Wahweap Creek

Wahweap Creek
Wahweap Creek Valley
Location
Country	United States
State	Utah
Physical characteristics
Source	Canaan Peak
• location	Dixie National Forest, Garfield County, Utah
• coordinates	37°36′20″N 111°47′40″W / 37.60556°N 111.79444°W / 37.60556; -111.79444[1]
• elevation	8,564 ft (2,610 m)
Mouth	Lake Powell/Colorado River
• location	Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Kane County, Utah
• coordinates	37°02′15″N 111°34′18″W / 37.03750°N 111.57167°W / 37.03750; -111.57167[1]
• elevation	3,704 ft (1,129 m)
Length	55.6 mi (89.5 km)[2]
Basin size	453 sq mi (1,170 km2)[3]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Blue Wash, Long Canyon, Tommy Smith Creek, Smith Run, Ty Hatch Creek, Nipple Creek
• right	Coyote Creek

Wahweap Creek is a 55.6-mile (89.5 km) long^[2] intermittent stream in southern Utah in the United States, and is a tributary of the Colorado River. It drains a rugged, high elevation, largely roadless mesa and canyon country in the Colorado Plateau region. The creek flows into the Lake Powell reservoir at Wahweap Bay where it gives its name to the Wahweap Marina, a popular access point to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

The Dakota Sandstone Wahweap Hoodoos are located adjacent to the creek near Lake Powell, and are accessible by a hike in the dry streambed.^[4] Wahweap Creek also cuts through sections of the fossil-rich Wahweap Formation, which is named after the creek. Caution is essential when traveling in the area as the creek, though usually dry, is prone to large flash floods.

In the 1950s, Wahweap Creek was the site of Glen Canyon City (present-day Big Water), one of the main Bureau of Reclamation camps for the construction of Glen Canyon Dam which forms Lake Powell. The creek bed was the main source of gravel aggregate for the concrete used in the dam.