Marble Canyon is the section of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

canyon in northern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

from

Lee's Ferry Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state li ...

to the confluence with the Little Colorado River, which marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon.

is a common launching point for river runners starting their journey through Marble Canyon and then onward to the Grand Canyon. Marble Canyon is also well known for the Navajo Bridge, where US Highway 89A crosses the Colorado River. Marble Canyon marks the western boundary of the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

. In 1975, the former Marble Canyon National Monument, which followed the Colorado River northeast from the Grand Canyon to Lee's Ferry, was made part of Grand Canyon National Park. The name Marble Canyon is a misnomer because there is no marble there. Although

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

knew this when he named the canyon, he thought the polished limestone looked like marble. In his words, "The limestone of the canyon is often polished, and makes a beautiful marble. Sometimes the rocks are of many colors – white, gray, pink, and purple, with saffron tints." Marble Canyon is the site of one of the last great proposed dam projects on the Colorado, the

Marble Canyon Dam The Marble Canyon Dam, also known as the Redwall Dam, was a proposed dam on the Colorado River in Arizona. The dam was intended to impound a relatively small reservoir in the central portion of Marble Canyon to develop hydroelectric power. Plans ...

. Proposed and investigated in the early 1950s by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

, the proposal met substantial opposition, notably from the Sierra Club, when a revived proposal was considered by the state of Arizona as part of the

Central Arizona Project The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River to the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu ne ...

from 1965 to 1968. The proposed dam was finally abandoned in 1968. Exploratory holes, which were drilled in the

Redwall Limestone The Redwall Limestone is a resistant cliff-forming unit of Mississippian age that forms prominent, red-stained cliffs in the Grand Canyon, ranging in height from to . Lithology Redwall Limestone consists predominantly of light-olive-gray to ...

of the canyon walls in an early phase of the abortive project, can still be seen at Mile 39.2.

Geology

The uppermost walls of Marble Canyon are composed of

Kaibab Limestone The Kaibab Limestone is a resistant cliff-former, cliff-forming, Permian geologic formation that crops out across the U.S. states of northern Arizona, southern Utah, east central Nevada and southeast California. It is also known as the Kaibab Fo ...

upon the

Toroweap Formation The Middle Permian Toroweap Formation is a thin, darker geologic unit, between the brighter colored units of the Kaibab Limestone above, and Coconino Sandstone below. It is a prominent unit in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, found through section ...

upon

Coconino Sandstone Coconino Sandstone is a geologic formation named after its exposure in Coconino County, Arizona. This formation spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. ...

Ecology

Marble Canyon is the only home of the endangered cactus '' Pediocactus bradyi''.''Pediocactus bradyi''.
The Nature Conservancy.

References

External links

Marble Canyon – Nature, culture, & history; “GrandCaHistory.org”
{{Authority control Colorado River Canyons and gorges of Arizona Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona Grand Canyon Grand Canyon, East Rim