page_title: San Juan River (Colorado River tributary)
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: San Juan River (Colorado River tributary) / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: San Juan River Utah Rafting Mexican Hat in Background (June 2006)
context_page_description: The San Juan River is a major tributary of the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States, providing the chief drainage for the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Originating as snowmelt in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, it flows 383 miles through the deserts of northern New Mexico and southeastern Utah to join the Colorado River at Glen Canyon. The river drains a high, arid region of the Colorado Plateau and along its length it is often the only significant source of fresh water for many miles. The San Juan is also one of the muddiest rivers in North America, carrying an average of 25 million US tons of silt and sediment each year.
  Historically, the San Juan formed the border between the territory of the Navajo in the south and the Ute in the north.
  Although Europeans explored the Four Corners region at least as early as the 1700s, it was not until the gold and silver booms of the 1860s when settlers arrived in large numbers from the eastern United States. After heated conflicts over land, the Native Americans were forced into reservations, where their descendants live today.
context_section_description: The San Juan is a popular recreational river, despite some parts of its course being rather remote. Near the headwaters, Pagosa Springs, Colorado is known for its natural hot springs on the banks of the San Juan River. In the foothills, the 15,600-acre (6,300 ha) Navajo Lake is one of the largest bodies of water in both Colorado and New Mexico. Navajo State Park in Colorado and Navajo Lake State Park in New Mexico provide boating, water-skiing, fishing, and shoreline camping; two marinas are located in the New Mexico portion of the lake. The 6 miles (9.7 km) of river from below Navajo Dam to Gobernador Wash are known as one of the best trout fishing waters in the United States due to the cold, clear flows released from the base of the dam. Cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout are present in this section of the San Juan River. Although trout are present another 13 miles (21 km) further downstream to Cañon Largo, the fishery is diminished in quality due to rising amounts of sediment. These "Quality Waters" of the San Juan River are visited by well over 50,000 anglers each year.
  The section of river between Farmington and Bluff which flows through Navajo lands is administered by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department, which issues permits for hiking and camping. However, it is seldom visited by boaters due to a lack of good river access sites. The lower San Juan River below Bluff is used heavily for whitewater boating and rafting, especially below the Sand Island river access which (as of 2006) sees about 11,165 users per year. Many boaters take out at Mexican Hat, about 20 miles (32 km) down the river, although some continue through the lower canyons to Clay Hills, near the head of Lake Powell, 56 miles (90 km) further downstream. Commercial trips operate mainly during the late spring-early summer snowmelt season, though the season can be extended significantly in wet years. Applications for private trips are approved by the Bureau of Land Management's Monticello Field Office via lottery; about 900 spots are awarded each year out of more than 4000 requests. The section between Mexican Hat and Clay Hills is characterized by moderate class II-III rapids. Below Clay Hills, the San Juan flows through very isolated country to Lake Powell, where a long flat-water paddle is required to reach the closest services at Dangling Rope Marina.
caption: Boaters on the San Juan River at Mexican Hat, Utah
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