Lees Ferry (also known as Lee’s Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about 7.5 miles (12.1 km) southwest of Pageand 9 miles (14 km) south of the Utah–Arizona border.
Due to its unique geography – the only place in hundreds of miles from which one can easily access the Colorado River from both sides – it historically served as an important river crossing and starting in the mid-19th century was the site of a ferry operated by John Doyle Lee, for whom it is named. Boat service at Lees Ferry continued for over 60 years before being superseded by a bridge in the early 20th century, which allowed for much more efficient automobile travel.
Lees Ferry served as a military outpost for 19th-century settlements in Utah, a center of limited gold seeking and since the 1920s the principal point at which river flow is measured to determine water allocations in the 246,000-square-mile (640,000 km2) Colorado River basin. Lees Ferry demarcates the boundary between the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado River; the states which make up each basin are legally allocated one-half of the river’s natural flow. Glen Canyon Dam impounds the Colorado a short distance upstream and completely regulates the river flow past Lees Ferry. Lees Ferry has long been a focal point of American Southwest water disputes, and has been called “both the physical and spiritual heart of water history in the arid West”. Today Lees Ferry is a well-known fishing and boat launching point, including for whitewater rafting trips through the Grand Canyon.
Lees 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 main access is by Lees Ferry Road, which splits off from U.S. Route 89 at the hamlet of Marble Canyon, Arizona, on the west side of the Navajo Bridges. The Lonely Dell Ranch Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and expanded to include Lees Ferry in 1997, features several buildings built during and after John D. Lee’s brief tenure at the site along with some remnants of the Charles H. Spencer. The area is managed by the National Park Service within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area as a historical site.
Lees Ferry is the principal starting point for whitewater rafting trips through the Grand Canyon, which are said to offer “a trip backwards through time” as the river cuts through progressively older strata. The majority of trips are run by commercial rafting enterprises using both paddle and motorized inflatable rafts to carry large parties of tourists (up to 24 passengers per raft) on the river with most trips lasting from one week to ten days. Some trips travel all the way to Lake Mead, 277 miles (446 km) downstream, and can last several weeks. Permits for private trips are no longer backlogged on an extensive waiting list, but instead are now based on a lottery system. All but the most experienced rapid runners are discouraged from this potentially dangerous trip.
Trips upstream from the nearby Paria Riffle may be made without special permit (other than a day use boating fee) and users may travel 16 miles (26 km) upstream on calm waters to the foot of Glen Canyon Dam. This reach of the Colorado River is also well known for its status as a Blue Ribbon fishery, thanks to releases of cold, clear water from Glen Canyon Dam that make conditions ideal for introduced rainbow trout. While the river here has been stocked with rainbows since 1964, the implementation of a more stable flow regime at Glen Canyon Dam in 1991 has somewhat reduced the average size of fish caught there due to the increased survival rate of young fish and the resulting competition.
Lees Ferry is also the ending point for backpacking and canyoneering trips down the Paria River, which features historic petroglyphs, slot canyons, waterfalls and natural bridges including Wrather Arch, the longest such formation in the U.S. outside of Utah.
Fishing is an especially important part of the local recreational use of Lees Ferry drawing thousands of anglers a year seeking large trout. In given year there are possible world record fish available in the Glen Canyon Dam area. Several local guides and shops service the water.