Utah completes North Wash ramp, easing Cataract Canyon takeouts

Boaters finishing Cataract Canyon now have a sturdier exit at North Wash, where Utah completed a $500,000 ramp meant to replace the steep, risky pullout that low Lake Powell levels left behind. The finished site gives multi-day trips from Moab a more dependable takeout as they come off 14 miles of rapids that can reach Class V in one of the Colorado River’s most isolated stretches.

The National Park Service describes Cataract Canyon as hazardous and remote, and it says the North Wash, also called Dirty Devil, takeout is primitive and unimproved. Most trips through the canyon require a river permit, with put-ins commonly at Potash, Moab, Green River or Mineral Bottom, and the final days of the run are shaped by changing lake conditions. Shuttle options from the canyon districts are so long and rugged that they are not seriously practical.

Utah said prolonged drought and record-low Lake Powell levels rendered the historic Hite boat ramp unusable, forcing river users toward North Wash. The new temporary ramp uses articulated concrete block mats to improve traction, reduce erosion and handle fluctuating water levels. The access area is about 16 feet wide, is designed for one party at a time and is intended for high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles only.

That narrow footprint underscores how specialized the site is. North Wash was first introduced in 2003 after Hite Marina became inaccessible, and a Returning Rapids report said users have dealt with inconsistent, unreliable and sometimes hazardous access there ever since. The report also showed how much traffic depends on the takeout, listing 233 commercial Cataract Canyon trips in 2018, 267 in 2019 and 152 in 2020.

State planning materials had targeted the work for around March 2026, before spring runoff, as an interim fix while a longer-term Hite North replacement stays in the pipeline. Jason Curry of the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation said reliable river access matters not just for recreation but for guides, outfitters, local communities and the tourism economy tied to Cataract Canyon.

For boaters, the practical change is immediate. North Wash is no longer just the rough answer to a collapsing Hite system, but a reinforced, more durable way out after a long river day. In a canyon where the takeout used to mean carrying, winching and lifting boats uphill over cutbanks, a working ramp changes the last miles of the trip as much as the first ones.