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Castle Rock Cut at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Open For Boaters

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Published Date

May 10, 2009

Boating is big business at Glen Canyon NRA. NPS photo.

Boaters can now access the Castle Rock Cut, which has been opened after workers deepened the cut that shortens travel along Lake Powell at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Superintendent Stan Austin says work to deepen the cut began in February and continued until mid-April. Contractors removed nearly 87,000 cubic yards of material and lowered the depth of the cut by approximately 8 feet to 3,607 feet in elevation. Because of the excavation project the Cut is open five weeks earlier than in 2008.

“I knew when I arrived at Glen Canyon that the Castle Rock Cut project was a priority for the park and the community,” said Superintendent Austin. “I’m pleased to see the Cut open well before the Memorial Day weekend.”

The Castle Rock Cut is a safe and convenient boat passage linking Wahweap and Warm Creek Bays. With the Cut open, boaters no longer need to travel through The Narrows to reach up-lake destinations such as Padre Bay and Rainbow Bridge. Traveling through the Cut saves boaters about 12 miles and shortens response times to life, health, and safety emergencies up-lake.

The elevation of Lake Powell reached 3,613 Thursday and continues to rise. National Park Service staff placed buoys to mark the channel from Wahweap to the junction of Warm Creek and the main river channel. The cut is marked as a no wake zone and boaters are reminded to use caution.

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Comments

Submitted by deanhicks on May 10, 2009 - 8:42am.

Just curious, but looking the the NPS map, it shows Castle Rock as an island. Google earth shows it as part of a land mass.

Which one is it?

Also, is the Narrows the route around Antelope Island?


Submitted by admin on May 10, 2009 - 3:53pm.

The desecration continues.


Submitted by admin on May 10, 2009 - 9:08pm.

At the risk of being censured like I was the last time I posted (because I corrected the author about the existance of a 50' python snake?), I'll try it again:

The elevation of Lake Powell reached 3,613 Thursday and continues to rise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you clarify this please? I don't think that could be possibly referring to the depth of the lake, but in the context of this article, that is the most logical interpretation.


Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on May 10, 2009 - 9:23pm.

The "3,613" is the above-sea level elevation of the lake's surface.


Submitted by admin on May 10, 2009 - 11:37pm.

This is a reservoir, not a natural lake. Thus, the status of various land forms as "islands" or "peninsulas" is entirely dependent on the water levels at any given time. The official NPS map is based on the "full pool" level, which is hardly ever actually obtained (certainly not in recent years), but they had to use something as the base reference.

Also, the water levels are given as feet above mean sea level, not depth. Hope that helps.


Submitted by admin on October 24, 2009 - 10:43pm.

Castle Rock used to be an island, but due to severe drought, the water has receded exposing the land that used to be covered with water.


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