Green Through Lodore Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument

Location: Northwestern Colorado (about 220 miles northwest of Denver; about 160 miles east of Salt Lake City).

Length of trips: 45 miles in three to five days. Shorter trips are also available.

Season: Mid-May through mid-September. Flaming Gorge Dam controls the river flow, but both snowmelt and effluence from the Yampa River, a tributary of the Green, add considerable volume downstream. The water flow usually peaks between mid-May and mid-June.

Weather: Temperatures in May, early June, and September range from 55° to 70°F during the day, 50° to 60° at night. From late June through August daytime temperatures soar into the 80s and 90s but drop into the 60s at night. Rain showers can cool things off quickly. Mosquitoes can be pesky, so bring insect repellent.

Lodging: Excellent campsites on sandy beaches in canyons and wooded groves. Also motels in Vernal, Utah.

Boats: Kayaks, oar boats, paddle rafts.

Rapids: Class II and III (some become Class IV at high-water levels). The water released from Flaming Gorge Dam is cold and clear, although sediment from the Yampa can turn it silty in spring and early summer.

Special features:

  • Three breathtaking high-desert canyons, varying from red sandstone to folded layers of gray limestone and pale sandstone.
  • Many rapids were named by geologist-explorer John Wesley Powell and his men during their expeditions in 1869 and 1872.
  • Interesting hikes into side canyons to see rock grottoes, waterfalls, and alcoves with petroglyphs carved by the vanished Fremont people.
  • Bighorn sheep, mule deer, beavers, river otters, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, great blue herons.
  • Catch-and-release fishing for brown and rainbow trout at the blue ribbon trout stream at Jones Hole.
  • Wilderness solitude.
  • Suitable for families (check with your outfitter about age limit for children), first-time and experienced rafters, seniors in good physical condition, and the physically challenged who are comfortable in and around the water.

Nearby excursions:

  • Fossil dinosaur remains and exhibit at Dinosaur Quarry, near Jensen, Utah.
  • Flaming Gorge.

For a list of outfitters and more information:

  • River Office, Dinosaur National Monument, 4545 Highway 40, Dinosaur, Colorado 81610; +1 970 374 2468, fax +1 970 374 3003. Try to book at least three or four months in advance.
  • For a list of Colorado outfitters, contact the Colorado River Outfitters Association (CROA), 4098 Surrey Court, Lafayette, Colorado 80026; +1 303 369 4632.

For more information:

  • Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority, P.O. Box 22005, Denver, Colorado 80222; +1 303 296 3384 or 800 265 6723.
  • Dinosaur National Monument story in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER, Spring 1984.

 
 
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