I was invited to Dinosaur National Monument for some hiking and a four-day river trip. It was my first visit to the park so I was excited. I didn't do much the first day since I arrived fairly late, but I did take the opportunity to check out the stars, which were nice.

Milky Way Landscape

I woke up early the following morning, checked out the views of Split Mountain near the campground and saw a couple critters.

Split Mountain Sunrise Wide House Finch Prairie Dog Desert Cotton Tail

After breakfast, we jumped in the car to explore by car. We drive around to the northern parts of the park via Island Park Road. The first stop was at Rainbow Park where we checked out the views along the river and hiked out to some petroglyphs

Splint Mountain from Rainbow Park Shore Lizard Head Rainbow Park Rainbow Park Petroglyphs(3)

The next stops along the road was McKee Springs Petroglyphs, Island Park Overlook, and out to the end of the road until it dead ends at the river.

Mckee Springs Petroglyphs(2) Mckee Springs Petroglyphs Island Park Panorama Lizard Full Ruple Ranch Shoreline
Then we backtracked all the way back around and drove out to Harpers Corner Road to overlook the Canyon. The canyon views are spectacular and we even saw some elk and a moose. 

View From Harpers Corner Trail

Echo Park 4x4 Road was in decent shape, so we drove down to the confluence to explore around. We would be back here in a few days as part of the river trip.

Echo Park Flowers Steamboat Rock and Echo Park Sunset below the Confluence Camouflaged Toad

The last thing we did to round out the whirlwind of a day was to pop in the Quarry Exhibit Hall and nearby trails to check out the dinosaur fossils.

Camarasaurus Skull Tail Split Mountain Split Mountain With Clouds

The next day was the start of our river trip. We drove out to the put in at Gates of Lodore and shoved off with a few other larger groups.

Gates of Lodore Group Float Through Lodore Canyon

The biggest rapids on this section of the river was Disaster Falls, Triplet Falls, and Hells Half Mile. Nothing crazy, but some fun splashy rapids. I took the opportunity to pull over and shoot some groups navigating the rapids.

Kayakers on the Green Lower Disaster Falls Hell's Half Mile Triplet Falls Triplet Falls

Our first camp was at Kolb Beach. It was right on the water with some nice canyon views.

Kolb Camp

In addition to to beautiful canyon views, we had some great wildlife sightings including desert bighorn sheep.

Baby Desert Bighorn Desert Bighorns Desert Bighorn Osprey and Breakfast Take Flight Beaver Double-crested Cormorants Great Blue Heron

Our next camp was on a beach along near flat water. We has two fishers run through camp briefly, but I wasn't able to get a good photo, just enough for a positive identification.

Morning Light

We set off early and did a quick pitstop at Echo Park. It was pretty busy there so we didn't stay long. 

Lunch at Echo Park Mitten Park Fault

We pulled over at the Jones Hole Campground to stretch our legs and hike up to see some pictographs.

Jones Hole Creek Hike Jones Hole Pictograph Jones Hole Creek Meets the Green

That night our camp along the river was finally out of the canyon so we could see the stars. I hung out for a while after dark to take in the views before calling it a night.

River Under the Stars

The next day we traveled through Rainbow Park and the final stretch through Split Mountain. The rapids through there were pretty splashy so I kept my camera in the case.

Split Mountain from the River Split Mountain Reflections

Trip notes: I was blown away by Dinosaur National Monument. It's hard to believe that this place isn't a designated national park. It was great to explore the park by roads, but I feel that I really go to see the park by doing the river trip. This trip was a little over 45 river miles total. I was invited back to do a trip on the Yampa if I can time it correctly, so finger crossed. I definitely want to come back and explore this place even more.

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