Big Water Visitor Center
Southwest Utah and northern Arizona to implement fire restrictions
For more information on preventing unwanted human-caused wildfires, agency-specific restrictions, and reference maps, visit www.utahfiresense.org, www.utahfireinfo.gov, and www.wildlandfire.az.gov or follow us on Twitter, @UtahWildfire.
Closure Alert (June 11, 2024) – Beginning July 8, 2024, the Calf Creek Recreation Site will be temporarily closed for construction. Construction is estimated to take up to two months. Construction updates and real-time alerts will be provided as required via on-site signage, local media, social media, the Monument webpage.
Planning Your Visit: For travel tips to Calf Creek, be sure to visit the Monument Travel Information webpage.
Recreation Alternatives: Please visit the Lower Calf Creek Falls Alternative Hikes Points of Interest brochure and the Lower Calf Creek Falls Alternatives for Camping brochure.
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 as it focuses 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 the most jaded of researchers. So if you are planning a trip to the Monument, consider making a stop at the Big Water Visitor Center. For the inquisitive minds, there is even 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.
Phone
Addresses
Geographic Coordinates
Directions
The Big Water Visitor Center is located on Highway 89, 18 miles northwest of Page, AZ.
Fees
None
Summer Hours
Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., five days a week (closed Tuesday and Wednesday).