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Field Library

Access Points

Put-ins, take-outs, boat ramps and shore access — where a trip starts, ends, or can be cut short.

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All Access Points A–Z

60 put-ins, take-outs and ramps.

  • Big Cottonwood Canyon mouth — Cottonwood Heights
    Creek is accessible from local streets and parks near the canyon mouth. Not a formal boat launch.
  • Book Cliffscanyon boundary
    Where the Green leaves Gray Canyon and enters the open Green River Valley, 0.9 miles above the Swaseys boat ramp. This is a canyon boundary, not an access point — the walls end here, the river opens out, and there is nowhere to get on or off. It matters to a boater mainly as the moment the canyon stops: the last miles to Swaseys are valley miles, not canyon miles.
  • Bullfrog Marina
    Reservoir-side marina on the north shore of Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Serves as the common take-out for Cataract Canyon trips when Powell elevation allows. At low reservoir elevations the main launch ramp goes dry; NPS has staged service ramps — confirm ramp status before booking a shuttle.
  • Cisco Boat Ramp
    Cisco Boat Ramp via I-70 exit. Good take-out with staging area.
  • Clay Hills Boat Ramp
    Clay Hills road is approximately 20 miles of rough dirt from the pavement at UT-276 near Halls Crossing. High clearance required. Road closes when wet. Confirm conditions with BLM Monticello before launch.
  • Colorado-Green Confluencecanyon boundary
    The confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers in Canyonlands National Park. **No vehicle access. No boat ramp. No road of any kind reaches this point.** Boaters arrive only by floating in (Meander Canyon down the Colorado from Potash, or Stillwater Canyon down the Green from Mineral Bottom or Green River, UT) or by foot from the Doll House (via the Spanish Bottom trail, which itself is reached only by 4WD via the Maze District). Serves as the take-out point for Meander Canyon (Colorado) and Stillwater Canyon (Green) via river shuttle — Tex's Riverways / Big Tex Expeditions operates jetboat pickup here and returns boaters to Moab or Potash. The geographic put-in for Cataract Canyon — every Cataract trip enters at this point regardless of where the trip itself launched. Trip-level shuttles (Potash → North Wash, Mineral Bottom → North Wash, etc.) live on the river-trip entities, not on the Cataract section.
  • Crack-in-the-Wall
  • Cross Mountain Put-Inmulti use access
  • Cross Mountain Take-Outtake out
  • Death Hollow Trailhead (rim access via Hells Backbone Road)
  • Deerlodge Park Boat Ramp
    Remote BLM launch requiring a long rough dirt road from Maybell, CO. Road must be dry — rain makes it impassable. NPS permit required. Camping available at Deerlodge.
  • Dewey Bridge Boat Ramp
    BLM day-use site at the former Dewey Bridge location on UT-128. The historic 1916 suspension bridge was destroyed by fire in 2008; piers remain. Serves as the standard take-out for Cisco-to-Dewey floats and the put-in for the scenic Dewey-to-Hittle-Bottom / Professor Valley stretch.
  • Diamond Creek
    Diamond Creek Road is a 26-mile dirt road on Hualapai Nation land. A Hualapai tribal permit and road access fee are required — paid at Peach Springs, AZ. 4WD strongly recommended, especially after rain. Road conditions vary dramatically by season.
  • Duffy Mountain River Accessmulti use access
  • Echo Park Boat Ramp
    Echo Park access via 13-mile dirt road from Dinosaur, CO through the monument. Road closes when wet. Confirm conditions with NPS before shuttling. Groups continuing to Split Mountain can float the Green through Whirlpool Canyon.
  • Escalante River Trailhead
  • Farmington Bay — Jordan River terminus
    Access becomes increasingly difficult in the terminal wetlands. Most paddlers use turnaround points in North Salt Lake rather than attempting to reach the actual terminus at Farmington Bay.
  • Gates of Lodore Put-input in
    Permitted put-in for Lodore Canyon multi-day river trips. Located at the foot of the Gates of Lodore inside Dinosaur National Monument, co-located with Lodore Campground and the seasonal ranger station where launch check-in occurs. Reached via CO-318 from Maybell, CO — roughly 65 miles of paved highway with no services on the approach.
  • Glen Canyon Dam (tailwater launch)
    Glen Canyon Dam marks the upstream end of the 15-mile tailwater reach that ends at Lees Ferry. Not a road-accessible launch in the traditional sense — commercial float trips on the tailwater launch from a guided shuttle that drops boats below the dam; private paddlers typically put in at Lees Ferry and paddle upstream toward the dam rather than shuttling from the dam itself.
  • Green River State Park
