Grand Canyon Campsites Temporarily Flooded for Experiment

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If you were planning on visiting Grand Canyon during the week of November 9th, you may have some trouble finding a vacant campground to reserve. This isn’t the busiest time of year for the park, but a new experiment approved alongside two previous experiments in May of 2012 will lead to some of the campsites along the Colorado River flooding.

Starting on Monday, November 10th and continuing to Friday, November 14th, a high-flow release of water will come from the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona. Thousands of pounds of mineral sediment from the river’s extremities will be washed downstream and redeposited as beaches and sandbars.

While this will certainly lead to a few Grand Canyon camping areas being submerged and others being partially flooded, the end result of this experiment should be a more naturally beautiful Colorado River. The beaches and sandbars were once natural formations, but years of sediment have been trapped behind the Glen Canyon Dam. Grand Canyon lodging will not be effected by these experiments, so if the shortage of camping ground catches you by surprise, alternatives will be available.

Luckily for visitors who enjoy fishing in the Colorado River, the release of water will make trout fishing in the area easier and more rewarding than ever before, with more places to cast a line and more energetic fish to catch.

Are you planning on taking advantage of improved fishing conditions, or are you worried about the temporarily flooded campgrounds? Are you happy to see