present site of Halls Crossing.

The ferryboat that Hall built here was constructed of materials hauled from Escalante, 50 miles distant. Cross planks about 10 feet (3m) long were nailed top and bottom to two 30 foot-long (9m) pine logs. The crude boat was tapered at each end and sealed with pitch. There was no cable or rope to guide the craft and it was steered using only man-powered oars and the river's current, an extremely labor-intensive and chancy endeavor.

Hall began operating the ferry in 1881. Ferry charges were about $5 per wagon and 75 cents for each horse. The approach roads here were much better than at Hole-in-the-Rock. With the completion of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad across central Utah, the rough trek across the canyons became a trip to be avoided. In 1884, the ferry was lost when it either broke its moorings or was cut loose by cattlemen to prevent its use by rustlers. It was not replaced and the Hall family left the area. After termination of the ferry service, Halls Crossing continued to be used as a gateway into Glen Canyon. The Glen Canyon gold rush was beginning and the site was often mentioned in mining location notices. An extensive register of names on a cliff face near mile 199, now covered by Lake Powell, chronicled this activity.

Halls Crossing Today

Today Halls Crossing is the site of a marina on Lake Powell, about 95 (153km) miles upstream from Glen Canyon Dam. The National Park Service maintains a ranger station at Halls Crossing. It also provides a launch ramp and free boat pump-out station.

Bullfrog Marina:

Bullfrog Marina is approximately 95 miles (153km) uplake from Glen Canyon Dam, with the Waterpocket Fold on one side and the Henry Mountains on the other. It offers the largest array of services of any of the uplake marinas.

What's In a Name?

Many people wonder where the bullfrogs are in Bullfrog. It is uncertain just exactly how Bullfrog got its name. In the days before the dam, there was a small rapids on the Colorado River at the mouth of Bullfrog Creek (now Bullfrog Bay). The rapids were named Bullfrog Rapids, probably after the creek. Older maps, however, show Bullfrog Creek on the east side of the river. The drainage that is now Bullfrog Bay was called Pine Alcove Creek on these maps. The most probable scenario was that Bullfrog was (mis)named for Bullfrog Creek. Another story, probably apocryphal, is that Bullfrog was named for a rock formation found on Mount Elsworth, in the Henry Mountains just north of Bullfrog. Though there is no evidence to support this theory, you can see what appears to be a large frog stretched out on the west face of Mount Elsworth when driving south to Bullfrog on Highway 276. This formation is especially visible in the late afternoon sun.

Early Days

Like many of the places in Glen Canyon, the Bullfrog area has a history prior to Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. One of the most fascinating stories recalls the efforts of Robert Brewster Stanton and the Hoskaninni Mining Company to wrest gold from the waters of the Colorado River.

The Stanton Dredge Special Collections Dept. J. Willard Marriott Library University of Utah.

The dredge was hauled, in pieces, from the railhead in Green River, Utah, across the Henry Mountains for over a hundred miles to the rim of Glen Canyon. A steep trail was blasted into Stanton Canyon (today Stanton Creek) and the dredge was hauled down and assembled at Camp Stone.

Remains of the Stanton Dredge,now underwater. Special Collections Dept. J. Willard Marriott Library University of Utah. 

The dredge did not work as Stanton had hoped. He reported gold worth $30.15 in April and $36.80 in May - well short of an investment reportedly in excess of $100,000! The operation was soon abandoned after that and no attempt was made to salvage any of the equipment.

It was reported that in 1938, former company president Julius Stone was on a river trip with some other companions and complained to them that he had never seen any return on his investment in Stanton's dredge. The group stopped at the dredge site and pulled out enough lumber to build a fire and boil a pot of coffee. According to reports, Stone drank a cup and told his friends, "This is the only return I ever had from the Hoskaninni investment. This cup of coffee cost me $5,000!"

The dredge, along with the other abandoned equipment, remained in mute testimony to the futility of trying to capture the fine "flour gold" of the Colorado until the 1960's. It now lies 335 feet (104m) under the waters of Lake Powell.

Bullfrog Today

Today, Bullfrog Marina offers the widest variety of services on the lake outside of Wahweap. There is a National Park Service visitor center which contains several exhibits relating the geological and human history of Glen Canyon. Books, maps, posters and videos about the area are for sale and personnel are on hand to answer questions. This center is open intermittently in March and 8 am - 5 pm daily from April through October. It's closed November through February.

