Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Glen Canyon is an mind-bogglingly vast canyon in deep red rock country, which has been filled with North America's largest man made lake, Lake Powell. Surrounded by nothing but red slick rock, the crystal blue lake is strikingly out of place and looks like it belongs on Mars. Lake Powell would be totally deserted were it not for its popularity with house-boat owners, who sail around this dead and beautiful expanse. The desert surrounding the lake is mostly uninhabited except for grazing long horn steer, jackrabbits, and lizards.

Glen Canyon Facts

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a recreation and conservation unit of the National Park Service (USA) that encompasses the area around Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona, covering 1,254,429 acres (5,076 km²) of mostly desert. The recreation area borders Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park on the north, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on the west, and Grand Canyon National Park on the south.

The 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 may carry more emphasis on natural preservation). As such, the area has been developed for access to Lake Powell via 5 marinas, 4 camping grounds, two small airports, and houseboat rental concessions.

The southwestern end of Glen Canyon NRA can be accessed via U.S. Highway 89 and Arizona State Route 98. Use Utah SR-95 and Utah SR-276 to get to the northeastern end of the recreation area.

The current Lake Powell lies above Glen Canyon, which was flooded by the Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1966.

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