Lees Ferry

For five hundred miles the Colorado runs walled in stone, and this was the one place a wagon could reach the water and cross. That geography made Lees Ferry. In 1873 Latter-day Saint settlers cut a road down from Kanab and launched a ferryboat, sending families on to colonize the Little Colorado country. A post office and trading post followed. The crossing carried Arizona-bound pioneers until 1929, when the Navajo Bridge finally spanned the gorge downstream and made the ferry obsolete overnight.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Antelope Canyon — 12 mi
  Tsé bighánílíní — where the water runs through the rock

More markers nearby

• Historic District River Trail — steps away
• Lees Ferry Fort — steps away
• Upper Ferry Site — 0.4 mi
• Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness — 0.7 mi