Even though it was quite a drive (95 miles) from Monument Valley, we decided to visit Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation. Along the way we passed this huge rock formation. It reminded us of Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz! Named Agathla Peak, it is an eroded volcanic plug that rises 1,500’ above the desert floor (and is 7 miles north of Kayenta, AZ). Shiprock in NM is also part of the Navajo Volcanic Field. These rocks served as navigational aids for hundreds of years in the region.
About 20 miles south of Kayenta is Navajo National Monument established in 1909 to protect three well-preserved cliff dwellings (Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription Rock). An overlook provides an expansive view of Tsegi Canyon where the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings are located. Hopi, Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute, and Zuni all have ancestral roots to the canyon.
I would love to see these cliff dwellings, but pets were not allowed on any of the trails. We’ll be back. We continued on our way to Glen Canyon. The 1.25M-acre national recreation area is between Lees Ferry, AZ, and Orange Cliffs of UT. The Glen Canyon Dam impounded the Colorado River above the dam to form Lake Powell when it was opened in 1966.
Before crossing the bridge, John pulled over so I could snap some photos of the dam and Glen Canyon. It’s pretty amazing! John Wesley Powell led a Colorado River expedition in 1869 and wrote of the rugged beauty of Glen Canyon, a deep, 15-mile long gorge. You can see some of the deep sandstone cliff walls below the dam, but most are now beneath Lake Powell.
The Visitor Center is on the right on the other side of the bridge.
An outside display of fossilized dinosaur footprints (170M years old) found here can be seen near bridge overlook. The bridge has a span of 1,271’ and height of 699’.
Impressive exhibits await in the visitor center. Glen Canyon is in the middle of the 1,450 miles of the Colorado River Watershed from its origin in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California in Mexico. This is a model of the Glen Canyon Dam.
The Colorado River supplies most of the fresh water to 5M customers across 7 states (WY, NV, UT, CO, CA, AZ, and NM). The second photo is a display of the revenue the dam is generating on the electrical grid (and those number increase rapidly!)
It took until 1980 for the lake to fill to capacity (27M acre feet). The dam is 710’ high and is an arch-gravity dam modeled after the Hoover Dam. The concrete is 300’ thick at the base and 25’ at the top. The project took 3.5 years of preparation (building road, bridge, town of Page, AZ, diversion tunnels, and electrical lines) followed by 2.5 years to build the dam.
Norman Rockwell was invited by the Bureau of Reclamation to visit and paint the newly constructed Glen Canyon Dam. Rockwell wanted people in the picture and was introduced to Navajo John Lane and his family. Here is the result.
Most of the river and canyons (for 186 miles) are now deep below Lake Powell. There have been decades of criticism by environmentalists about the huge ecological impact the dam has had on the Colorado River and surrounding region, not to mention the impact to sacred archeological sites. The counter arguments are the ever-increasing demand for fresh water, electricity, and flood control.
At the Visitor Center, you can obtain information about tours by boat or air. Also, guided tours for hiking, kayaking or fishing are available. We headed north from the Visitor Center to explore the Wahweap area. Here’s a view of Lake Powell looking south towards the dam.
Looking to the north, we saw this houseboat anchored near shore. Renting (or owning) a houseboat on Lake Powell is hugely popular recreational activity…we saw many of them at the Wahweap Marina.
Navajo Mountain (the highest summit at 10,367’ in the Navajo Nation) and Tower Butte can be seen in the distance in the photo below. These were important landmarks for travelers for thousands of years.
Continuing to the Lake Powell Resort Lodge, we parked and went for a walk to reach the lake. Of course, the first thing our doggie, Sadie, wanted to do was to go for a swim.
Nearby was a lovely beach area where we saw a couple of people enjoying the water and sun.
The marina was full of houseboats and other boats to rent. That sounds like a great family vacation! Maybe one day…
Marinas and boat launches in Lake Powell provide access to the water as there are many high cliffs along the perimeter of the lake.
Today we came to see the dam and lake, but also to obtain information for a future visit. We want to come back here to do some hiking, take a tour to Rainbow Bridge National Monument (only accessible by boat), and see more of the recreation area. For additional information about Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, go to www.nps.gov/glca.
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