Hole-in-the-Rock Crossing

This is where the San Juan expedition ran out of canyon. In January 1880, roughly 250 Mormon colonists lowered 83 wagons down a widened crevice in the 1,200-foot cliff to the Colorado, ferried across, and pushed on to found Bluff — a six-week journey that took six months, with no lives lost and three babies born. The route served as a wagon road for barely a year before Hall's Crossing replaced it. Lake Powell drowned the crossing in the 1960s; the pioneers' monument, once at the water's edge, was carried up to the gorge rim to keep it dry.

What the plaque says

No. 81 Official Marker Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association Erected August 12, 1939 "Hole-in-the-Rock" Crossing Mormon pioneers of San Juan Valley crossed the Colorado River at "Hole-in-the-Rock" January 26, 1880. Twenty-six wagons were lowered over the cliff that day. A total of 250 persons were in the party. All made the perilous descent and ferried the river here. Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Hole-in-the-Rock Arch — 3.9 mi
• Dance Hall Rock — 13 mi