Lees Ferry facts for kids
Lees Ferry is a special place on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona, in the United States. It's about 7.5 miles (12 km) southwest of Page and 9 miles (14 km) south of the Utah–Arizona state line.
This spot is unique because it's the only place for hundreds of miles where you can easily reach the Colorado River from both sides. Because of this, it was a very important river crossing for a long time. In the mid-1800s, a ferry service was started by John D. Lee, and that's how the place got its name. The ferry ran for over 55 years until a bridge was built in the early 1900s, making travel much easier.
Lees Ferry was also used as a military outpost in the 1800s for settlements in Utah. Later, people looked for gold there. Since the 1920s, it has been the main place where the river's flow is measured. This measurement helps decide how much water each state in the Colorado River basin can use. Lees Ferry marks the boundary between the Upper and Lower parts of the Colorado River basin. The states in each basin are legally allowed to use half of the river's natural water. Today, Lees Ferry is a popular spot for fishing and launching boats, especially for whitewater rafting trips through the Grand Canyon.
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Geography and River Features
Lees Ferry is located in northern Arizona, right where the Paria River joins the Colorado River from the north. It sits in an open valley, just downstream from Glen Canyon and a short distance above Marble Canyon. Marble Canyon is the very beginning of the Grand Canyon. This makes Lees Ferry special because it's the only place for more than 260 miles (420 km) where the Colorado River isn't surrounded by steep canyon walls. This open area made it a key crossing point before the Navajo Bridge and Glen Canyon Dam Bridge were built in the 20th century.
At Lees Ferry, the Colorado River is also much calmer and smoother than the parts above and below it. Another old crossing point in Glen Canyon is now underwater, covered by Lake Powell. Lake Powell was formed by the Glen Canyon Dam, which is about 16 miles (26 km) upstream. Lees Ferry is part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and is seen as the northern end of Grand Canyon National Park. It's about 689 miles (1,109 km) upstream from where the Colorado River flows into the Gulf of California, which is roughly halfway along the river's total length.
The valley around Lees Ferry formed because of a natural rise in the rock layers of the Colorado Plateau. This rise caused older, softer rock layers to be exposed at river level. These layers, called the Chinle Formation and Moenkopi Formation, were formed about 208–245 million years ago from ancient seabeds and river deposits. Because these rocks are easier to wear away than the layers above and below them, the land gradually slopes down to the river at Lees Ferry.
History of Lees Ferry
Early People and Explorers
Long ago, the Lees Ferry area was home to early people. The first were Paleo-Indians, who lived here about 11,500 years ago. Then came the Archaic culture about 8,000 years ago. More recently, the Anasazi, Paiute, and Navajo peoples lived in the valley. We know the Anasazi used the area around the 1100s because of ruins found nearby. However, these groups didn't use the canyon parts of the Colorado River much. They preferred the open plains above for hunting. Lees Ferry later became a disputed area between the Navajos and Paiutes, who both saw it as a good place for their animals to drink water.
The first Europeans to find Lees Ferry were part of the Domínguez–Escalante expedition in the 1700s. This group was trying to find a land route between Spanish settlements in New Mexico and California. In late 1776, they needed to cross the Colorado River. Their Native American guides told them about two places to cross. When the explorers reached Lees Ferry in October, the river was too wide and deep. They had to go to another crossing point more than 40 miles (64 km) upstream. They finally crossed the river almost two weeks later. This crossing point is now under Lake Powell and is called Crossing of the Fathers.
In the 1800s, Lees Ferry became a way for white settlers from Utah to move south into Arizona. Most of these settlers were Mormons, who were looking for more land. Even though the river at Lees Ferry was usually too deep to walk across, its calm current made it a good place to cross by boat. Jacob Hamblin successfully crossed the river here in 1864. Over the next few years, the Mormon presence grew. They even built a small fort, Lee's Ferry Fort, to protect against raids. But these buildings eventually fell apart because it was hard to live in the valley.
John D. Lee and the Ferry (1870–1876)
John D. Lee, who gave Lees Ferry its name, came to the crossing in 1870. His goal was to set up a regular ferry service for Mormon settlers traveling south. Lee had been involved in a sad event called the Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857. Years later, Lee moved to this remote Colorado River crossing.
Lee arrived in September with some of his family and started a small settlement called Lonely Dell. The ferry officially began in January 1873 with a boat named the Colorado. This was the first of many boats that would cross the river here. The ferry was located upstream from where the Paria River joins the Colorado. This meant passengers had to climb a difficult path called "Lee's Backbone" to get up the south side of the valley. Four years later, Lee was arrested by the U.S. government and left the area.
The Ferry Continues (1877–1929)
After John D. Lee left, his wife Emma kept the ferry running for two years. In 1878, she found a new ferry route below the Paria River. This new route helped travelers avoid the difficult "Lee's Backbone" climb. However, this route couldn't be used in the summer because the water levels were too high from melting snow. In 1879, the LDS Church bought the ferry. They put Warren Marshall Johnson and his family in charge. In 1896, Jim Emett took over. He added a cable across the Colorado River to help keep the boats from being swept downstream during high water.
