Mile 0 - Lee's Ferry, Arizona

Note that the Echo Cliffs that rise on the east, the gray “ash-like” Chinle formation, and the chocolate colored “Moenkopi Formation” are the bottom layers of the Jurassic and Triassic periods. In other words, as the Colorado River cuts deeper into the layers that make up Marble Canyon and the Grand Canyon are cutting through layers of rock that were in place before dinosaurs ever roamed the earth. As river runners travel through the Grand Canyon, they see fossils of some of the earliest forms of life, and the oldest exposed rock on Earth.

Lee’s Ferry is named after John Doyle Lee, who was sent there in 1874 by Mormon leader Brigham Young to help colonize the desert south of the Colorado River. The trail that led to and from Lee’s Ferry became known as the “Honeymoon Trail” because young Mormon Pioneers would make the trek to be married in the only Mormon temples constructed at the time in St. George, or in Salt Lake City, Utah. John D. Lee established the ferry, and homesteaded a small orchard and farmland in the mouth of Paria Canyon. Although Lee had as many as 23 wives at the time, the homestead was named “Lonely Dell”.

Lee’s Ferry is mile marker “zero” for all Grand Canyon river trips. Rafts are assembled (rigged) on the boat ramp at Lee's Ferry in preparation for an expedition longer than 200 river miles.