Last updated: August 12, 2022
Place
Gates of Lodore Trail Stop 16
NPS Photo/Conrad Provan
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Scenic View/Photo Spot
What Powell had called “the great unknown” is now explored by thousands of people every year in rafts and kayaks. River running is very popular in Dinosaur National Monument. The monument uses a permit system both for boater safety and to reduce the impact of too many people concentrated in narrow canyons. To some, imposition of such regulations is contradictory to the freedom of wilderness travel; to others, some control necessary to preserve the wilderness itself. How we protect our public lands, while also allowing for their use, is a continual debate.
Rafters may not have been able to enjoy these wild rivers if proposed dams had been constructed within the monument boundaries. The Echo Park Dam would have flooded the entire Canyon of Lodore and also that of the Yampa River, the Green’s major tributary. Protestors of the dam pointed out that Dinosaur National Monument had been enlarged to protect these canyons in their natural state, not as artificial reservoirs. After years of contentious debate in the 1950s and 60s, the decision was made to not build a dam within the monument boundaries.
Though the water that passes through the Gates of Lodore today is not quite the wild and unknown torrent that Powell saw, it is still a flowing river. The current still gnaws inch by inch into ancient rock; beaver still burrow and feed along the banks; bighorn still find footholds on the canyon walls; and modern explorers thrilled by the sights, the roar of a rapid and the song of a canyon wren can attest that this river is a rare and valuable resource.
Rafters may not have been able to enjoy these wild rivers if proposed dams had been constructed within the monument boundaries. The Echo Park Dam would have flooded the entire Canyon of Lodore and also that of the Yampa River, the Green’s major tributary. Protestors of the dam pointed out that Dinosaur National Monument had been enlarged to protect these canyons in their natural state, not as artificial reservoirs. After years of contentious debate in the 1950s and 60s, the decision was made to not build a dam within the monument boundaries.
Though the water that passes through the Gates of Lodore today is not quite the wild and unknown torrent that Powell saw, it is still a flowing river. The current still gnaws inch by inch into ancient rock; beaver still burrow and feed along the banks; bighorn still find footholds on the canyon walls; and modern explorers thrilled by the sights, the roar of a rapid and the song of a canyon wren can attest that this river is a rare and valuable resource.