How to Get a Lower GC Permit

About Lower GC

A noncommercial river permit from the National Park Service is required to float from Diamond Creek to Lake Mead, and unlike the Lees Ferry section there is no lottery. Applications go direct to the River Permits Office, are accepted no earlier than one year in advance, and are issued first-come, first-served. Grand Canyon National Park authorizes up to two noncommercial river trips to launch from Diamond Creek each day, and each trip is limited to a maximum of 16 participants, with the same 16-person cap per campsite. The fee structure splits between agencies. The Park Service currently charges no permit fees for this section. The Hualapai Tribe charges access fees for each person, boat and vehicle traversing Diamond Creek Road, and tribal permits are required in advance - contact Hualapai Game and Fish on (928) 769-6043, or 928-769-2227 as the regulations PDF gives it, to pay before your launch date. The Park Service states plainly that these fees are outside of its control. We are not publishing dollar figures for them: the Tribe is a sovereign government and its own fee schedule is the only authority, and it is not carried on any federal page. There is a second, separate tribal permit. On the north side of the river, river right, is Grand Canyon National Park; on the south side, river left above the historic high water mark, is Hualapai Tribal Land. Groups wanting to hike or camp on river left above that mark must request a permit from the Hualapai Tribe in advance, on (928) 769-2210 or (800) 622-4409. Equipment requirements are Grand Canyon's standard set. A human waste carry-out system must accompany all trips, containing washable, reusable containers approved by Grand Canyon National Park, plus a portable wag-bag-style day system that must be accessible during the day and carried on side hikes. Plastic bucket systems like the Scat Packer are explicitly not permitted because of their potential for leaking. Wood fires must be contained in a metal fire pan measuring 300 square inches with a 3-inch lip on all sides, elevated using manufactured legs rather than rocks or cans; charcoal may use a 12 by 12 by 3 inch pan; all ash and fire residue must be carried out of the canyon; and fire blankets are required under the pan for all charcoal and wood fires, approximately 60 by 72 inches or at least 20% larger than the pan. Gas stoves with sufficient fuel for cooking are required on all trips. PFDs must be in good and serviceable condition, one per passenger plus one extra for every 10 persons, worn properly fastened at all times while on the river; EU, CE and other foreign PFDs are not acceptable unless they carry US Coast Guard approval. Pets are not permitted. At the Lake Mead end, the South Cove Launch Ramp is currently operable: the concrete ramp is closed as the lake has dropped below the end of it, but a newly established dirt road from the concrete ramp to a beach launch on gravel works so long as the lake level does not drop below 1,035 feet. River runners are not allowed to trailer or de-rig boats on the paved South Cove ramp, and if South Cove becomes inaccessible trips may continue on and take out at Temple Bar. The Park Service warns that river trips must be prepared for variable water levels at Lake Mead due to drought, and for shifting sandbars, high winds and very shallow water near Pearce Bay. One courtesy the Hualapai Tribe has requested: groups should not de-rig at the launch ramp between 7:00 am and 10:00 am.

This is the Grand Canyon section you can actually get. Where the Lees Ferry stretch runs a weighted lottery, Diamond Creek to Lake Mead is first-come, first-served, applied for direct to the NPS River Permits Office up to a year ahead, with up to two noncommercial trips launching each day. What it costs instead is coordination: two agencies plus a sovereign tribal government all have a say in the trip.