Lake Powell

Interesting facts

When full, the lake holds over 24 million acre-feet of water, second in the United States only to Lake Mead downstream.

The reservoir took more than sixteen years to fill after the dam closed, finally reaching full pool on 22 June 1980.

At its deepest the lake reaches about 583 feet, and the Glen Canyon Dam that holds it back stands 710 feet high.

In 2022 the water fell to its lowest level since filling began, and the record was matched again in 2026.

The Colorado River's silt costs the reservoir an average of about 33,000 acre-feet of capacity every year.

The arched chamber called Cathedral in the Desert, drowned in the 1960s, first resurfaced briefly in 2005 as the water dropped.

The spaceship crash at the start of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes was shot on the lake, using a steel hull anchored near Crossing of the Fathers.

Invasive quagga mussels were first found alive in the lake in 2013 and had spread to all parts of it by 2023.

Why it is worth it

Lake Powell is a flooded labyrinth. When the Glen Canyon Dam closed the Colorado River near the Arizona–Utah line in 1963, water began backing up into Glen Canyon and more than ninety side canyons, turning a maze of Navajo, Wingate and Kayenta sandstone into a reservoir some 186 miles long with a shoreline of about 3,000 kilometres. Construction of the dam had begun in 1956; it was dedicated in 1966, and the lake was named after John Wesley Powell, the Civil War veteran who explored the river in wooden boats in 1869.

The beauty of the place lies in the contrast between deep blue water and red and cream rock. Sheer walls streaked with dark desert varnish plunge straight into the lake; buttes and mesas such as Gunsight Butte, Tower Butte and Castle Rock rise from open bays like Padre Bay; the lone monolith of Lone Rock stands in the water near the Utah border. Navigating the side canyons, boats slip into slots so narrow the cliffs nearly close overhead. The creation of the lake was also a loss, and it is remembered as such: Glen Canyon, celebrated by early river runners, and chambers like the Cathedral in the Desert disappeared under the water, and water levels have swung widely over the decades with drought in the Colorado basin.

One of the lake's great destinations is Rainbow Bridge, a vast natural bridge of Navajo sandstone some 290 feet high and 275 feet across, protected as a national monument since 1910 and held sacred by five Native American nations. It is usually reached by a boat ride of about two hours from the marinas near Page, followed by a walk of about a mile. The lake lies within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, established in 1972, and houseboats are the classic way to explore it, drifting from cove to cove and camping on sandstone shelves beneath the stars.

Getting there

The main gateway is the town of Page, Arizona, beside the Glen Canyon Dam; Page Municipal Airport (PGA) is about 3.5 km from the lake. The nearest larger city on the Utah side is Cedar City, about 160 km away. Marinas at Wahweap, near Page, and at Bullfrog, Halls Crossing and Hite give access to the water, and Hite Crossing Bridge is the only bridge over the lake.

From the encyclopaedia

Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds 24,322,000 acre-feet (3.0001×10¹⁰ m³) of water when full, second in the United States to only the downstream reservoir of Lake Mead – though Lake Mead has fallen below Lake Powell in size several times during the 21st century in terms of volume of water, depth, and surface area.

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Lake Powell

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia