Glen Canyon Dam

The First Lady Lady Bird Johnson dedicated Glen Canyon Dam on September 22, 1966, though the Colorado had been backing up behind it since 1963. At 710 feet it is the second-highest concrete-arch dam in the country, after Hoover. It generates power for millions across the Southwest and stores water drawn on in drought. It also drowned Glen Canyon itself, the labyrinth of side canyons Powell had named, a loss that galvanized the modern environmental movement and still stirs argument about what the West traded away here.

What the plaque says

Colorado River Storage Project, dedicated by the First Lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, September 22, 1966., United States Department of the Interior, Stewart L. Udall, Secretary., Bureau of Reclamation, Floyd E. Dominy, Commissioner., [The following marker is inside the Powerplant Gallery:], Lake Powell, Major John Wesley Powell led scientific exploration parties down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and in 1871-72. Years later Powell became a leader in government science programs, headed the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of American Ethnology, and advocated enlightened land and water conservation policies which resulted in the passage of the Reclamation Act of 1902. In commemoration of his courage, his wisdom, and his years of public service, the reservoir behind Glen Canyon Dam has been named Lake Powell.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Antelope Canyon — 7.9 mi
  Tsé bighánílíní — where the water runs through the rock

More markers nearby

• Glen Canyon Bridge — steps away
• Hydroelectric Power — steps away
• Dinosaur Tracks — steps away
• Colorado River Storage Project — 1.7 mi