Frost, Kent, 1917-

Explorer and tour guide.

From the description of Kent Frost oral history interview : Tape and transcript, 1973 July 20 [sound recording] / conducted by Albert R. Page. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122486551

Kent Frost was born in Bluff, Utah and soon moved to Monticello, Utah. As a young boy, it was not uncommon for him to wander off for days at a time while he hiked and explored the surrounding countryside, going places recommended and described to him by local cowboys. He befriended anyone he met out in the wilderness, which included cowboys, prospectors and hermits. Some of the closest friends he met were the Chaffins, the operators of Hite Ferry in Glen Canyon.

Eventually, he made his way to the San Juan River and met Norman Nevills. He learned to run rivers from Norman and soon became a boatman for Norman’s company, Mexican Hat Expeditions. At one point in 1937 he joined the Carnegie Cal Tech river trip. Between the late 1950s and the early 1980s he ran jeep tours through the canyon country and was a driving force behind the preservation of this area as the Canyonlands National Park.

Today Kent Frost is a Southwest river runner, who works primarily throughout southern Utah and northern Arizona. In addition to being a river runner he was a backcountry tour guide in the canyonlands area of southwestern Utah, or the general area surrounding what is now Lake Powell. As an avid hiker and outdoorsman, he spent his life exploring the backcountry of southwestern Utah, mostly on foot.

He currently lives in Monticello, Utah, located in Southwestern Utah.

From the guide to the Kent Frost Collection, 1949-1985., (Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department)