During this time, Lees Ferry also attracted people because of gold discoveries in southern Utah. Gold seekers came to the area as early as 1889. The biggest gold mining effort was led by Charles H. Spencer in 1910. He planned to get gold from the Chinle Formation. Spencer brought in a lot of equipment, including a 92-foot (28 m) steamboat called the Charles H. Spencer. This was supposedly the largest boat ever to float on the Colorado River upstream of the Grand Canyon. But the mining operation failed, and Spencer left in 1912 without any money. The steamboat sank in 1921, and its pieces are now scattered along the Colorado River.
The ferry kept running until 1928. In 1929, the first Navajo Bridge was finished about 4 miles (6 km) downstream. This bridge made road travel between Utah and Arizona much faster. The ferry was actually important for bringing materials to build the bridge. But in June 1928, the ferryboat capsized, and three men drowned. The ferry was never replaced. The bridge was finished seven months later, turning Lees Ferry from a busy travel spot into a quiet area.
Water Rights and the Colorado River
Since August 1921, Lees Ferry has been home to a stream gage run by the U.S. Geological Survey. This gage measures the river's flow and has one of the longest records of river flow in the United States. The river flow measured here is the main way water is shared among the seven U.S. states and two Mexican states in the Colorado River basin.
The Colorado River Compact of 1922 divided the river's water equally between the Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and northern Arizona) and the Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, and Nevada). Lees Ferry is the imaginary line that divides these two "basins."
It was thought that the Colorado River's natural flow was about 16.5 million acre-feet (20.3 cubic kilometers) per year, based on early measurements at Lees Ferry. To use all this water and prevent it from "wasting" to the ocean, the U.S. government built large dams on the Colorado River system. The area around Lees Ferry was considered for the first dam, but a different site was chosen further downstream, where Hoover Dam was completed in 1936. In the 1960s, the area was looked at again, leading to the building of Glen Canyon Dam in 1966. When Lake Powell was filled by this dam, it covered historical places like the Crossing of the Fathers and Charles Spencer's old mining operation. The dam also helped control floods, making the river flow much smoother past Lees Ferry. This was a big help for ferry operations in the past.
Lees Ferry has been a central point in water arguments in the American Southwest. It's even called "the physical and spiritual heart of water history in the arid West." From the 1940s onward, it was found that the Colorado River's flow was actually less than what was agreed upon in the treaties. Studies in the 2000s suggest that the river's actual sustainable flow past Lees Ferry is between 13.5 and 14.7 million acre-feet (16.7–18.1 cubic kilometers). This difference creates challenges for water supply in the river basin.
Lees Ferry Today
Lees Ferry is known as the official start of Grand Canyon National Park on the Colorado River. It's a popular spot for fishing and launching river rafting trips. You can get there by Lees Ferry Road, which turns off from U.S. Route 89A near the Navajo Bridges.
The Lonely Dell Ranch Historic District is a special area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes several buildings from when John D. Lee lived there and some parts of the Charles H. Spencer steamboat. There's also a small historical cemetery nearby. The National Park Service manages this area as a historical site within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Lees Ferry is the main starting point for whitewater rafting trips through the Grand Canyon. These trips are like "a trip backwards through time" as the river cuts through older and older rock layers. Most trips are run by companies using large rafts that can carry many passengers. These trips usually last from one week to ten days. Some trips go all the way to Lake Mead, which is 277 miles (446 km) downstream, and can last several weeks. If you want to go on a private rafting trip, you now enter a lottery system for permits instead of waiting on a long list. These trips can be dangerous, so they are not for beginners.
You can also take trips upstream from Lees Ferry without a special permit (just a day-use boating fee). You can travel 16 miles (26 km) upstream on calm waters to the base of Glen Canyon Dam. This part of the Colorado River is famous for its excellent fishing, especially for rainbow trout. The cold, clear water released from Glen Canyon Dam makes it perfect for these fish. Rainbow trout have been stocked here since 1964.
Lees Ferry is also the ending point for backpacking and canyoneering trips down the Paria River. This river has old petroglyphs (rock carvings), narrow slot canyons, waterfalls, and natural bridges. One of these is Wrather Arch, which is the longest natural bridge in the U.S. outside of Utah.
Fishing is a very important part of what people do at Lees Ferry. Thousands of anglers come every year looking for large trout. It's even possible to catch world-record fish in the Glen Canyon Dam area in a given year.
Lees Ferry in Movies
Lees Ferry has been featured in movies. In 1924, Irvin Willat filmed parts of The Heritage of the Desert here with a cast and crew of 200 people. Lees Ferry is also mentioned as a stop in the famous 1939 film Stagecoach.
Scenes from the movie Into the Wild, which is based on a book by Jon Krakauer, were filmed at the Lees Ferry National Park Service Station in 2006. Actors Emile Hirsch played Christopher McCandless, and Steven Wiig played the Lees Ferry Ranger, Steve Koehler.
Images for kids
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The entrance to Lonely Dell Ranch at Lees Ferry Recreation Area.
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A man fly-fishing on the Colorado River at Lees Ferry, Arizona.
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A historic desert fruit orchard at Lees Ferry Recreation Area.
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A hiking trail along the Colorado River at Lees Ferry Recreation Area.
