You Won’t Believe There’s a Sunken Ship in the Arizona Desert

If you travel to Northern Arizona, you'll find the Glen Canyon; a popular spot for hikers & kayakers to boat & swim along the Colorado River. Just looking up videos of the Spencer Trail Hike in Glen Canyon, you can tell that while the view is incredible, it's not an easy hike.

However located inside the Glen Canyon is the only shipwreck that exists in Arizona; a wreckage that has been there for over 100 years.

This is the story of the Charles H Spencer steamboat

Originally built in San Francisco in 1911, the Charles H. Spencer, a 92.5 foot long vessel, would travel along the Colorado River to Lee's Ferry carrying coal. While there's not many photos of the ship, there is a black & white photograph that was shared by Northern Arizona University of the ship in 1911.

The boat would end up burning most of the coal it would use to travel through the water. Instead of repurposing the ship, the boat would be docked & abandoned along Warm Creek in 1914; during a flood in 1921, the ship would sink & break apart.

While much of the lumber from the ship has been stripped, the hulk still remains along the river & there's a historical marker that gives a brief history about the Charles H Spencer. If you go to Google Earth, you can still see the marker to this day.

People have even found wreckage of the Charles H Spencer while hiking & visiting Glen Canyon. If you go there in person, you'll definitely be able to find the boiler sticking out of the water.

Shipwrecks aren't the only thing you'll find in the Arizona desert, you can even find your share of volcanoes sleeping silently too.

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