I wanted to share in detail about our whitewater rafting trip with OARS on the Green River in Utah and Colorado. This was a four-day experience for us that included rafting, camping, hiking and jumping in the river every day. I went with my 11 year old son, both of us unsure what we were going to encounter in terms of sights and activities, and we loved every minute of it. The trip we did is the Gates of Lodore OARS adventure, so we’re going to share all about that 44 mile stretch of beautiful rapids and canyons.
Have you heard of Dinosaur National Monument before? If not, no worries. This is a part of the National Park Service and it occupies a huge portion of northeastern Utah and into Colorado, and that’s where we did our OARS Gates of Lodore rafting trip. You can access Dinosaur National Monument by car in a few places, and there are some really cool dinosaur fossils, petroglyphs and pictographs, and epic views, but getting to raft on the Green River through its canyons is absolutely remarkable. If you’re into geology or paleontology, this is THE place to geek out on geologic time and the visible layers of Earth’s crust. I have lots to share about it. If you have any questions about our experience rafting with OARS or visiting Utah, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan a great trip.
Check out this OARS trip here!
Green River, Utah: Rafting the Gates of Lodore
The actual rafting experience doing the Gates of Lodore trip with OARS was both jaw dropping and epically fun. When we started out our 4-day rafting trip, the kiddo was really nervous about the rafting and rapids we were going to encounter, but by one hour into it he was absolutely having the time of his life. The Gates of Lodore (the canyon where we began) were something out of a dragon story, with cliffs and rock formations begging for a creature to land and breathe fire down on us. The Green River was beautifully… green. In places the water was green tinted with red rocks below and other spots it almost was turquoise.
Each night our camp was in a different spot with beautiful cliffs and wilderness all around. Our first night we set up camp while a small herd of bighorn sheep with lambs drank in the river across from us. The next night we got into camp early and had a whole afternoon of swimming and playing beach games before going for an evening hike. Our third night was in a beautiful spot with a swimming pond, a stream and the coolest hike through a valley to a waterfall. Each day was something different. OARS has the rafting/camping combo figured out!
What You’ll See at the Gates of Lodore and Beyond
We’ve done lots of road trips through Utah and been to all of the Utah National Parks, but I had never considered that Dinosaur National Monument was going to be anything more than a series of fossil deposits and science exhibits (which I’m super into, so don’t take that the wrong way). Before we set our on our 4 day rafting trip with OARS, Elliott and I spent a few days in Vernal, UT checking out all of the dinosaur stuff we could, hiking and enjoying canyons, so we thought we basically had the lay of the land and knew what was in store. Nope.
The landscapes when you approach Dinosaur National Monument from the river through the Gates of Lodore are astounding. Deep red sandstone cliffs and alabaster limestone formations are continually changing all around you as you move with the Green River. Whether it’s the legendary view as you start into the Gates of Lodore, or the painted, layered hills in that final stretch through NE Utah, there’s always something to make you gasp.
I think the most beautiful spot during our OARS rafting trip was when we were floating through the still waters of Echo Canyon where the Green River meets the Yampa River. It was so beautiful, quiet and breathtaking. The canyon walls were absolutely towering and the still, calm water was a nice change to the rapids.
Wildlife on the Green River
Because we’ve been to Utah so many times and thanks to our days before our rafting trip, we were expecting to see very little wildlife on the river. We’d only been seeing pronghorn (antelope) for days, so when we got into our rafts and had bighorn sheep, deer and eagles, that was a wonderful surprise. Visually and as far as nature goes, our Gates of Lodore rafting trip surpassed all expectations.
Here’s our final count for wildlife we saw doing the Gates of Lodore rafting trip with OARS:
- bighorn sheep – ewes and lambs, around 40
- bighorn sheep – rams, 5
- bald eagles – 3
- golden eagle – 1
- mule deer – 4 doe, 1 buck
- rabbits – too many to count
- other rodents and birds – so so so many
We also saw one moose on our drive into Vernal before we headed out on our rafting trip. And although we saw lots of pronghorn antelope and prairie dogs on the drive from the OARS rafting depot to the put-in at the Gates of Lodore, we didn’t see any more once we were on the river. Still though, there was so much wildlife on this adventure!