    Green River State Park is in the town of Green River, UT — well-signed, paved access. Day launch fee applies for non-camping users. Camping available at the state park for staging the night before launch.
  • Halls Crossing
  • Hittle Bottomput in
    Put-in for the Professor Valley section on the Colorado River along scenic Highway 128 northeast of Moab.
  • Indian Crossingmulti use access
    Boat ramp and campground at the boundary of the B and C sections on the Green River in Browns Park. Access via Red Creek Road — ~2 miles of gravel. Standard take-out for Section B float trips and put-in for Section C.
  • Jordan River confluence — Murray
    Confluence area accessible from Murray city parks and Jordan River Parkway.
  • Jordan River confluence — Sandy/Murray
    Confluence area accessible from local parks and Jordan River Parkway.
  • Jordan River confluence — SLC
    The creek is piped underground for most of the route between Memory Grove and the Jordan River. The confluence itself is accessible from the Jordan River Parkway.
  • Jordan River Parkway — 2100 South, SLC
    Multiple access points near 2100 South along the Jordan River Parkway.
  • Lees Ferry
    Lees Ferry is accessed via US-89A and Lees Ferry Road from Page, AZ or Marble Canyon, AZ. Paved road to the ramp. Permit check-in required here. The only developed river access between Glen Canyon Dam and Diamond Creek.
  • Little Cottonwood Canyon mouth — Sandy
    Accessible from Wasatch Boulevard and local streets near the canyon mouth. Not a boat launch.
  • Little Hole
  • Little Juniper River Accessmulti use access
  • Loma Boat Ramp
    Well-maintained BLM launch site off I-70 Exit 15 west of Grand Junction. Paved access road. Parking area handles large groups.
  • Lower Onion Creek Boat Rampmulti use access
    Access along Utah Highway 128 (Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway), approximately 22 miles from the US-191 / UT-128 junction at Moab. Two boat ramps at Lower Onion Creek Campground, accessed via a 1.5-mile gravel road off UT-128 (across from the Fisher Towers sign). Managed by BLM Moab Field Office. Adjacent to Lower Onion Creek Campground and opposite the Fisher Towers road. Elevation ~4,085 ft. First-come first-served campground at $20/night.
  • Maybell Bridge River Accessmulti use access
  • Memory Grove Park — City Creek Canyon mouth
    Memory Grove Park at the mouth of City Creek Canyon. Primary public access to the visible creek. Street parking and small lot available.
  • Mille Crag Bendcanyon boundary
    The downstream end of Cataract Canyon and the head of Narrow Canyon, at river mile 176.5. This is a canyon boundary, not an access point: there is no road, no ramp, and no way on or off the river here. It is listed because it is where the whitewater section actually ends — 40 miles below the Confluence and 7.5 miles above the North Wash take-out — and because river maps and boaters use the bend as the landmark for that transition. The river swings through a long bend around a field of standing towers and crags; below it the current dies, the walls pinch in, and the last miles to the take-out are flatwater.
  • Mineral Bottom
    Mineral Bottom road drops 1,200 feet via steep switchbacks — high-clearance required, trailers not recommended. Drive time from Moab is approximately 2 hours. Road surface is dirt and becomes impassable when wet. Confirm road conditions before shuttling.
  • Moab Bridge Boat Rampmulti use access
    Boat ramp at the US-191 Colorado River bridge, 4 miles north of downtown Moab at the junction of US-191 and UT-128. The twin-structure bridge (1,022 ft long, completed December 2010) is the gateway to Moab and the US-191 corridor to Arches, Canyonlands, and points south. The ramp serves as the downstream terminus of the Jackass Canyon reach (from Take Out Beach, 10 mi upstream) and the put-in for The Portal (17 mi downstream to Potash). Named 'Moab Bridge Boat Ramp' by the National Rivers Project and BLM documentation.
  • Montezuma Creek River Accessput in
  • Nefertiti Boat Rampmulti use access
    BLM boat ramp at the Desolation Canyon / Gray Canyon boundary on the Green River. Serves as the take-out for full Desolation Canyon trips and the put-in for Gray Canyon daily floats down to Swaseys. Drivable access from the Hastings Road / Nine Mile Canyon corridor.
  • North Wash / Dirty Devil Take Outtake out
    Primary take-out for Cataract Canyon trips. As of June 2026, North Wash is served by an improved temporary boat ramp — roughly 16 feet wide, surfaced with articulating concrete-block mats, handling one party at a time, and built for high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles only due to the steep grade. It sits slightly downstream of the historic take-out and replaced the failing primitive landing after Lake Powell's drawdown left the old Hite-area ramp unusable. It is explicitly a temporary structure on a shoreline the river is still downcutting through reservoir sediment, so mud, shoreline change, lake elevation, and road damage can still alter usability. Parties must verify the current take-out calendar, access advisories, and lake conditions before launch.
