Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Preserving the Park
By understanding and protecting the fragile natural and cultural resources of Glen Canyon, you can help preserve the park for the future.
Historic and Archeological Sites
Glen Canyon's prehistoric Indian ruins and remains of 19th-century settler and mining activities are protected by the NPS under law. You are invited to visit the five open sites: Defiance House, Three Roof Archeological Site, Colorado River Petroglyph Panel, Lees Ferry Historic District and Lonely Dell Ranch Historic District. (While still open to the public, Three Roof Ruin and Defiance House are no longer immediately accessible by water.) All other sites are closed. You may observe and photograph them from a distance, but entering them is prohibited by law.
Be careful not to disturb any site. Study of these sites is in progress and the movement of any pottery pieces, artifacts or building materials can render the sites useless. Defacement of a site or theft of artifacts carries civil and criminal penalties. Please contact a ranger or any law enforcement official if you find archeological sites defaced, or if you witness someone removing artifacts; (800) 227-7286.
Trash Tracker Program
The Trash Tracker Program is a cooperative effort by the NPS and Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas to clean up the 1,960 miles of Lake Powell's shoreline. Members of the NPS's Volunteers in the Parks (VIP) Program spend five or more days aboard a houseboat-barge cleaning up trash and debris along the shoreline. They bring their own food, personal gear and enthusiasm. The barge logs 3,000 miles annually in this enormously successful program, which is sponsored by ARAMARK.
For information or to volunteer for the Trash Tracker Program, www.nps.gov/ glca/supportyourpark/trashtracker.htm or call (928) 608-6200, or write to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040.
People wishing to volunteer specifically at Glen Canyon can also call the Park's Volunteer Coordinator at (928) 608-6200.
Graffiti Removal & Intervention Team (GRIT)
The park has undertaken a new program entitled True GRIT. This program is similar to the popular Trash Tracker program. Volunteers can sign up for a five-day minimum houseboat trip on the lake where they remove modern graffiti. This can be strenuous and very fulfilling work. Volunteers will enjoy embarking from Antelope Point Marina, where this houseboat is moored. For more about this program, visit www.nps.gov/glca/supportyourpark/ grit.htm or call (928) 608-6200 or write to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040.
Cryptobiotic Crusts
The thin, dark, cryptobiotic crust covering soil along the crevices and edges of sandstone rock is a pioneer organism. Its crusty, clumpy top is a combination of mosses, algae, lichens and fungi. This community requires little nourishment from its surroundings, prevents erosion and provides a nitrogen-enriched area for future plant communities to colonize.
Cryptobiotic crusts can take a century to develop and can be destroyed instantly by a few human steps pulverizing the crust and turning it to dust. When traveling through a cryptobiotic area, stay on rocks or trails. If you absolutely cannot avoid an area, walk single file.
Endangered Species
In this relatively new wildlife preserve, recovery programs to protect endangered species have begun. The razorback sucker, a fish native to the Colorado River, is now an endangered species. An experimental population was placed in the ponds at the Lake Powell National Golf Course in Page, Arizona, in 1996. In the predator-free water, fingerlings grew to maturity and were transistor-implanted for tracking. The adult razorbacks were successfully released into the San Juan River arm of Lake Powell in 1997 and 1998.
Various programs protect other endangered species including the Colorado squawfish, the bony tail chub, the humpback chub, Brady's pincushion and the Jones cycladenia.
Glen Canyon In Depth
News from the Parks
Denali National Park Goes Greener With New Hybrid Commercial Bus From IC Bus
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
Canyoneering Heaven At Zion National Park
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
Shenandoah National Park Launches Multimedia Tour Inviting Visitors to Experience the Blue Ridge Mountains Like Never Before
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
Hiker tackles every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
Rabid bat in Olympic National Park puts visitor, three employees in treatment
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