Green River Rapids for Rafting
From the time you enter the Gates of Lodore and continue down the next 44 miles, there are lots of rapids to go through. They’re mostly Class II and III, but they can still be intense if the water level is right or if you hit them just wrong. I liked each of the OARS guides we were with because they always took the approach of scouting a big rapid before we’d go through, and they knew the history and stories of a lot of the Green River rapids we were rafting through.
Here are most of the rapids you’ll encounter when you’re rafting the Green River from the Gates of Lodore to Split Mountain, all which are within Dinosaur National Monument.
- Disaster Falls
- Hell’s Half Mile
- Triplet Falls
- Moonshine Rapid
- Winnie’s Rapid
- Inglesby Rapid
- Schoolboy Rapid
If you continue on the Green River down into Canyonlands National Park and beyond there are many more, and quite a few larger ones, but this stretch from the Gates of Lodore was perfect for our skill level and OARS made it really fun.
Hitting the Rapids with Kids
You can always tell what outdoor experiences other people have had by the questions they ask and the way they phrase them. When I said that we were rafting the canyons in Utah, the pearls were clutched. The eyes got big. “With a kid? That’s so dangerous.” You know, everything in life is dangerous, but when you’re doing a big adventure that has money and insurance and restrictions tied up in it, you can feel pretty confident that it’s a safe operation that’s tried and true. We knew what we were getting into with rafting Hell’s Half Mile and Triplet Falls. And here we are: happy memories and great stories.
Really though, when you go out with a rafting company like OARS they are very good about making sure everyone knows what they’re getting into and even on the river, you can do short hikes with the guides to scout the rapids and see what lies ahead. At no point in our four days of rafting was I concerned for Elliott’s or my safety. Being on the river with trained professionals is an awesome experience and is a great way to expand your outdoor horizons.
PS: Elliott’s (and my) favorite rapid on the 44 mile section of the Green River that we did is called Schoolboy. It’s a really fun Class III alongside a cliff with both boulder rapids and waves coming from the roll wall. It was a blast to hit and it was a great soaker!
Camping on the Green River while Rafting
I had forgotten how nice it is to sleep next to running water; that sound really does put you out, especially after a long day on the river. After our daily whitewater rafting adventures, the OARS team would guide us ashore to our camp for the night. We weren’t just camping in a random place one of the guides knew, but in carefully managed Park Service sites. There were no firepits or bathrooms, but just woods with small clearings for tents. The guide team was so good about setting up camp each day, with a kitchen, two “bathrooms”, a camp circle and three handwashing stations. They’re such a well-oiled machine.
Our overnight camping stops for our 4 day Gates of Lodore rafting trip with OARS were at the following National Park Service managed primitive group sites:
- Pot Creek – beautiful with lots of bighorn sheep
- Rippling Brook – really fun beach area and a nice hike, bighorn sheep
- Jones Hole – amazing swimming hole and epic hike to pictographs and a waterfall
We got to pick where our tent would go each night, and Elliott and I really favored the heavily forested sites. My favorite spot we put our tent (at Rippling Brook) had a small path directly to the river and you could sit in the tent and watch the water. It was pretty magical.
Since there were seven kids on our rafting trip (we were on the family friendly trip) they all hung out and played games and swam each day. Even though all of us had only met a day before, the vibes at camp were always like a family reunion but without all the drama. I’m not hugely social, but our camping buddies were really great to chat with and I felt welcome with no history between us. It’s such a good group of people who book OARS rafting trips.
