Marble Canyon Pioneer Ruins, AZ

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Marble Canyon is the section of the Colorado River canyon in northern Arizona from Lee's Ferry to the confluence with the Little Colorado River, which marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon.

Lee's Ferry is a common launching point for river runners starting their journey through the Grand Canyon. Marble Canyon is also well known for the Navajo Bridge, where US Highway 89A crosses the Colorado River.

Marble Canyon marks the western boundary of the Navajo Nation. In 1975, the former Marble Canyon National Monument, which followed the Colorado River northeast from the Grand Canyon to Lee's Ferry, was made part of Grand Canyon National Park.



The adjacent Lees Ferry is a tiny settlement next to the Colorado River at the end of a side road 6 miles from ALT US 89 in north Arizona, not especially interesting itself but surrounded by some remarkable scenery. The village is named after John D. Lee, a Mormon settler with 17 wives who established a ferry there in 1871 whilst in exile following his role in the massacre of 120 emigrants near St. George, Utah, at a place called Mountain Meadows (for which he was later executed). The ferry provided the only crossing of the river for nearly 60 years until a bridge was built a few miles downstream, where the present day route 89 crosses now. A wider replacement bridge was completed in 1995 and together with the highway past Glen Canyon Dam this is one of only two bridges across the Colorado for many hundreds of miles between the Hoover Dam on the Nevada border and Hite, in Utah.

Hwy. 89A, 1/4 mi west of Navajo Bridge, Marble Canyon, AZ 86036

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