Cruising the West: Boat Tourism on America’s Public Lakes

5 Locations | Curated by Anaëlle DePoint, Northern Arizona University

Water has always been a scarce but integral part of the Intermountain West’s identity. Glacial lakes and reservoirs in places like Yellowstone, Glacier, and Lake Powell offer unique “experience-based” tourist opportunities. Although railroads and stagecoaches first expanded visitor access to such areas, their remoteness, rough terrain, and limited infrastructure slowed the development of trails and roads. Boating emerged as an exciting way to visit the country’s outdoor playgrounds in ways that other transportation modes could not.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Department of the Interior faced the challenge of balancing conservation and visitor accessibility. Private individuals and companies sought permission to develop visitor services in protected federal areas. The government began issuing temporary leases on public land for such operations, called concessions. This system, still in use today, regulates and holds concessionaires accountable for their ecological footprints. If concessionaires violated development guidelines, park officials could revoke their permits if necessary. Boating operations became one of the most sought-after concessions in early national park tourism, encouraging responsibly run operations to maintain their leases.

Americans exploring via boat offered intimate connections with their public lands. As early as the late nineteenth century, tourists could cruise vast bodies of water via rental crafts or jump aboard a concessionaire’s ship to hiking trails, esteemed hotels, narrow canyons, or, in some cases, a makeshift zoo. Boating in the landlocked Intermountain West was a novel, thrilling opportunity for tourists to truly appreciate the country’s unique, “wild” landscapes.

Yellowstone Lake, in Yellowstone National Park, is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. Visitors arrive eager to take in the mountains, glacial waters, and wildlife that surround it. Concessionaire E.C. Waters ran a lucrative steamship operation transporting guests across its waters for two decades, but his business practices and violations of park regulations led to its downfall.
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Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is a first-of-its-kind testament to the friendship between Canada and the United States. Glacial lakes, dramatic mountain faces, and abundant wildlife are just a few of the Glacier and Waterton Lakes’ shared features. The parks also feature the enduring craftsmanship of Captain J. W “Billy” Swanson, the prolific boat builder in the region.
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Established in 1929, Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) is known for its iconic landscape of the Teton Range, as well as its glacial lakes that dot its foothills and wildlife that fill the Jackson Hole valley. Jenny Lake, lying at the foot of the mountains, has long been a jumping-off point for visitors eager to explore the park’s many attractions.
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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.
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