Other OARS trips we’d like to do
So OARS, our host for our Gates of Lodore multiday rafting trip, do all sorts of single day and multi-day trips. While I don’t know that I could convince the rest of the family to do it, I would love to do one of the big Alaska rafting trips that last 12+ days. I think it would be amazing. We are looking at one of the Salmon River, Rogue River or maybe even a Colorado River adventure in the Grand Canyon for next year with all four of us, so we’ll see what shakes out. Multi day trips and so fun.
If you’re interested in the different options for multi-day rafting trips, there are lots of options and you can sort them by trip length, intensity and minimum age requirement. Having rafted on many rivers, I can say that not every river is great with young kids, and there are some rivers that make me nervous as an experienced adult, but there are so many wonderful, beautiful places to explore, I know there’s something for everyone.
Here are some OARS destinations and itineraries to check out:
- Alaska adventures – 12+ days
- Snake River through Hells Canyon – 4 or 5 days — check out our previous Hells Canyon trip here!
- San Juan River in Southern Utah – 6 days
- Rogue River in Oregon – 3, 4 or 5 days
- Salmon River in Idaho – 4, 5 or 6 days
PS: we do have an affiliate relationship with OARS so if you choose to book something a small commission is given to us at no cost to you. We had an amazing experience with OARS, so even without our affiliate relationship we’d be telling you to check them out!
Where is the Green River?
The Green River serves as a major access point for rafting trips throughout Utah, and in particular northeastern Utah. A lot of rafting itineraries are paired with hiking, camping, or Utah road trip routes through the surrounding canyon country. Our OARS Gates of Lodore whitewater rafting trip started with a mini road trip from Vernal, UT. The Green River goes through Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Dinosaur National Monument, several Bureau of Land Management sites, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park and more. It’s absolutely beautiful and has some of the most epic rock formations.
What is the Green River in Utah Famous For?
THe Green River is best known for its rafting routes, desert canyon landscapes, and access to some of Utah’s most iconic outdoor destinations, even though you don’t actually get to raft through all of them on a single trip (usually). For example, our Gates of Lodore OARS trip only covered 44 miles, but it was still epic. The Green River itself played an important role in early western exploration, with the famous John Wesley Powell Expedition mapping it all out, and exploring so much of the Colorado, Utah and Arizona deserts.
Besides the fun and beautiful rafting, the Green River is known for all of the remnants of prior indigenous cultures who lived here for thousands of years. Both along the river and up in the canyons you can hike to petroglyphs and pictographs left by the Fremont peoples. They’re pretty amazing to see, and then when you consider human and geologic time running side by side, our existence is really put in perspective. Rafting the Green River is mind-blowing sometimes.
When To Raft The Green River
If you’re wondering when to raft the Green River, you have to consider how the seasons go in Utah. You might think that since it’s so hot in Utah in the summer, that the winter months are great for rafting. Think again, as the high desert actually gets snow quite often and the freezing temperatures of a Utah winter are intense. Instead, late spring and into early fall is the best time, and is actually the only time you can raft most parts of the Green River. Unlike rafting the Flathead River at Glacier National Park, being on the Green River has quite the range of flow days.
The river’s flow is controlled by the dam at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, so when they are building up the water supply, the flow is very minimal. In the spring and sometimes in the summer they will have big dam release days, and this drastically changes the amount of water flowing through the Green River. Most rafting days in summer are flowing at around 1100-1400 cubic feet per second, but when there’s a big dam release, this can more than double, completely changing the intensity of the rapids and speed of the river. If you’re going with OARS and doing their Gates of Lodore rafting trip, they know how to navigate the changing flow and do a good job informing guests of what’s happening on the river.
My hope is always that I can inspire somebody to have a different sort of adventure, and if the Gates of Lodore rafting trip with OARS has got you interested, yay! It was such a fantastic experience and my son and I had bonding like we don’t get from other types of trave. If you have any questions about any aspect of whitewater rafting with OARS or exploring Utah, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan an unforgettable adventure.
