Park Service Announces No Work Will Done at North Wash Boat Ramp in 2023
by Mike DeHoff
A February 10th Low Water Update from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area announced that the National Park unit will perform no maintenance to the primary take-out for Cataract Canyon in 2023. The notorious 19-year “temporary” North Wash Boat Ramp take-out location has deteriorated to a degree that the recreation area is advising that rafters travel an additional 50 some miles to Bullfrog Marina to take-out.
The National Park Service announcement is a blow to the river running community who relies on the North Wash takeout, and has been struggling to adapt to its rapidly deteriorating condition in the past few years. Many in the rafting community see this as an obvious favoritism toward one user group (reservoir boaters) over another (river runners). After all, the park service spent millions of dollars expanding boat ramps for reservoir users, but have done relatively little for the thousands of river recreators who rely on the North Wash Boat “Ramp”.
Glen Canyon NRA’s foundational document states, “Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, located at the center of the Colorado Plateau, provides for public enjoyment through diverse land- and water-based recreational opportunities, and protects scenic, scientific, natural, and cultural resources on Lake Powell, the Colorado River, its tributaries, and surrounding lands.”
Most of the users who rely on the North Wash Ramp start their trips in Canyonlands National Park. In the heart of Cataract Canyon between Big Drop Two and Big Drop Three, river runners cross into Glen Canyon NRA at the historic high stand of Lake Powell. When the reservoir was full, river groups would travel the remaining ~30 miles on flat water to the Hite area to take their boats out.
In the past 15 years, the Colorado River has been reclaiming the northernmost reach of what was once a reservoir. As it retreated and the river returned, the take-out in the Hite area went through a transition from a functional facility to a ghost town. With Glen Canyon NRA’s recent announcement, it appears this access point is being abandoned by an agency that is charged with stewarding the landscape and river for the general public and commercial outfits that rely on the ramp.
As reservoir levels declined rapidly in recent years, Glen Canyon NRA chose to fast track two separate efforts to extend boat ramps so reservoir-based users could easily launch and retrieve their motorboats from the water. In acute contrast, the lack of attention to maintaining a quality take-out for Cataract Canyon has meant that river runners could no longer safely get vehicles close to the water’s edge and have had to develop systems that are more akin to building pyramids in 2500 BCE.
In the changing river-to-reservoir area near Hite, the only interaction that Cataract Canyon river runners have with Glen Canyon infrastructure or resources is to rely on a safe place to end their trip. Apparently there is little incentive for the National Recreation Area, whose main revenue stream is motorized reservoir recreation, to maintain an access point for users who come from Canyonlands. This approach might make sense in the case of a resort or a private country club for houseboaters — but it is not. Even though Glen Canyon is a National Recreation Area, it is still a national park unit.
Glen Canyon NRA’s Foundational Document states, “Fluctuating lake levels and sedimentation in key areas have eliminated or complicated visitor access to the lake in multiple locations. An updated strategy to provide and maintain visitor access and commercial services is needed. Examples include lake access and commercial visitor services plan.”
Every time I am at the North Wash Boat Ramp I can’t help but think “If Glen Canyon National Recreation staffers had to use this boat ramp on a regular basis there is no way that this access point would be allowed to be in this condition.”
There is growing frustration from many of the commercial concessionaires and other river runners who frequently raft Cataract Canyon, the central river corridor of Canyonlands National Park. Some outfitters are contemplating not selling any more Cataract trips for the coming year. They would join the growing list of companies who choose to not run Cataract solely because of the condition of the take-out. On many river running forums private parties say that they choose to not run Cataract due to the lack of a safe and reasonable take-out.
Glen Canyon NRA has stated they are in the scoping process to decide where the best location for an access point in the Hite area could be. This has been the “we are working on it” statement for the past three to five years. But their recent announcement offered no further update, and concessionaires are now left with little guidance on how to run 2023 Cataract Canyon trips — one of the most popular river destinations in the state.
Like so many other issues relating to Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, it just leaves you wondering, “what will happen next?”
