Park Service Updates Where You Can Drive at Glen Canyon
Published Date: 1/13/2025
Rule
Summary
Starting February 12, 2025, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is updating its rules about where and how you can drive motor vehicles on roads and off-road trails. These changes affect visitors who love exploring by car, ATV, or other motorized rides, aiming to protect the park’s natural beauty while keeping adventures fun and safe. If you’re planning a trip, get ready for clearer rules and remember to share your thoughts by the deadline!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 2 costs, 2 mixed.
Bans for OHVs/ATVs on specific roads
Starting February 12, 2025, the rule prohibits off-highway vehicles (OHVs) and street-legal ATVs on an 8-mile segment of the Poison Spring Loop in the Orange Cliffs Special Management Unit and removes the superintendent’s ability to open the upper Flint Trail to those vehicle categories. The rule also prohibits OHV and street-legal ATV use on seven named unpaved GMP roads (Dry Mesa Road ~4.31 mi; Dirty Devil Spur ~1.14 mi; Cove Canyon Spur ~0.65 mi; Flint Trail Spur ~0.72 mi; Ticaboo Mesa Road ~1.45 mi; Muley Point Road ~1.26 mi; Johns Canyon Road ~7.49 mi), and notes these road changes account for 25 of 295 miles (about 8%) of unpaved roads open to motor vehicle use in the recreation area. Conventional motor vehicles remain allowed on all paved and unpaved GMP roads.
Lake-level rules may close shoreline access
The rule requires the superintendent to set lake-elevation trigger levels (using USGS and Bureau of Reclamation hydrologic data) for 11 shoreline access areas; if the lake elevation falls below a site’s level and remains so for seven consecutive days, that shoreline access area will close to off-road motor vehicle use, and it will reopen if elevations remain above the level for seven consecutive days. The elevation levels must be published on the recreation area website and in the superintendent’s compendium, the open/closed status must be posted within 14 days after the seven-day waiting period, signs must be installed at each shoreline access area, and NPS may consider gates or other measures when closed; motor vehicle travel on GMP roads inside a closed shoreline access area may continue at the superintendent’s discretion.
Shoreline access limited to road-to-shore travel
Off-road vehicle use in designated shoreline access areas is limited to travel strictly between a GMP road and the shoreline and back; dispersed or general overland driving within those shoreline access areas is not allowed under this rule. The rule clarifies this does not apply to Lone Rock Beach, Lone Rock Beach Play Area, or Ferry Swale, which are treated differently in the regulations.
Longer quiet hours at Lone Rock Play Area
The rule changes quiet hours in the Lone Rock Beach Play Area from a fixed 10:00 p.m.–6:00 a.m. schedule to a variable sunset-to-sunrise schedule (the superintendent may lengthen this period). This will generally lengthen nighttime quiet hours and allow them to shift with the seasons without additional administrative action.
Limited effect on existing guided tour businesses
NPS states that two businesses currently have commercial use authorizations (CUAs) to provide guided OHV/ATV tours in the recreation area and those businesses are not authorized to operate in the Orange Cliffs Special Management Unit and do not offer tours on the unpaved roads affected by this rule; the NPS also states no other businesses offering commercial visitor services will be affected by the changes.
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