John Wesley Powell River History Museum
The only museum built around the story of the Colorado and Green Rivers — Powell's expeditions, the River Runners Hall of Fame, and a hundred years of boats and oars.
Also known as: Powell Museum, JWP Museum, Powell River History Museum
The John Wesley Powell River History Museum sits on the bank of the Green River in Green River, Utah, a hundred yards from the take-out at Green River State Park and a few hundred more from the Tamarisk Restaurant. It's the only museum on the planet built specifically around the story of running the Colorado and Green Rivers — Powell's 1869 and 1871 expeditions, the river runners who came after, and the modern boating world that grew out of their wakes. The collection holds period boats, oars, life preservers, journals, and the River Runners Hall of Fame, the closest thing the river community has to an official record of the people who built it. The museum is operated by the City of Green River and serves double duty as the local visitor center for the BLM Labyrinth Canyon and San Rafael areas. For boaters running the lower Green it's the natural after-take-out stop: hot showers at the State Park, lunch at Tamarisk, then walk a hundred feet to the museum.
Location
1765 E Main St, Green River, UT 84525
Phone: (435) 564-3427
Website: https://johnwesleypowell.com/
Hours
- Tue: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Wed: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Thu: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Fri: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Sat: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Closed Sunday and Monday. Confirm seasonal hours before traveling.
Admission
- Adult: $6
- Child: $2 (ages 5–12); free under 5
- Family: $15
- Group: $40
Children under 5 free. Family rate covers immediate household. Group rate for organized parties.
Exhibits
- Powell Expeditions of 1869 and 1871 — Period boats, journals, photographs, and equipment from John Wesley Powell's pioneering descents of the Green and Colorado.
- Period Riverboats — Wooden expedition boats and dories — the equipment that made the canyons runnable in the era before rubber.
- River Geography and Geology — Interpretive exhibits on the Green and Colorado River systems, the Colorado Plateau, and the canyon geology you'll see on the water.
- Local History — Green River, UT — The town's history as a railroad stop, agricultural settlement, and gateway to the canyons.
Halls & Collections
- River Runners Hall of Fame