Glen Canyon by the Numbers: More Than a Reservoir
By Mike DeHoff and Eric Balken
Photography by Elliot Ross
There has been a lot of hoopla about the recent visitation figures released by the National Park Service at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GCNRA). And for good reason: they are noticeably higher than years past — a reported 5 million visits (up from 3 million in 2022) to the park unit based on preliminary data from the National Park Service.
There is a prevailing assumption from the media and the public that every visit to Glen Canyon equals a visit to the reservoir, or that the reservoir is the only attraction for visitors. But upon closer inspection of NPS’s breakdown of locations visited, the numbers tell a different story: most visitors coming to Glen Canyon are not there for the reservoir. Acknowledging this reality would go a long way toward fostering the diverse and evolving recreational, ecological, and cultural resources of Glen Canyon — and working toward the Park Service’s sustainability commitments.
We exported and analyzed the annual visitation numbers from the NPS website. The breakdown shows us that the reservoir is not the main focus of interest in the region. We can assume with high confidence that Escalante, Hite, Lee’s Ferry, and Horseshoe Bend are nearly all non-reservoir districts. These areas include river runners coming down Cataract Canyon and launching Grand Canyon Trips at Lee’s Ferry, hikers in the Paria and Escalante regions, and sightseers at the Horseshoe Overlook. Based on these figures alone, we see that at least 51% of visits were to non-reservoir areas.
The Numbers
While the other districts of Bullfrog, Wahweap, and Halls are marina-focused, not every visitor to these areas necessarily comes to recreate on the reservoir. Some are campers, RVers, or road trippers checking out a number of the plateau’s parks.
Take a look at the visitation numbers for Halls Crossing for example. Halls had significantly more recreation visits than Bullfrog (the main marina for the northern reservoir), despite its boat ramp being closed for almost half the year and the Halls Ferry itself being out of operation. The Halls area has no hotel or restaurant, and far fewer services than Bullfrog Marina, so it’s hard to believe that the region saw more reservoir traffic than Bullfrog.
If the Halls numbers are accurate, they must include land-based recreation and river running, as the district also includes the takeout for the San Juan River. How do those users contribute to GCNRA’s visitation totals? The figures released by NPS don’t make that distinction.
The Hite district numbers also beg for explanation. The region, which used to be home to the reservoir’s northernmost marina, has since become a flowing river cutting through large sediment deposits. There is a sparsely used campground near the old marina site, as well as the takeout for river runners coming off of Cataract Canyon. The records show 14,356 visitors in November and 9,726 in December — months when there is little to no river running traffic. The numbers we see in December could reflect only Highway 95 traffic, picked up by counting vehicles on the road. A more clear picture of the specific types of recreational visits to these areas would be extremely helpful for land managers and advocacy groups, as this region has gone through extensive change in the past decade.
Extrapolating our findings and distinguishing between reservoir visits vs river and land visits, we would likely see the overall visitation numbers get closer to a 60/40 split, with non-reservoir visitors being in the majority.
The Rivers of Glen Canyon
As long as there is a reservoir behind Glen Canyon Dam, visitors will recreate on it. But as the reservoir has declined over the past two decades, the park has changed significantly. Areas that used to be a playground for houseboats and jet skis are now lush riparian rivers and streams, with well-established native plant and wildlife communities. The peripheral reaches of the reservoir’s high-water era are now free-flowing rivers, with thousands of visitors boating down them every year.
If you compare the number of flowing river miles to impounded river miles in GCNRA, half of the waterways managed by GCNRA are flowing rivers. In total there are almost 200 miles of navigable, flowing river in GCNRA: approximately 39 miles in Cataract/Narrow Canyon, 59 miles on the San Juan, 55 miles on the Escalante, 21 miles on the Dirty Devil, and 20 miles below the dam (almost 100 of those miles were once under the reservoir).
These figures will change from year to year with fluctuations of the reservoir, but suffice to say there are a lot of river miles in GCNRA. Glen Canyon’s rivers don’t get the same recognition as the reservoir. The restoring river miles, as both recreational and ecological resources, have hardly been acknowledged by government agencies.
In a Draft EIS released last year on near-term Colorado River Operations, it was stated that river rafting in GCNRA above Glen Canyon Dam wasn’t a significant enough resource to be considered in its analysis; despite the thousands of river runners in the park. The North Wash boat ramp, the primary takeout for visitors who float Cataract Canyon every year (4,500 in 2022), has been all but abandoned until a new location can be established — hopefully by 2027. Not only has this become hazardous to river runners on private trips, it is also a financial burden to Moab and Green River based outfitters who must now motor an additional 50 miles to Bullfrog to take out their boats.
Regardless of personal opinions about the reservoir in Glen Canyon, it is now only 33% full — despite last year’s massive runoff — and climate projections suggest the Colorado River’s flow will continue to decrease in coming years. With this in mind we can expect the changes happening in Glen Canyon to continue. Non-reservoir use is likely to grow in the park, and its management should be optimized to accommodate it.
It is wrong to assume that all visits to GCNRA are because of the reservoir.
The Challenges and Opportunities of Modern Day Glen Canyon
The changes at Glen Canyon have created immense challenges for the Park Service. It would be hard to find another unit of the National Park system that has gone through as much transformation as Glen Canyon. Park Service staffers have done their best to adapt to the changes at the park, and protect and preserve resources in many areas of Glen Canyon. But as long as there is a large reservoir in the park that fluctuates wildly, these challenges will persist.
Furthermore, the changes happening in Glen Canyon are opening up new opportunities for recreation and the rebirth of the canyon’s unique riparian and upland ecosystems — documented extensively by Glen Canyon Institute, the Returning Rapids Project, and the media.
Fostering these new recreational and ecological resources in Glen Canyon would align with the National Park Service’s Green Parks Plan, which has the mission “To provide a framework for the NPS to reduce its environmental impact at all levels of the organization.” Houseboating requires purchasing thousands of dollars worth of fuel. When it was in operation, Dangling Rope Marina alone sold 1.5 million gallons of gas per year. What better way to reduce environmental impact at GCNRA than to optimize the park for users who aren’t cruising around a reservoir in gas guzzling boats?
In addition to the Green Parks Plan, some research is starting to show that the way the Bureau of Reclamation is operating the reservoir is perhaps the most impactful factor within GCNRA. Giant sediment deltas are being deposited and remobilized where rivers enter the reservoir, and the rising and falling waters of the reservoir scrub riparian and upland vegetation — important habitat for wildlife.
To quote former GCNRA superintendent Billy Schott who spoke about the prospect of Glen Canyon without a reservoir in 2021, “We’ll have more people coming here to raft than they have in the Grand Canyon. It’ll be a different place, but people will still enjoy it. It’s just change. We just have to adapt to it. There’s just no end to how much we can do.”
