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Lake Powell
America's Favorite Houseboating Destination
Lake Powell is named for Civil War veteran Major John Wesley Powell, who explored the Green and Colorado rivers and down through the Grand Canyon in 1869.
In August of 1869, Powell and eight companions passed through the site of the present day Glen Canyon Dam.
Glen Canyon National Recreation area, established by Congress in 1972 is the home of Lake Powell. Comprised of 1.25 million acres with only about 13% or 161,390 acres of it occupied by Lake Powell. The lake originally took 17 years to build and fill to today's level - from 1963 to 1980 filling to the planned level of 3,700 feet above sea level.
Glen Canyon Dam was engineered  and constructed as part of the Colorado River Storage Project. The main purposes of the dam was to provide water storage for the southwest and to generate power for a five state grid of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.
Glen Canyon Dam was engineered and constructed as part of the Colorado River Storage Project. The main purposes of the dam was to provide water storage for the southwest and to generate power for a five state grid of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.
Lake levels fluctuate depending on the spring fun-off from the mountains and the releases needed to produce electricity from the dam's eight generators. Ladybird Johnson dedicated the dam on September 22, 1966.
The  lake partly in Arizona and mostly in Utah is more than 500 feet deep in places. It is the second largest man-made lake in the United States. It is 186 miles long and has 1,960 miles of shoreline, more than the entire west coast of the continental US. The lake offers 96 major canyons - perfect for exploring by boat.
The area is classified as a "high desert" area because of 4,300 foot elevation. The climate is arid and humidity is generally less than 40%. Lake waters warm in early June and stay warm well into October. Water clarity is unrivaled in other fresh water lakes.
Year round fishing includes striped bass, large and smallmouth bass, crappie, catfish (and very, very large carp who love ice cream!) Fish enjoy moderate water temperatures of 45 - 85 degrees and the lake never freezes over. Spring is the most active time of the year. Early morning and late in the day are the best in the summer primarily because of activity on the lake. In the fall, the fishing is a bit slower and deeper, but still very productive. Winter is still a very productive time to fish the lake.
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