This same building also houses National Park Service offices for the uplake District and Bullfrog Subdistrict. In addition, a medical clinic operates from this building from May through September. A physician's assistant staffs this facility and provides emergency medical care. NPS medics are on duty year-round. Emergency medical evacuation by helicopter and fixed wing aircraft is available.

Horse and Wagon Days

Cass Hite lived in Glen Canyon as long as anyone except the Ancestral Puebloans ("Anasazi"). Cass, who had been prospecting in the Navajo Mountain country, arrived in Glen Canyon in September, 1883. Cass was looking for gold, and he found it in the sands and gravels along the Colorado River. His discovery set off the Glen Canyon gold rush. Cass Hite had reached the Colorado River by way of White Canyon, and near its mouth, he'd found a good place to cross the river. He named it "Dandy Crossing." Indeed, it was the best crossing of the Colorado River above Lees Ferry. The many prehistoric sites in the area suggest that this river crossing was well known to early inhabitants as well as to the Navajo. Hopeful prospectors soon headed for Glen Canyon and the town they named "Hite City." But the gold the miners found was all fine gold dust, difficult to recover, and mining operations soon petered out. Cass Hite built the first structure in the townsite named after him. It was a cabin of notched logs salvaged from the river. A post office was established in 1889. Mail was brought by horseback from the railhead at Green River, 100 miles away. Cass and his brothers operated a small store in conjunction with the post office, services much appreciated by the miners and others passing through. Cass died at his ranch in Ticaboo Canyon in 1914.

Changing Times

All was quiet in Glen Canyon after World War I, but the onset of the Great Depression brought a revival in gold prospecting. Arthur L. Chaffin, who had prospected around the turn of the century, returned during the depression, bought up properties at Hite, and began to develop them, hoping to open Glen Canyon to the general public. It wasn't until 1946 that a fair dirt road was completed between Hanksville and Blanding, Utah. Regular ferry service across the Colorado River began at Hite on September 17, 1946. (Before that time, one had to cross the river as well as one could--swimming the horses and mules or trying to find a boat!) The ferry operated until June 5, 1964, when it was taken out of service as Lake Powell filled the canyon and bridges were built. In 1949, the Vanadium Corporation of America and the Atomic Energy Commission built an experimental mill for the reduction of uranium ore. This mill stimulated uranium prospecting in Glen Canyon, and a small boom camp was built in White Canyon. A post office was established, and a one-room schoolhouse was built. But the mill shut down in 1954, and the camp became a ghost town.

Hite Today

NOTE: Boat launching from Hite is not recommended at this time due to low water. Boat rentals are still available.

Lake Powell has brought new life to Hite. Today, visitors launch power boats from the launch ramp, explore the lake and river canyons, and camp along the shores. A modern highway now crosses the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers on steel-girded bridges. Cass Hite's log cabin, the store, and the post office are gone-- submerged beneath the waters of Lake Powell. New structures have been built, however, providing services and information to the visitor and bringing new life to the once-thriving community of Hite.

Services

Hite offers limited services and access to Lake Powell.

A general store sells limited groceries, supplies, and fishing licenses. Gasoline, dump station, and public phones are available.

The ranger station, located across from the store, is open intermittently. Information, maps, and books are available.

Hite has one launch ramp. At the marina are boat rentals, a store with limited supplies and groceries, fuel dock, and boat pump-out.

There is no lodge or restaurant at Hite, although there are five rental housekeeping units.

Primitive camping is available at the parking area near the Hite launch ramp. (Restrooms and water are available at the top of the launch ramp.) Even more primitive camping (pit toilets, no water) is available at Farley Canyon (4.4 miles south on Hwy. 95 from the Hite junction) and along the Dirty Devil River (on Hwy. 95, approx. 4 miles north of Hite). There is a fee charged at both of these primitive camping areas.

Camping is allowed almost anywhere at Hite, but vehicles must remain on established roads. Be sure to haul out all your trash. Utilize pit toilets or portable toilets. Dump gray water and sewage at the Hite dump station. Pets must be leashed. Firearms (except when legally hunting) and fireworks are illegal.

The closest town to Hite is Hanksville, which has some lodging, restaurants, and a small store. Medical services are available in Bullfrog and in Blanding, Utah.