  • Pearce Ferry
    The end of the Grand Canyon at river mile ~280, on the upstream edge of Lake Mead. Reached via a paved then dirt road from Meadview, AZ. The canonical take-out for trips that run the full Grand Canyon (Lees Ferry to Pearce). Launch ramp availability depends on Lake Mead elevation.
  • Potash Boat Ramp
    The Meander Canyon put-in at mile 47.3 (also called Jackson Bottom Boat Ramp), and the most common launch for standard Cataract trips — which run Meander Canyon down to the Confluence and on into Cataract. Good for Colorado-side approach mileage. Ramp and staging are more developed than backcountry alternative launches, but trip leaders should still verify seasonal conditions, parking rules, and current launch procedures.
  • Rainbow Park Boat Ramp
  • Roan Cliffscanyon boundary
    The downstream end of Desolation Canyon and the head of Gray Canyon, where the river passes the Roan Cliffs. This is a canyon boundary, not an access point — there is nowhere to get on or off the river here. It is modelled because it is where the geologic section actually changes: 58.1 miles below Sand Wash and 26.7 miles above the Book Cliffs, with the whitewater continuing through both canyons. Boaters run past it without stopping, and most call the whole run Deso/Gray.
  • Rocky Rapid Boat Rampmulti use access
    Public boat ramp on UT-128 (Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway), roughly 17 miles from the US-191 / UT-128 junction at Moab. BLM ramp on the Colorado River below Rocky Rapid (Class II+); the ramp sits on a side channel on river-left. At high flows it may be impossible to cross the current and reach this take-out in time — plan accordingly. Standard alternate launch for Moab Daily trips that want to skip the upper canyon or take out before Take Out Beach. Vault toilet and shade huts with picnic tables on site.
  • Ruby Ranch Boat Ramp
    Mid-canyon take-out and shuttle access point on the Green River between Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons. Private ranch-adjacent access — use only the public BLM river access corridor. Access road is rough dirt requiring high clearance.
  • Sand Island Boat Ramp
    Sand Island is 2 miles west of Bluff, UT on US-191. Well-signed, paved access. BLM overnight campground adjacent. Large rock art panel viewable at the campground — an appropriate preview of the canyon ahead.
  • Sand Wash Ranger Station and Boat Launch
    Remote BLM launch with ranger presence in main season, primitive ramp, toilets, rigging area, and nearby primitive camping/screen cabins.
  • Sandy Beach River Accessmulti use access
    Access along Utah Highway 128 (Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway), approximately 14 miles from the US-191 / UT-128 junction at Moab. Informal river access at a sandy beach along UT-128 — no formal boat ramp. Paddlers and swimmers access the Colorado directly from the highway shoulder. A useful alternative take-out or put-in when Take Out Beach (3 mi downstream) is crowded with commercial raft traffic. Best for kayakers, SUPs, and small groups.
  • South Beach Boat Dropput in
  • Spillway Boat Launch
  • Split Mountain Boat Ramp
  • Swallow Canyon Boat Rampmulti use access
    Boat ramp at the downstream end of Swallow Canyon, at the east exit of the gorge. Standard take-out for Section C float trips. Access via Browns Park Road (~25 mi gravel).
  • Swaseys Boat Ramp
    Standard take-out for the Desolation/Gray trip near Green River, Utah. Adjacent beach/day-use infrastructure and take-out staging make this the practical end point for most private trips.
  • Take Out Beachtake out
    Standard take-out for the Professor Valley section, located along Highway 128 near the Colorado River bridge into Moab.
  • The Gulch Trailhead (Highway 12)
  • Utah Lake Outlet — Lehi
    Access near the Utah Lake outlet in Lehi. Multiple park access points along the Jordan River Parkway in the first few miles.
  • Westwater Ranger Station Boat Rampput in
    The BLM put-in for Westwater Canyon, co-located with the Westwater Ranger Station where launch permits are checked. Reached via I-70 exit 227, then roughly nine miles south to the ranger station. A developed ramp and staging area in open sandstone country, mile 0 of the ~17-mile run — everything difficult about Westwater happens downstream, in the gorge.
  • Whirlpool Canyon / Island Park Boundaryshore access
    River-only boundary where the Whirlpool Canyon gorge opens into the broad Island Park valley. No boat ramp — geographic transition point.