Page, Arizona

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area - Lake Powell

Highway 89 at Echo Cliffs is open to Page
Hotel Rates - Availability

Page, Arizona, situated on a mesa in extreme north-central Arizona, is the gateway to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell. Created as a company town for the construction of Glen Canyon Dam in the 1960s, it has steadily grown, adding more and more amenities not usually experienced in a small desert town.

In the southern portion of the Great Basin Desert, Page is also becoming a strong regional shopping area with national store chains. Page has a relaxed lifestyle, but is certainly competitive in the marketplace. Page has more than three million visitors per year; the average stay is 48 hours. It's a young town with an average age of between 33 and 40. Visitors from all nations are welcomed in the Page/Lake Powell area.

Population / Elevation

6,200 people /4,300 Lake Powell is 3,700 feet above sea level.

Weather / Climate

Summers are extremely hot, with little, if any, shade. Winters are moderately cold with nighttime lows often below freezing. Spring weather is highly variable with extended periods of winds. Fall weather is usually mild. Temperatures range from 110° F in June & July to 0° F in December and January. Precipitation is generally light (less than six inches annually) though heavy rains and flash flooding can occur in spring and summer. Recommend lightweight, light colored clothing for summer, including a hat. Layers of clothing are best for other times of the year.

Page, Arizona - Monthly Climate Normals
	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
H °F	46	43	51	59	69	79	91	96	93	84	71	55	44
L °F	30	25	31	37	44	53	63	69	67	58	47	35	26

Avg °F	38	34	40	48	56	66	77	82	80	71	59	45	35
Rain	6.49	.53	.48	.67	0.45	0.45	0.16	0.50	0.68	0.69	0.80	0.55	0.52

Page Az

Things to Do

Lake Powell - There are six marinas on Lake Powell, five of them with launch ramps. Lodging and boating services are provided year-round at these developed areas on Lake Powell, except Dangling Rope. Be sure to take the boat trip to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. It is an easy, fun way to see Lake Powell.

Upper Antelope Canyon - Located on Navajo land, Antelope Canyon is one of the most beautiful slot canyons in the American Southwest. Photographers from all over the world visit this canyon to capture images of the elusive light beams and mesmerizing colors and lines that shape its twisting sandstone walls. More...

Canyon X and the more formidable Cardiac Canyon are located on the same cracked tract of Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Hiking Canyon X

History The Glen Canyon project was conceived by the United States Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Upper Colorado River Storage Project. This was to be the dividing point of the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin of the Colorado River. Toward that end, the Glen Canyon Project was authorized by Congress in the spring of 1956; that fall the first construction contract was awarded. President Dwight D. Eisenhower pushed a button in Washington, and by voice control, a detonating cap burst and sent the first shower of rock spilling into Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. The work had begun.

This was also the beginning of Page, Arizona. Page, unlike other towns in the area, was created in 1957 to provide housing for dam workers and their families. This was a major undertaking as there were no roads into what became the construction camp of Page. The city was named by the Bureau for John C. Page who had been Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. Mr. Page had overseen the construction of Hoover Dam.

Lake Powell and the city of Page on the hill.

Because the land was, by treaty, part of the Navajo reservation, the Bureau of Reclamation working together with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Navajo Tribe, had previously effected a land exchange. The tribe was given land in New Mexico in exchange for the 17 square mile area that would become the site of Page.

A transportation artery was cut from U.S. Highway 89, up the cliff face towards Manson Mesa. Trailers were the first types of homes and then the Bureau built houses for its management personnel. The Merritt/Chapman Construction Company as the prime contractor provided trailer parking for its people. A school in a Quonset hut was begun and Page began its climb toward the town of today.

Page is in the upper right of the above photo. Eventually, atop Manson Mesa, roads were graded, pipes stubbed in, and one grocery, one gas station and several churches were constructed. Quonset hut dormitories came next. The cafeterias for the workers produced hundreds of meals a day and more than a few funny stories.

Completion of the bridge across the Colorado River, just downstream from the progressing dam construction, finally made work go much more smoothly and allowed the town of Page to grow much quickly. Prior to completion of the bridge, the road from one side of the canyon to the other, a visual distance of little more than a thousand feet, was 250 miles of slow driving.

Today Page has 6,800 citizens and sits on Manson Mesa between two of the largest electrical generation units in the West. Glen Canyon Dam has a 1,288,000 kilowatts capacity when fully online. The other power plant to the South is the Navajo Generating Station, a coal-fired steam plant with an output capability of 2,250,000 kilowatts. The coal is mined at the Kayenta Mine on Black Mesa by the Peabody Coal Company. It is transported 78 miles to Lake Powell, first by an automatic, covered conveyor, then by completely automated, electric trains.

Power Plant near Page

Lake Powell Boating Guide and Map

Hotels/Motels

There are hotels and motels in Page with something for every taste and price range. For more information and a complete list. Click for Hotel Rates, availability, reviews and reservations online.

Camping & RV Parks

There are many commercial and National Park Service locations for camping and RVs in and near Page.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

For a complete list contact:

Page-Lake Powell Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 727
Page, AZ 86040
(928) 645-2741
chamber@pagechamber.com
www.pagechamber.com

Resources & Nearby Attractions

Resources

Cities & Towns
(Highway Miles)

Kanab, Utah: 73 miles west.
Cameron, Arizona: 83 miles south.
Jacob Lake, Arizona: 80 miles west.
Kayenta, Arizona: 95 miles east.
Flagstaff, Arizona: 136 miles south.

Parks & Monuments

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: 30 miles north.
Navajo National Monument (UT): 85 miles east. miles east.
Monument Valley Tribal Park: 117 miles east.
Grand Canyon National Park (North Rim): 124 miles southwest.
Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim): 140 miles southwest.
Sunset Crater National Monument: 130 miles south.
Wupatki National Monument: 120 miles south.
Walnut Canyon National Monument: 140 miles south.

Recreation & Wilderness Areas

Lake Powell National Recreation Area (Wahweap): 15 miles west.
Pariah Canyon Wilderness Area: 20 miles west.
Kaibab National Forest: 60 miles west.

Historic & Points of Interest

John Wesley Powell Museum
Page, AZ
928-645-9496 voice
928-645-3412 fax.
Navajo Reservation: 5 miles east.
Lees Ferry: 37 miles south
Glen Canyon Dam: 5 miles west
Black Mesa: 85 miles east. miles east.

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