Big Water Visitor Center
- ***NEW UPDATE*** Calf Creek is now open!
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KANAB, Utah (Sept. 27, 2024) - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is pleased to announce that the Calf Creek Recreation Site is now open. For more information, visit Calf Creek Recreation Site scheduled to reopen | Bureau of Land Management (blm.gov).
The Big Water Visitor Center is one of four visitor centers in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, each with a different theme. However, the Big Water Visitor Center is more like a real-world time machine focusing on the early geologic and paleontological discoveries in this region.
Located between Kanab, Utah, and Page, Arizona, along Highway 89, it is a great place to stop if you love rocks, dinosaurs, or both! Visitors will be greeted by friendly, knowledgeable staff and several paleontology exhibits that were discovered locally, right here on the Monument. Since 2005, fourteen new dinosaur species from the Monument, and one from Utah State Land north of Big Water, have been named. This makes the Monument one of the most productive places to find new dinosaur species in North America! These world-class fossils largely represent animals and ecosystems unknown prior to 2000, something that surprised even researchers working on the Monument.
So if you are planning a trip to the Monument, consider making a stop at the Big Water Visitor Center. For inquisitive minds, there is a full-length mural inside the Visitor Center that depicts the Late Cretaceous landscape, paleontology and geology exhibits, and of course everyone’s favorite – dinosaur bones.
Accessibility Description (ABA/ADA)
This Visitor Center has 4 accessible parking spots next to wide concrete paths leading to the Center's entrance. The parking lot is flat with a compacted road base material.
There are 2 gender-specific accessible restrooms outside the Center, each with flush toilets, 1 accessible stall, and double sinks. The Visitor Center has a gift shop with a wide entrance.
Accessible drinking water is available via a drinking fountain installed on the exterior of the building. A concrete bench without arms sits near the main entrance.
There are multiple interpretive signs and kiosks both outside and inside the building, some of them explaining dinosaur art and exhibits. They are at a height appropriate for visitors using mobility devices.
A broad, curved concrete path leads from the main building to a nearby shaded picnic area with picnic tables on concrete pads. Both ends of the tables can accommodate visitors in wheelchairs. There are no grills in the picnic area.
Phone
Activities
Addresses
Geographic Coordinates
Directions
The Big Water Visitor Center is located on Highway 89, 18 miles northwest of Page, AZ.
Fees
None
Winter Hours
Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday beginning Nov. 17, 2024, through March 1, 2025.
The visitor center is closed from 11:55 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. for lunch.
Closed Nov. 11, 2024, in observance of Veterans Day; Nov. 28, 2024, in observance of Thanksgiving; Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, 2025, in observance of the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays; Jan. 20, 2025, in observance of Martin Luther King Day; and Feb. 17, 2025, in observance of Presidents’ Day.
Quicklinks
- GSENM Home
- District Office page
- GSENM Office page
- KFO Office page
- Visitor Centers
- Road Report (updated weekly or as road conditions require)
- Artist-in-Residence
- BLM Utah Flickr
- Safety & Conditions
- What to do When Nature Calls
- Recreational Shooting
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