---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 221"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "221"
heading: "Establishment; boundaries"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/221"
units:
  - "Chapter 1 — National Parks, Military Parks, Monuments, and Seashores"
  - "Subchapter XXIV — Grand Canyon National Park"
---

# §221. Establishment; boundaries


There is reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or disposal under the laws of the United States and dedicated and set apart as a public [park](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-3) for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, under the name of the “Grand Canyon National [Park](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-3)”, the tract of land in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Arizona particularly described by and included within metes and bounds, as follows, to wit:

Beginning at a point which is the northeast corner of township 30 north, range 1 east, of the Gila and Salt River meridian, Arizona; thence west on township line between townships 30 and 31 north, range 1 east, to section corner common to sections [1](/usc/16/1.md) and [2](/usc/16/2.md), township 30 north, range 1 east, and 35 and 36 township 31 north, range 1 east; thence north on section lines to the intersection with Tobocobya Spring-Rowe Well Road; thence northwesterly along the southwesterly side of said Tobocobya Spring-Rowe Well Road, passing and in relation to United States Geological Survey bench marks stamped “Canyon” and numbered 6340, 6235, 6372, 6412, 6302, 6144, and 6129, through townships 31 and 32 north, ranges 1 east and 1 and 2 west, to its intersection with the section line between sections [9](/usc/16/9.md) and [16](/usc/16/16.md) in township 32 north, range 2 west; thence west along the section lines through townships 32 north, ranges 2 and 3 west, to its intersection with upper westerly rim of Cataract Canyon; thence northwesterly along upper rim of Cataract Canyon, crossing Hualapai Canyon and continuing northwesterly along said upper rim to its intersection with range line, township 33 north, between ranges 4 and 5 west; thence north on said range line, townships 33 and 34 north, ranges 4 and 5 west, to north bank of the Colorado River; thence northeasterly along the north bank of the Colorado River to junction with Tapeats Creek; thence easterly along north bank of Tapeats Creek to junction with Spring Creek; thence easterly along the north bank of Spring Creek to its intersection with Gila and Salt River meridian, township 34 north, between ranges 1 east and 1 west and between [section 6](/usc/16/6.md), township 34 north, range 1 east, and [section 1](/usc/16/1.md), township 34 north, range 1 west; thence south on range line between ranges 1 east and 1 west to section corner common to sections [7](/usc/16/7.md) and [18](/usc/16/18.md), township 34 north, range 1 east, and sections [12](/usc/16/12.md) and [13](/usc/16/13.md), township 34 north, range 1 west; thence east on section lines to section corner common to sections [7](/usc/16/7.md), [8](/usc/16/8.md), [17](/usc/16/17.md), and [18](/usc/16/18.md), township 34 north, range 2 east; thence south on section lines to township line between townships 33 and 34 north, range 2 east, at section corner common to sections [31](/usc/16/31.md) and [32](/usc/16/32.md), township 34 north, range 2 east, and sections [5](/usc/16/5.md) and [6](/usc/16/6.md), township 33 north, range 2 east; thence east on township line to section corner common to sections [31](/usc/16/31.md) and [32](/usc/16/32.md), township 34 north, range 3 east, and sections [5](/usc/16/5.md) and [6](/usc/16/6.md), township 33 north, range 3 east; thence south on section lines to section corner common to sections [17](/usc/16/17.md), [18](/usc/16/18.md), 19, and 20, township 33 north, range 3 east; thence east on section lines to section corner common to sections [13](/usc/16/13.md), [14](/usc/16/14.md), [23](/usc/16/23.md), and [24](/usc/16/24.md), township 33 north, range 3 east; thence north on section lines to section corner common to sections [1](/usc/16/1.md), [2](/usc/16/2.md), [11](/usc/16/11.md), and [12](/usc/16/12.md), township 33 north, range 3 east; thence east on section lines to the intersection with upper rim of Grand Canyon; thence northerly along said upper rim of Grand Canyon to main hydrographic divide north of Nankoweap Creek; thence easterly along the said hydrographic divide to its intersection with the Colorado River, approximately at the mouth of Nankoweap Creek; thence easterly across the Colorado River and up the hydrographic divide nearest the junction of Nankoweap Creek and Colorado River to a point on the upper east rim of the Grand Canyon; thence by shortest route to an intersection with range line, townships 33 and 34 north, between ranges 5 and 6 east; thence south on said range line, between ranges 5 and 6 east, to section corner common to sections [18](/usc/16/18.md) and 19, township 33 north, range 6 east, and sections [13](/usc/16/13.md) and [24](/usc/16/24.md), township 33 north, range 5 