Lees Ferry

Lee's Ferry (also known as Lees Ferry or Lee Ferry) is named after John D. Lee, a Mormon settler who established a ferry crossing on the Colorado River near Page, Arizona. Originally named the Paria Crossing, where the Paria River meets the Colorado River, the site features a natural slope from the cliffs to the riverbank--allowing safer crossing of the Colorado River in otherwise impassable terrain. The ferry was established in 1871 by Lee and financed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lee's Ferry was the only crossing of the Colorado River by ferry from Moab, Utah to Needles, California and was used by travelers between Utah and Arizona until 1928 when the Navajo Bridge (now highway US 89A) over Marble Canyon opened.

The ferry was of such importance to travelers that the amount of ferry traffic it attracted forced Lee to leave the site to evade law enforcement officers for his part in the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre. The ferry continued to operate under the LDS church until about 1910 when Coconino County, Arizona managed the ferry until its closure in 1928.

Modern crossing

A steel wire cable basket crosses the canyon at this point.

Current use

A large raft is launched

Some supplies are essential

Lee's Ferry is considered the official beginning of Grand Canyon National Park on the Colorado River and is used as a fishing area and river rafting launch site. The site features several buildings built at the site since 1874 and a steamboat abandoned in 1913 by a mining company's operation in the canyon walls nearby. The area is managed by the National Park Service within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area as a historical site.

Lee's Ferry is the principle starting point for rafting trips through the Grand Canyon, attractive since it offers a geological travel backwards through time as the river cuts through progressively older strata. The majority of trips are by dedicated commercial rafting enterprises that use substantial motorized inflatable rafts to carry large parties of tourists on the river (up to two dozen passengers per raft), with most trips lasting a week to ten days but with some trips of several weeks that travel all the way to Lake Mead, some 277 river miles downstream. Permits for private trips are backloged on an extensive waiting list, with up to ten years required to obtain a permit and all but the most experienced rapid runners are discouraged from this potentially dangerous trip.

Trips upstream from the Paria Riffle may be made without special permit (other than a day use boating fee), and users may travel upstream on calm waters to the foot of Glen Canyon Dam. Camping sites are also available for a minor Park Service fee.