Dinosaur National Monument is famous for three things: dinosaurs (obviously), rivers, and Native American wall carvings.
The National Monument Headquarters is in Dinosaur, Colorado, although most of the park is located near the Green River north of Jensen, Utah. Jensen is 13 miles east of Vernal. The Visitors Center is about 4.6 miles north of Jensen.
Several years ago the ground under the quarry became unstable and made the building unsafe. Since then a new structure has been erected and the Visitors Center has been moved a couple miles away. Visitors are now shuttled from the Visitors Center to the quarry.
Dinosaurs
The Quarry at Dinosaur National Monument contains one of the largest concentrations of dinosaur bones in the world. The quarry wall, which is unique in the world, contains bones from dozens of different dinosaurs, but no intact dinosaurs — only isolated bones.
How, you ask, did all those bones get in one place? The answer is actually quite simple, the river brought them here. In order to understand this one must first understand this occurred over millions of years — perhaps as long as 85 million years.
The location of the mass of bones was on a bend in the river. The water pushed the bones to the side of the bend and eventually the bones were covered with many tons of sand. A few years ago (a tick on the geologic clock), a bone was discovered, then another, and another, and voila, we have what is today an absolutely unique display of dinosaur bones.
People from all over the world come to Dinosaur National Monument to stand in awe before this impressive wall. While dinosaurs to people in Carbon County may not be unique, this display certainly is.
River Running
There are two major rivers flowing through Dinosaur NM, the Gates of Lodore section of the Green River and the Yampa River. The Yampa merges with the Green near Echo Park. The last 25 miles of a Yampa trip is actually on the Green River.
Several outfitters provide commercial trips on both river sections. It is also possible to do a private trip, but both sections are very popular and all permits are allocated very early in the year. A lottery is conducted in February to allocate private permits. Pre-season (prior to the high-use season) and post-season permits are allocated via a call-in system.
The Gates of Lodore section of the Green River is 44 miles in length and river runners usually take four days. It features some of the most famous rapids in the western United States, including Disaster Falls and Hell’s Half Mile, both named by John Wesley Powell during his historic trip of 1869.
Efforts to dam the Green River at Echo Park in the 1950s were thwarted by public outcry, although a compromise did result in the Glen Canyon Dam being built.
The Yampa River is the longest free-flowing river in the United States. There are no dams on the river, although some have been proposed and even planned. The Yampa is one of the most popular rivers and private permits are very difficult to get. The length of the trip, including 25 miles on the Green River, is 71 miles and people usually take five to seven days.
The Yampa is not known as a whitewater river, although it does have the infamous Warm Springs Rapid that has capsized many rafts. Warm Springs Rapid was created in 1965 after a major storm brought a huge amount of debris into the river from a side canyon. The story is that two guides were floating the river. They were not wearing life jackets because the river was not serious. They heard a roar in the distance, but still didn’t dawn life jackets. They capsized the raft in the newly created Warm Springs Rapid and one of the men drowned.
Laine Adair, from Kenilworth, tells a story of how he capsized three rafts in Warm Springs Rapid in one day. On a high-water trip two of the boatmen didn’t want to run Warm Springs. Laine rowed his boat into the rapid and capsized. After getting out of the river and righting his raft, he walked back to the staging area and took another raft, which he also capsized. Not the kind of person to give up, Laine was determined to make it through with the third raft, but it ended up upside down as well. That story will be told around campfires as long as Laine runs rivers.
Petroglyphs, pictographs
In the park there are five areas where a visitor can view petroglyphs and pictographs:
Swelter Shelter is located a half mile from the Quarry Visitor Center along the Tour of the Tilted Rocks Scenic Drive. It is an easy walk, approximately 200 feet from the parking area. The area features a variety of both petroglyphs and pictographs designs.
Cub Creek is located 9 miles from Quarry Visitor Center along the Tour of the Tilted Rocks Scenic Drive. It is an easy walk to a panel with a variety of designs, only 50 feet from parking area. Another quarter mile of moderately strenuous hiking take a visitor to lizard figures. The figures can be seen with binoculars from parking area.
The Deluge Shelter trailhead is 44 miles from the quarry visitor center at the Jones Hole Fish Hatchery. There are pictographs approximately two miles from trailhead along the Jones Hole Creek Trail. It is an easy to moderate hike along a fairly level trail. Pictographs depict animals, people, and abstract designs.
McKee Springs is about 22 miles from the Quarry Visitor Center along the Island Park Road. It is a short trail, with some elevation gain. Petroglyphs include some of the finest large human-like designs in the area, as well as many other figures. This road is impassible during wet weather – check road conditions before attempting to drive to this site.
Pool Creek is about 37 miles from the Canyon Visitor Center along the Harpers Corner Scenic Drive. The petroglyph is just a few feet from parking area. There are unusual dot-pattern designs high above the creek This road is impassible during wet weather.
Camping and lodging
There are no rooms for rent in the park. There are six campgrounds, although three are used mostly (but not exclusively) by river runners. Those three are Deerlodge, where most people launch on the Yampa; Rainbow Park, where people launch to float Split Mountain, the daily section of the Green River; and Gates of Lodore, where people launch for the Gates of Lodore section of the Green River.
The other three campgrounds are Echo Park, Green River, and Split Mountain. Echo Park is 38 miles from the Quarry Visitors Center. Access is via a gravel road which is not suitable for most recreational vehicles. It has 22 sites, including one group site.
Green River Campground is four miles from the Quarry Visitors Center and is the major campground for the National Monument. There are 79 sites. Camping fee is $18. Some sites are available to reserve, some are first-come, first-serve.
Split Mountain is near the Green River Campground and has four sites, but functions as a group site most of the year.