The mighty rivers and canyons of southern Utah come to an abrupt and ignoble end at the Arizona border, where the Glen Canyon Dam stops them dead in the stagnant waters of LAKE POWELL . Ironically, the lake is named for John Wesley Powell, the first white man to explore the canyonlands in depth, and the first of any color to run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The roaring torrents with which he battled are now lost beneath these placid blue waters, and the blocked-up Colorado, Green, Dirty Devil, San Juan and Escalante rivers are now a playground for houseboaters and waterskiers. The construction of the dam in the early 1960s outraged environmentalists (Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang made their first big splash here, sabotaging bulldozers and simulating huge cracks in the dam at the opening ceremonies) and anthropologists (innumerable Ancestral Puebloan pictographs are submerged hundreds of feet below the surface). It has created one of the most peculiar - and utterly unnatural - landscapes imaginable, the deep and tranquil lake a surreal contrast with the surrounding dry slickrock and sandstone buttes.

Lake Powell has 1960 miles of shoreline, which is more than the entire Pacific coast of the US, and 96 water-filled side canyons. The water level fluctuates considerably, so for much of the time the rocks to all sides are bleached for many feet above the current waterline, with a dirty-bath tidemark sullying the golden sandstone. Most of the many summer visitors bring their own boats, or rent a vessel from one of the four marinas that fringe the lake.

If you're passing through, by far the most accessible stop is WAHWEAP MARINA , just off US-89 on the way between Zion and the Grand Canyon, where Wahweap Lodge (tel 602/278-8888 or 1-800/528-6154, ; $130-160) has comfortable lakeside rooms and some of the best food within a day's drive. The same company arranges houseboat rental from Wahweap or other Lake Powell marinas; boats sleep four or more people and cost from $675 for three nights in winter, $1200 in summer. There's camping on the shore of the lake at each of the marinas. The nearest budget accommodation is across the Arizona border in PAGE , home of the usual assortment of chain motels and diners, including the Navajo Trail Motel , 800 Bureau St (tel 928/645-9508; $50-75).

GLEN CANYON DAM itself, in between Page and Wahweap, can be seen on half-hour self-guided tours that start from the visitor center (May-Sept daily 8am-7pm; Oct-April daily 8am-5pm; free) and climb down to the huge 1.1 million kilowatt hydroelectric turbines.

The cheapest way to get out on the waters of Lake Powell is to take the ferry ($9 per car) between Halls Crossing and Bullfrog marinas, two-thirds of the way up the lake; from here the Burr Trail heads west toward Capitol Reef, while Hwy-276 runs northeast to Natural Bridges.

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

• Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

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