Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon in Utah and Arizona, covering of mostly rugged high desert terrain. The recreation area is named for Glen Canyon, which was flooded by the

Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page, Arizona, Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powe ...

, completed in 1966, and is now mostly submerged beneath the waters of Lake Powell. Glen Canyon NRA borders Capitol Reef National Park and

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their r ...

on the north, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument on the west, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument and the northeasternmost reaches of

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...

on the southwest, and the Navajo Nation on the southeast. The southwestern end of Glen Canyon NRA in Arizona can be accessed via U.S. Route 89 and State Route 98.

State Route 95 Route 95, or Highway 95, may refer to routes in the following countries: __TOC__ International * European route E95 Australia * Great Northern Highway (Western Australia) * Fossickers Way (New South Wales) Canada * British Columbia Highway 95 ...

and State Route 276 lead to the northeastern end of the recreation area in Utah. Glen Canyon NRA was established in 1972 "to provide for public use and enjoyment and to preserve the area's scientific, historic, and scenic features." The stated purpose of Glen Canyon NRA is for recreation as well as preservation (whereas a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

may carry more emphasis on natural preservation). As such, the area has been developed for access to Lake Powell via five marinas, four public campgrounds, two small airports, and numerous

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. How ...

rental concessions.

Geology

The geology of the area is dominated by the Glen Canyon Group, consisting of the Navajo Sandstone, Kayenta Formation, and Wingate Sandstone. The entire

stratigraphic section A stratigraphic section is a sequence of layers of rocks in the order they were deposited. It is based on the principle of original horizontality, which states that layers of sediment are originally deposited horizontally under the action of gr ...

includes rocks dating from the Cretaceous to

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

periods.

Recreation

Lake Powell has nearly of fish-holding shoreline and provides opportunities to fish for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and striped bass that swim in the waters of the recreation area. Lake Powell Houseboat

Several local marinas and sports outfitters provide houseboats, powerboats, jet skis, kayaks, fishing gear, and related equipment to visitors.

Graffiti Removal and Intervention Team (GRIT)

With millions of visitors to the recreation area each year, it is inevitable that vandals will deface the rock faces of the canyon. Glen Canyon NRA has implemented a voluntourism program wherein volunteers sign up for a five-day houseboat trip during which they help remove graffiti from the canyon walls.

References

External links

Official National Park Service site

Official National Park Service Concessionaire Site
Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas, managed by Aramark, is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Glen Canyon Conservancy

Page Lake Powell Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control National Park Service National Recreation Areas Parks in Coconino County, Arizona Tourist attractions in San Juan County, Utah Tourist attractions in Garfield County, Utah Tourist attractions in Kane County, Utah Protected areas on the Colorado River

Geology

Recreation

Graffiti Removal and Intervention Team (GRIT)

See also

References

External links