east; thence east on section lines to section corner common to sections [16](/usc/16/16.md), [17](/usc/16/17.md), 20, and [21](/usc/16/21.md), township 33 north, range 6 east; thence south on section lines to section corner common to sections [8](/usc/16/8.md), [9](/usc/16/9.md), [16](/usc/16/16.md), and [17](/usc/16/17.md), township 31 north, range 6 east; thence west on section line to section corner common to sections [7](/usc/16/7.md), [8](/usc/16/8.md), [17](/usc/16/17.md), and [18](/usc/16/18.md), township 31 north, range 6 east; thence south on section lines to township line between townships 30 and 31 north at section corner common to sections [31](/usc/16/31.md) and [32](/usc/16/32.md), township 31 north, range 6 east, and sections [5](/usc/16/5.md) and [6](/usc/16/6.md), township 30 north, range 6 east; thence west on township line to section corner common to sections [34](/usc/16/34.md) and [35](/usc/16/35.md), township 31 north, range 5 east, and sections [2](/usc/16/2.md) and [3](/usc/16/3.md), township 30 north, range 5 east; thence south on section line to section corner common to sections [2](/usc/16/2.md), [3](/usc/16/3.md), 10, and [11](/usc/16/11.md), township 30 north, range 5 east; thence west on section lines to range line, township 30 north, between ranges 4 and 5 east, at section corner common to sections [6](/usc/16/6.md) and [7](/usc/16/7.md), township 30 north, range 5 east, and 1 and 12, township 30 north, range 4 east; thence south on range line, township 30 north, between ranges 4 and 5 east, to section corner common to sections [7](/usc/16/7.md) and [18](/usc/16/18.md), township 30 north, range 5 east, and sections [12](/usc/16/12.md) and [13](/usc/16/13.md), township 30 north, range 4 east; thence west on section line to section corner common to sections [11](/usc/16/11.md), [12](/usc/16/12.md), [13](/usc/16/13.md), and [14](/usc/16/14.md), township 30 north, range 4 east; thence south on section line to section corner common to sections [13](/usc/16/13.md), [14](/usc/16/14.md), [23](/usc/16/23.md), and [24](/usc/16/24.md), township 30 north, range 4 east; thence west on section lines to section corner common to sections [15](/usc/16/15.md), [16](/usc/16/16.md), [21](/usc/16/21.md), and [22](/usc/16/22.md), township 30 north, range 4 east; thence south on section line to section corner common to sections [21](/usc/16/21.md), [22](/usc/16/22.md), 27, and 28, township 30 north, range 4 east; thence west on section lines to range line, township 30 north, between ranges 3 and 4 east, at section corner common to sections 19 and [30](/usc/16/30.md), township 30 north, range 4 east, and sections [24](/usc/16/24.md) and [25](/usc/16/25.md), township 30 north, range 3 east; thence north on range line to section corner common to sections [18](/usc/16/18.md) and 19, township 30 north, range 4 east, and sections [13](/usc/16/13.md) and [24](/usc/16/24.md), township 30 north, range 3 east; thence west on section lines to section corner common to sections [14](/usc/16/14.md), [15](/usc/16/15.md), [22](/usc/16/22.md), and [23](/usc/16/23.md), township 30 north, range 3 east; thence north on section line to section corner common to sections 10, [11](/usc/16/11.md), [14](/usc/16/14.md), and [15](/usc/16/15.md), township 30 north, range 3 east; thence west on section lines to range line at section corner common to sections [7](/usc/16/7.md) and [18](/usc/16/18.md), township 30 north, range 3 east, and sections [12](/usc/16/12.md) and [13](/usc/16/13.md), township 30 north, range 2 east; thence north on range line to section corner common to sections [6](/usc/16/6.md) and [7](/usc/16/7.md), township 30 north, range 3 east, and sections [1](/usc/16/1.md) and [12](/usc/16/12.md), township 30 north, range 2 east; thence west on section line to section corner common to sections [1](/usc/16/1.md), [2](/usc/16/2.md), [11](/usc/16/11.md), and [12](/usc/16/12.md), township 30 north, range 2 east; thence north on section line to township line at section corner common to sections [35](/usc/16/35.md) and [36](/usc/16/36.md), township 31 north, range 2 east, and sections [1](/usc/16/1.md) and [2](/usc/16/2.md), township 30 north, range 2 east; thence west on township line to the northeast corner of township 30 north, range 1 east, the place of beginning.


## Source credit

(Feb. 26, 1919, ch. 44, § 1, 40 Stat. 1175.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Short Title

Pub. L. 93–620, § 1, Jan. 3, 1975, 88 Stat. 2089, provided that: “This act [enacting sections 228a to 228j of this title, amending section 227 of this title, and repealing section 223 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act’.”

### Study of Air Traffic Over Grand Canyon

Pub. L. 102–581, title I, § 134, Oct. 31, 1992, 106 Stat. 4887, provided that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, in consultation with the Director of the National Park Service, the State of Arizona, the State of Nevada, the Clark County Department of Aviation, affected Indian tribes, and the general public, would conduct a study and submit a management plan on increased air traffic over Grand Canyon National Park.