Eastern Utah

Stretching from the far northeast corner of the state, home of the majestic Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, southwest to the foreboding and mysterious San Rafael Swell, from the vast High Uintas Wilderness Area to the canyons carved over eons by the mighty Green River, Eastern Utah offers millions of recreational acres for the adventuresome. 

Dinosaur National Monument, where behemoths once roamed, is located 20 miles from the town of Vernal on the east-west US Highway 40. The quarry attracts professional paleontologists and amateur dino lovers alike from throughout the world. More than 2000 fossilized bones are exposed in the sandstone wall that once was a sandbar in an ancient river. The quarry, however, is but a small fraction of the 210,844 acres of the Monument. The Green and Yampa Rivers carve spectacular canyons where river runners and kayakers frolic through whitewater stretches of Split Mountain and the Gates of Lodore.

Flaming Gorge, which overlaps the state line separating Utah and Wyoming, was named by John Wesley Powell. The Civil War hero had no trouble coming up with the name, as he entered in his journal in 1869:  “At a distance of one to twenty miles a brilliant red gorge is seen … we name it Flaming Gorge. The 91-mile reservoir, created by the Flaming Gorge Dam restraining the Green River, boasts 350 miles of shoreline attracting water sport enthusiasts of all shapes and sizes. Every floating device, from canoes to kayaks, from houseboats to fishing craft, from homemade rafts to float tubes, boaters enjoy exploring the Gorge’s abundant nooks and crannies, many stalking a trophy catch. In fact, four record setting fish, including a fifty-one pound lake trout, have been landed out of the reservoir. High up on the ridges above, mountain bikers frolic. Popular singletrack routes like Red Canyon rim, Elk Park Loop and the Death Valley Trail offer variety and challenges to all abilities. The 19-mile Elk Park Loop throws down the gauntlet to advanced riders as it winds its way up the slopes of the Uinta Mountains. The seven mile Little Hole National Recreation Trail is another favorite, particularly with bird watchers; osprey and bald eagles are often spotted along the route. Below the dam, the “A” and “B” sections of the Green have a well-deserved reputation as some of the finest trout waters in the world. Yes, the world! Flyfishers from all corners of the globe visit and revisit this shrine yearly. Many experienced guide services and outfitters are located here.

Flyfishing - Uintas    Photo courtesy of Utah Division of Travel Development - By Frank Jensen

High Uintas Wilderness and Ashley National Forest, in the northwest corner of Eastern Utah, are home to bighorn sheep, elk, beavers, eagles and hikers willing and able to traverse this high mountain backcountry to view wildlife in their habitat The Ashley contains more than a million acres of Douglas fir, towering peaks and hundreds of hidden lakes, teeming with you-know-what. The Tokewanna Peak Loop Trail offers a perfect sampling of all three. Over 25 miles, this trail meanders up and up through luscious forests to the summit at 13,165 feet. Pack a rod and try your luck at Bob’s Pond. The High Uinta Mountains, the only range in the Rockies running east-west, claims Utah’s highest point, King’s Peak at 13,528. Several routes to the summit attract hikers and backpackers after the snows melt. The sixty-mile long Highland Trail traverses the ridgeline of the High Uintas, rarely below timberline, and is a favorite of trail users, both on foot and astride a horse. No mountain bikes, please, in this or any wilderness area. Plenty of trails for fat-tire riders in the Ashley outside wilderness boundaries.

The Green River, alternately placid, scenic stretches, punctuated by churning, powerful rapids, is Eastern Utah’s premier whitewater playground. Kayakers know the many holes, currents and eddies. Guide companies located throughout the state launch regularly scheduled multi-day excursions through Split Mountain, and downriver through the Green’s many spectacular canyons; Lodore, Gray, Labyrinth and Desolation, known to river rats as “Deso”. As great as the river running experience on the Green is, it is even more enhanced by the beauty of the landscape, the historical significance and stunning geology of the area, and the many panels of ancient rock art along the way.

San Rafael Swell overlook - Photo courtesy of Utah Division of Travel Development - By Jerry Sintz

The San Rafael Swell. Many Utah citizens think of The Swell as the state’s sixth National Monument. Someday, somehow, perhaps it will receive the official designation it truly deserves. No less spectacular, intriguing and awe-inspiring than its five Utah monument cousins, the San Rafael Swell is located in the southern part of Eastern Utah, straddling Interstate 70, in Castle Country. Giant domes of rock rising at the western edge of the Colorado Plateau. This uplift has been so severely eroded over eons that its inclined flanks form a dramatic saw-toothed ridge, or “reef” that resembles the ragged remains of a dinosaur’s backbone, completely encircling a central elevated core known today as Sinbad Valley. Cutting through this geological wonder is the San Rafael River racing to its confluence with the Green. Slot canyons too numerous to name, and many unnamed. Technical climbing and descending trails for mountain bikers. Remote solitude for backpackers. The pocked terrain of the Swell is also loaded with Fremont Indian rock art.

Goblin Valley - Photo courtesy of Utah Division of Travel Development - By Tom Till

Nine Mile Canyon, the world’s longest art gallery, boasts the largest concentration of Indian rock art in North America. The canyon, actually more than 40 miles long, can be visited by 4WD (high clearance recommended), but to see and visit over 10,000 archeological sites created by the Fremont Indians, a mountain bike or sturdy pair of hiking boots is better. Banded cliffs hold the natural canvases on which the Fremont captured the mysteries of the desert. The gravel and dirt road to Nine Mile Canyon is found off US Highway 6, just outside Wellington, south of Price.

The Wasatch Plateau, rising from the heart of Utah, is a dramatic, 70-mile long extension of the famed Wasatch Range to the north. The plateau rises between 8000 and 11,000 feet, with more than a dozen peaks above 10,500. This land of escarped mountains looms above the surrounding desert as an alpine oasis. The Manti-LaSal National forest punctuates the region’s northwest corner and is a unique land of three ecosystems: alpine, desert and red-rock. Clear streams flow from the high country cutting canyons in a radiating labyrinth around the mountain core that provide enclaves for year-round recreation.