Art Greene and Lake Powell

Lake Powell is one of the largest reservoirs in the country by both volume and length, with almost a hundred side canyons extending into the surrounding arid, red-hued lands of southern Utah. Its waters quickly became a hub for outdoor recreation, with concessionaires like Art Greene pioneering desert boat-driven tourism.

The Glen Canyon Dam, which spans the Colorado River by the Utah-Arizona border, created Lake Powell in 1963. The lake submerged Glen Canyon to hold water and generate energy, and it remains a contested environmental issue. Nonetheless, Lake Powell attracts millions of visitors a year. Congress created the Glen Canyon Recreation Area (GCRA) in 1972 to center the region around leisure just as much as conservation. GRCA also borders Rainbow Bridge National Monument, only accessible by boat or a lengthy hike from the Navajo Nation. Rainbow Bridge, whose establishment predates that of GCRA, holds spiritual significance for nearby Indigenous tribes and attracts visitors looking for a trip “off the beaten path.” As Lake Powell’s waters rose, however, Rainbow Bridge and other surrounding features became more accessible for those traveling by boat.

            Art Greene was an early entrepreneur in the Glen Canyon who provided visitor services before Lake Powell was even created. Previously working as a river guide, cowboy, and oil rigger, to name a few, Greene and his family moved to Arizona from Colorado in 1943. They went on to manage the Marble Canyon Lodge, then bought the Cliff Dweller’s Lodge just down the road in 1949. The lodges, located near the Utah-Arizona border, catered to early river runners and outdoor enthusiasts. Greene launched the first commercial river trips upriver from Lee’s Ferry to Rainbow Bridge (a route that would be interrupted by the dam’s creation). Earl Johnson, his son-in-law, was the main supervisor of the river trips.

As early as 1945, Greene had noticed dam site surveyors in the area, and, after suspecting that the dam would disrupt his business downriver, he jumped at the prospect of lucrative lake tourism. The family acquired a commercial lease on the state grazing land nearby, planning lodging and recreation facilities. The Greenes also built a road, airstrip, and employee infrastructure in the area. The National Park Service (NPS), which had taken over administration duties from the Bureau of Reclamation, granted the Greene family a concession in 1959 to continue construction of the recreation area, now called Wahweap Marina.

By 1966, the family had worked with NPS to develop lodgings and boat ramps, a $3 million project to provide full access to America’s newest “playground”. Earl Johnson ran lake tours aboard boats like the Rainbow Trail for the family’s Canyon Tours, Inc. These tours ranged from daily trips to Rainbow Bridge to five-day overnight excursions. Tour boats brought passengers to features like the Glen Canyon Dam and the various side canyons of Lake Powell. Alongside guided tours, Canyon Tours owned a fleet of rental crafts for private use. As tourist rates increased, the family operation sold its concession to the Del Webb Corporation, a national developer of real estate and recreation properties, in 1976.

Today, Lake Powell’s low water levels not only hinder its water storage and power generating capacity, but also the ability to access features like Rainbow Bridge by boat. Guided tours persist, but are completely dependent on evaporation and drought conditions. Lake Powell still functions as a recreation hub for desert-dwellers in search of rare days on the water, as well as visitors from outside the West looking for deserts, canyon walls, and wide-open spaces.

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