Gates of Lodore

The Green River provides a stunning visual as it enters the Gates of Lodore.

NPS Photo/Dan Johnson

Quick Facts

Amenities

1 listed

Scenic View/Photo Spot

Gates of Lodore is located on the northern tip of Dinosaur National Monument. It is a long drive to the area and the wild, remote country adds to its sense of isolation. Here, the Green River, after winding across the broad valley known as Browns Park, turns toward the south and makes a direct path into the mountains in front of it. The Green enters into deep canyons filled with rapids that challenged Major John Wesley Powell who passed through here in 1869 on his voyage down the Green and Colorado Rivers. Powell named the location based upon a poem by Robert Southey entitled "The Cataract of Lodore."

Powell was not the first person to venture into this land. Trappers and traders had crossed the Browns Park area. Native American tribes hunted and fished in the region for generations. Homesteaders, ranchers and occasional outlaws would eventually call the area home.