Pumpkin Spring

What to expect

Pumpkin Spring is one of the best-known sights in the lower part of the Grand Canyon river corridor, and one of the few “springs” on this site you should not get into. Mineral-rich water rises from a carbonate mound on the south shore of the Colorado River at about river mile 213. Over a long time, evaporation has built a rounded travertine bowl, ribbed on the outside, with a rim stained bright orange and green by mineral deposits and algae. From a raft it looks like a giant carved pumpkin. The overflow runs over the downstream lip of the mound and into the river.

The National Park Service lists Pumpkin Springs among the waters where radionuclides have been found and where arsenic, chromium, lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, nickel and beryllium tested higher than in other park waters. Its advice is short: drinking and bathing in these waters is not advisable. A 2023 US Geological Survey study of arsenic in the Grand Canyon region recorded its single highest groundwater value here, 875 micrograms per liter. The federal drinking water standard is 10. USGS concluded that most high arsenic readings in the region come from natural geothermal sources rather than mining.

The water is not hot. Published USGS sampling, as summarised on Wikipedia, puts it at about 73°F23°C, and one long-running river outfitter calls it lukewarm at best. People stop for the color and the shape of the bowl, not for a soak.

The spring also matters to wildlife. The US Fish and Wildlife Service notes that its warm outflow has served as a refuge for humpback chub, an endangered native fish, when cold water released from Glen Canyon Dam makes the main river hard for them.

Getting there

There is no road or visitor trail to Pumpkin Spring. Unless you are already on the river, you will not see it.

• On a full Grand Canyon river trip: Most visitors reach it on a trip that launches at Lees Ferry and takes out at Diamond Creek, which reaches the river near mile 226 below the town of Peach Springs. Pumpkin Spring comes up a short way above the take-out, in the lower Granite Gorge between Granite Park and Three Springs Canyon. That puts it near the end of a trip of a week or more.
• Noncommercial (private) trips: The park awards 12 to 25 day Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek permits through a weighted lottery. At least one person on the trip needs the river experience the park requires, trips cannot hire guides, costs are shared, and each person can only go on one recreational trip on this stretch per year.
• Commercial trips: Licensed outfitters run 3 to 18 day trips, often booked a year or two ahead. Ask whether your itinerary includes a Pumpkin Spring stop. Most trips that run all the way to Diamond Creek pass it.

Trips that launch at Diamond Creek for Lake Mead start downstream of the spring, so they do not pass it.

At the spring, boats pull in against the ledges beside the bowl. Some outfitters use the Tapeats sandstone ledges and deep water nearby for cliff jumping into the river. That is a guide’s call, made on the day, and it happens in the main river, not the spring pool.

When to go

Timing is set by your river trip. The canyon bottom gets very hot in summer, which is also when many commercial trips run. In summer, the wet rocks and splashes from the river feel welcome, but keep that splashing away from the spring pool itself.

This is a short stop. Most groups spend under an hour here, take photos from the rim, then carry on toward camp or the take-out.

Rules and etiquette

• Look, don’t soak. The park advises against bathing in this water, and the arsenic levels are far above anything you would want to swallow by accident. Do not drink it, do not filter it for drinking, and do not dip your head in.
• Stay off the rim. Travertine is soft and breaks easily. Walking on the bowl’s rim damages the formation that makes this place worth stopping at.
• No soap or sunscreen in the water. Like all springs in the park, this one is a habitat as well as a sight.
• River rules apply. Your trip operates under the Grand Canyon river regulations: carry out solid human waste, camp only where your trip leader directs, and leave rocks, plants and artifacts in place.

Where to stay nearby

There is no lodging at river level. River groups camp on beaches along the river under their permit. After the trip, the Diamond Creek take-out leads up to Peach Springs on Historic Route 66. From there, Route 66 runs west to Kingman and east to Seligman, both with motels.

Safety notes

• Arsenic and metals. The concern here is chemical, not bacterial. Filtering does not remove dissolved metals. Keep the water out of your mouth and off cuts.
• Heat. Summer air temperatures in the lower canyon are routinely extreme. Drink plenty of clean water and follow your guides’ heat advice.
• Footing. Wet travertine and polished sandstone ledges are slippery. Most injuries at river stops are falls on rock, not anything in the water.
• Cold river. The Colorado is released cold from Glen Canyon Dam, and the current is strong. Wear your life jacket whenever your guides say to.

Nearby stops worth adding

Pumpkin Spring is one of a string of side stops in the last days of a full-canyon trip. Granite Park, a few miles upstream, is a common camp. Three Springs Canyon is just downstream. If you want a hot soak in the Lake Mead area after the trip, Arizona Hot Springs in Black Canyon below Hoover Dam is the obvious choice, a long drive west of Kingman.