Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Forgotten Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is the only non-trail to make Trails.com's list of 20 Top Trails of 2003. But the scenic flat-water route fed by drought-stricken Lake Powell is becoming just that -- more trail than water. "Normally when the lake is up, it's about a four- to five-mile paddle in," says ranger Max King, district interpreter for the recreation area, who says the lake is 100 feet below its normal water level.

From Glen Canyon Bridge on U.S. Highway 89, you can see both sides of an argument. To the north is placid Lake Powell, a big, blue tropical cocktail in the arid no man's land of southeastern Utah. It's Exhibit A in the case for letting 42-year-old Glen Canyon Dam stand. To the south is the Colorado River, testily emerging from impoundment, cutting through sheer rock walls on its way to the Grand Canyon, wild and free, the way nature made it.

For years, people came to Lake Powell to water ski, laze on house boats and admire the red and tan desert cliffs. Not until a drought lowered the sparkling blue water did they realize what lay at the bottom. The dry spell exposed an underwater dump of oozing auto batteries, toilets and other garbage--enough to fill 100 trucks--that had been hidden for a decade. Two companies that rented houseboats on the lake under a concession with Glen Canyon National Recreation Area have agreed to pay $1.

Drought is slowly emptying Lake Powell and reversing the flooding in scenic Glen Canyon, achieving a goal sought by environmentalists and creating new recreational opportunities for hikers, photographers and anglers. The Colorado River began filling Lake Powell when Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963 on the Utah-Arizona border, creating the second largest reservoir in the West. "[It] ruined a very beautiful place," says Kyle Walker, owner of Glen Canyon Kayak Guides.

From Glen Canyon Bridge on U.S. Highway 89, you can see both sides of an argument. To the north is placid Lake Powell, a big, blue tropical cocktail in the arid no man's land of southeastern Utah. It's Exhibit A in the case for letting 42-year-old Glen Canyon Dam stand. To the south is the Colorado River, testily emerging from impoundment, cutting through sheer rock walls on its way to the Grand Canyon, wild and free, the way nature made it.

Drought is slowly emptying Lake Powell and reversing the flooding in scenic Glen Canyon, achieving a goal sought by environmentalists and creating new recreational opportunities for hikers, photographers and anglers. The Colorado River began filling Lake Powell when Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963 on the Utah-Arizona border, creating the second largest reservoir in the West. "[It] ruined a very beautiful place," says Kyle Walker, owner of Glen Canyon Kayak Guides.

A 22-year-old Brigham City, Utah, man who disappeared while trying to retrieve an inner tube that had drifted from shore in Lake Powell was the third drowning victim during the past week at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near the Utah-Arizona state line, officials said Thursday.

These places offer exceptional quiet, according to the National Park Service: Arizona Chiricahua National Monument Fort Bowie National Monument Grand Canyon (off-season) Tonto National Monument California Death Valley Colorado Dinosaur National Monument Hawaii and Samoa Haleakala National Park Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Kalaupapa National Historical Park National Park of American Samoa, Tau and Tutuila Units Nevada Lake Mead National Recreation Area New Mexico Aztec Ruins Chaco Culture

A 26-year-old Huntington Beach woman was killed when the vehicle she was riding in went off a scenic southern Utah road and crashed, National Park Service authorities said Monday. Michelle Eckroth died of injuries suffered in the one-vehicle accident Sunday on the Burr Trail, about 40 miles north of the Utah-Arizona state line, said Karen Whitney, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area spokeswoman.

Float into autumn on the blue waters of Arizona's Lake Powell with a lodging-and-boating package that starts at $175 a night. The deal: The Bed-and-Breakfast package includes overnight accommodations at Lake Powell Resort, breakfast for two in the hotel's Rainbow Room and a three-hour scenic boat tour of Navajo Canyon.

Forgotten Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is the only non-trail to make Trails.com's list of 20 Top Trails of 2003. But the scenic flat-water route fed by drought-stricken Lake Powell is becoming just that -- more trail than water. "Normally when the lake is up, it's about a four- to five-mile paddle in," says ranger Max King, district interpreter for the recreation area, who says the lake is 100 feet below its normal water level.

For years, people came to Lake Powell to water ski, laze on house boats and admire the red and tan desert cliffs. Not until a drought lowered the sparkling blue water did they realize what lay at the bottom. The dry spell exposed an underwater dump of oozing auto batteries, toilets and other garbage--enough to fill 100 trucks--that had been hidden for a decade. Two companies that rented houseboats on the lake under a concession with Glen Canyon National Recreation Area have agreed to pay $1.

Snowmelt will raise half-empty Lake Powell 50 feet, opening a popular shortcut for boaters for the first time in five years, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said. The Castle Rock Cut -- still a stretch of exposed rock -- will let house boats get to beaches and Rainbow Bridge National Monument more quickly from Wahweap Marina by shaving a dozen miles off the trip. The peninsula is expected to be covered by enough water for boating by mid-June.

Need a quick, soul-reviving fix of Yosemite? A webcam pointed at one of Yosemite National Park's main attractions, soaring Yosemite Falls, went live this week. It joins Yosemite cameras already in place at Half Dome and El Capitan. Find them here .  “In a lot of ways I equate it to all of the beautiful picture books that we've had on our coffee tables, or the art from the 1870s that made Yosemite exciting to people around the world when they saw it for the first time,” said Michael Tollefson, president of the nonprofit Yosemite Conservancy, which placed the cameras.