The Colorado and Little Colorado rivers join in Grand Canyon–and may be the site of a future development. Photo by Tom Till.
GAP, Arizona — For over 50 years, residents of this western sliver of the Navajo Nation have watched tourist traffic zoom by on Highway 89, headed for the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and southern Utah’s national parks. Except for a single gas station and a few ramshackle jewelry stands, there’s little here to attract vacationers’ dollars. And so, few locals objected in July when the Navajo-Hopi Observer began running full-page ads that blared: “It’s time that the Navajo People enjoy a fair share of Grand Canyon Tourism!” But they weren’t prepared for the scale of those tourism plans — a mega-development with hotels, stores and even a tram. . . An overview for the High Country News.
