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Holiday River Expeditions, Salt Lake City UT

Four Day Rafting Trip for Two

www.holidayriverexpeditions.com

You’ll raft on the Green River through Lodore Canyon in the heart of Dinosaur National Monument.

Rafting trips through the Gates of Lodore Canyon are filled with excitement and beautiful scenery. You’ll encounter 800-foot canyon walls of Precambrian Bedrock along with exquisite vermilion rock formations. Many of its exciting whitewater rapids were named by John Wesley Powell, who first discovered the canyon in 1869. Powell’s adventures live on in the whitewater rapids he named: Disaster Falls, Triplet Falls, and Hell’s Half Mile. Set aside as an American treasure in 1938 under the National Park System, the Green River through Lodore Canyon is a sanctuary for bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and birds of prey. This trip is a geologists dream, with rock layers from 1.1 billion to 20 million years old.

The Green River cuts like a knife through Lodore Canyon from the top of Dinosaur National Monument through its heart. At the confluence with the Yampa River, this trip takes you through Echo Park & Whirlpool Canyon before floating you into Island Park.  Hold on tight for the last 8 miles of whitewater through the center of a mountain before reaching the Split Mountain takeout.

This typical itinerary illustrates a four-day trip through Lodore Canyon (example only):

Day 1:  You’ll meet your party at Holiday River’s headquarters in Vernal. You’ll be issued waterproof bags and you can buy any last minute items from their accessories store at this time.  You’ll then take a three-hour scenic van ride to Brown's Park National Wildlife Refuge, the site of the put-in.  Pass through the Gates of Lodore while rafting and encounter John Wesley Powell’s notoriously named Disaster Falls.

Day 2:  The "Gates" mark the beginning of High Desert country - the Colorado Plateau – in what is deemed an ecological transition-zone; a landscape teeming with wildlife.  As the canyon narrows, more rapids emerge: Harp Falls, Triplet Falls, and Hell's Half Mile. Hike at Rippling Brook and discover a secluded waterfall.

Day 3:  At the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers at Echo Park, the canyon widens before the river circles Steamboat Rock.  Here the river enters Whirlpool Canyon. The afternoon may be spent at Jones Hole Creek - a blue-ribbon trout stream with side canyon petroglyphs and waterfall.

Day 4:  Peaceful morning in Island and Rainbow Park before entering another massive gorge. The Green's powerful forces cut laterally through Split Mountain's uplifted and colorful core.  Rapids abound before the take out and a 35-minute ride back to Vernal.

All services must be used within the 2019 season (June – September). Reserve no later than the beginning of June. $27 per person Park Fee is not included. Intermediate level rafting trip. Must be at least eight years old.