Last updated: April 5, 2024
Place
Echo Park Overlook
NPS Photo/Conrad Provan
Quick Facts
Location:
Dinosaur National Monument, Harpers Corner Road
Amenities
6 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Picnic Table, Restroom, Scenic View/Photo Spot
From here you can see directly down into Echo Park. Beyond Steamboat Rock, just out of sight, is the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Both are part of the Upper Colorado River system, and each has its own unique story.
From almost the beginning of American settlement in the West, demand for water has exceeded availability. In 1950, the United States Bureau of Reclamation presented the Colorado River Storage Project, a proposal to construct several dams throughout the Colorado River system. The initial project included a dam downstream of Echo Park that would have flooded both the Green and Yampa rivers, destroying many of the natural and cultural features that had been protected as part of Dinosaur National Monument since a boundary expansion in 1938.
This proposed dam had the potential to set a precedent that put every national park and monument at risk of development, and environmental groups took a strong stand against it. The movement to defeat the Echo Park Dam garnered tremendous public support and ultimately was successful. However, a dam was still built upstream on the Green River at Flaming Gorge.
In its natural state, the Green River flooded almost every spring, carrying loads of silt and scouring its banks. Life in the river was so well-adapted to this environment that many organisms depended on this seasonal influx of water and sediment to survive. In 1964, the Flaming Gorge Dam was completed, trapping silt behind its walls and regulating water flow at a constant rate. Native species, ill-adapted to this cold, clear water, began to suffer.
Today, the dam regulates water releases in an attempt to mimic the natural rhythms of the Green River and aid in the recovery of native species.
The Yampa River stands in contrast to the today’s Green River. The Yampa is the last major free-flowing tributary in the Colorado River System. It serves as a sanctuary to native fish and invertebrates, like mayflies, that are adapted to its natural fluctuations. Where the two rivers meet at Echo Park, the Yampa rejuvenates the Green with its warm, silty waters for miles downstream, effectively creating a hybrid river, both regulated and wild.
From almost the beginning of American settlement in the West, demand for water has exceeded availability. In 1950, the United States Bureau of Reclamation presented the Colorado River Storage Project, a proposal to construct several dams throughout the Colorado River system. The initial project included a dam downstream of Echo Park that would have flooded both the Green and Yampa rivers, destroying many of the natural and cultural features that had been protected as part of Dinosaur National Monument since a boundary expansion in 1938.
This proposed dam had the potential to set a precedent that put every national park and monument at risk of development, and environmental groups took a strong stand against it. The movement to defeat the Echo Park Dam garnered tremendous public support and ultimately was successful. However, a dam was still built upstream on the Green River at Flaming Gorge.
In its natural state, the Green River flooded almost every spring, carrying loads of silt and scouring its banks. Life in the river was so well-adapted to this environment that many organisms depended on this seasonal influx of water and sediment to survive. In 1964, the Flaming Gorge Dam was completed, trapping silt behind its walls and regulating water flow at a constant rate. Native species, ill-adapted to this cold, clear water, began to suffer.
Today, the dam regulates water releases in an attempt to mimic the natural rhythms of the Green River and aid in the recovery of native species.
The Yampa River stands in contrast to the today’s Green River. The Yampa is the last major free-flowing tributary in the Colorado River System. It serves as a sanctuary to native fish and invertebrates, like mayflies, that are adapted to its natural fluctuations. Where the two rivers meet at Echo Park, the Yampa rejuvenates the Green with its warm, silty waters for miles downstream, effectively creating a hybrid river, both regulated and wild.