Lees Ferry

For over 700 miles of canyon country, this is the only place where you can drive a vehicle to the Colorado River — right to the edge of the Grand Canyon's first rapid. A natural corridor between Utah and Arizona, Lees Ferry figured prominently in the exploration and settlement of northern Arizona. River runners still launch here for Grand Canyon trips. Anglers work what the NPS calls world-class trout fishing upstream toward Glen Canyon Dam. The historic district buildings, the NPS notes, had many lives, as different people drifted through.