Green River in Utah
Another guy and I will be spending a few days on the Green River somewhere in the Dutch John and/or Vernal, UT area.
Any suggestions for lodging on the cheap? We could tent camp if needed but might prefer an inexpensive motel. Previous fishing trips have proven that we don't need "nice" accomodations. We've stayed in what you might call some dumpy places in the past and gotten along fine. Will be fishing our brains out during the day and only need a place to sleep.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Regards,
Silver
"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy
Royce, exactly when are you going to be down this way? Could be I can help you out in some way even meet for a little fishin, heaven knows I could use the break. The above link lists the campgrounds and very good ones they are. Also know that you can camp most anywhere on the Wyo. side for no charge as it is like BLM land, camp for fourteen days before having to move. I may be wrong on the number days limit but will do some checking. I don't know what Flaming Gorge lodge charges but they do have a motel. Red canyon lodge has some cabins but they tend to be more expensive. Both are very good places to eat.
Last edited by Byron Zuehlsdorff; 03-15-2011 at 03:21 AM.
Wyo-Blizzard
Hey Brian! As of right now the plan is to be there sometime during the week of July 24th. Not sure just yet exactly what or how many days we will be fishing. I'll PM you with a few more details.Originally Posted by Byron Zuehlsdorff
Royce
I usually spend a week or better per year up there, and have been going up there for almost 20 years. It is probably my favorite place to fish overall. I would not own a drift boat if it was not for this river. Floating the canyon with its RED walls is SO relaxing, whether the fishing is great or not! Overall, I would say the fishing has declined in the last 15 years there, but it is still quite good. We used to catch at least one fish in the 22"+ range per day on an "A" section (canyon) float, but that is pretty rare anymore.
In case you are not aware, there are only TWO access points on the river in the first 7 miles. The put-in at the top, and Little Hole about 7 miles down. Access below that is VERY limited, and you really have to drive a long ways to get to it. The good news is that the whole river is public and very fishable, and there is a trail the whole first 8-9 miles or so.
Also, I will warn you that the middle of July is about the worst time possible all year to fish here. They call it the summertime lull. If you can make it work to go in June or mid August or later, fishing will typically be noticeably better. I can pretty much guarantee nobody up there will mention this, that is, until you are already there...Also, the "rubber hatch" (recreational rafters if you have never heard that before) is at full swing in mid July. The river is large enough that this is not usually a problem, but most of them have no clue about fly fishing (or fishing for that matter) and will not think twice about nearly running you over. I can pretty much guarantee you will have your fishing spot run over at least once per day by a raft in the summertime unless you are fishing backwater. Sometimes the fish don't care (if the water is deep enough), but other times it will put the bite off in that spot for an hour or so.
For actual lodging in the area, your choices are pretty limited. I have stayed just about everywhere available in the area at least once over the years. Some are definitely better than others. Here are the options.
The largest place is the old Flaming Gorge Lodge (now called the Flaming Gorge Resort). They have motel rooms and condos, depending on your needs. They are up the hill a little ways from the top of river (and not in town); about a 10 minute drive to the put-in below the dam. All of the rooms here are getting pretty dated and are in bad need of some updating. Personally, I think their rates are currently too high for what you get. They have a gas station as well (Conoco I think).
Another option is to stay at Trout Creek Flies. They have a handful of nice rooms there at their shop right near Dutch John which are good sized and well maintained. Personally, I like this place a lot better than the resort. They have the best fly shop in the area, and typically the best guides if you choose to do a float trip. Also, this is one of two gas stations in town (Philips 66).
Red Canyon Lodge is another option. They are about twice as far from the river as the resort (in fact, you drive right past the resort to get there), but this is probably the nicest place up there (especially given the picturesque area they're in). Rates are comparable to the resort, and they also have good food available.
The last place to stay is kind of like a dude ranch / B&B. It is called Spring Creek Guest Ranch. I've only been there once, and it was way back when they first opened in about '98, and we stayed in one of the private cabins. It was nice, and I remember the food being good (a good, hearty country-style breakfast included). The only thing I didn't like about this place is that it is kind of out of the way back North towards Rock Springs. It is probably further from the river than any of the other places I've mentioned, and there is nothing else around. The owners were nice and very hospitable.
Your other option is camping. Dripping Springs used to be THE place to go if you wanted to camp, but the Mustang Ridge fire of '02 burned it completely to the ground. It is about 1/2 way down the road from the put-in to the first take-out at Little Hole. We used to always stay here, but thankfully in '02 we chose to try somewhere new, because we were on the river when that fire started (our first day of the trip), and all our stuff would have burned otherwise. We almost got stranded on the river anyway. Had we gotten to Little Hole about 30 minutes later than we did, we would have been trapped at the bottom of the canyon by the fire!!!The campground has been refurbed, but there is little shade and pretty much still no trees (they keep dying).
IMHO, the best place for camping would either be the Firefighter's Memorial campground or the Marina (Cedar Springs/Deer Run) campground. Both are up the hill about 3/4 of way to the resort (Marina is a little closer to the river). The Marina one is nice in that there are pretty decent shower facilities available for use. However, FYI, if you are staying at any of the area campgrounds you can use these showers free of charge.
You cannot camp along the river for the first 7.5 miles (nowhere above, to a little ways below Little Hole), and once in the area where you can camp, you can only get to the sites by boat. The sites are by sign up at Little Hole, and I believe they are first-come, first served. I haven't camped below Little Hole before, but the sites look pretty nice. They get most of their use from the recreational rafters.
The final option is bringing an RV. Flaming Gorge Rec Services (one of the two gas stations in Dutch John) has a decent little camping RV park behind their store with electric and water hookups, and sewer as well. This is the second gas station in town (Conoco). We have mostly stayed here in the summertime since '02 (one of the first years they were open), mainly because my dad and my in-laws both have trailers, and this is the cheapest and most comfortable solution for us when we go with one of them and take our kids. They allow tents in the grassy areas between the sites.
One big thing to keep in mind is that there are limited places to get food in this area. No fast food either. The resort has a nice sit-down restaurant that serves all meals daily. Both Trout Creek Flies and the Rec Services place also have restaurants (more of a grill), but Trout Creek does not have any kind of dining area like the Rec Services store does. Red Canyon Lodge does have a restaurant as well, but I seem to recall that you have to be staying there to utilize it (call to check that). All three gas stations in the area have a limited supply of grocery items. Other than that, your only other choice is to bring your own groceries or drive to Rock Springs or Vernal (about an hour to either).
Dang, that was more than I had planned to write!I hope it helps!!! Maybe I should copyright this and sell a brochure...
"Engineers don't idle well."
This months award for excellence in an informative fly fishing related post goes to CO FlyFisher.
Very nicely done, my hats off.
Dave
Heh, thanks Dave! Was easy to write given my love of that river! I couldn't make my fingers type fast enough to keep up with my brain...
I forgot to add a couple of good videos the Salt Lake Tribune did about a year ago about the Green River (watch 'em in HD!):
Fishing Utah's Green River-part 1
Fishing Utah's Green River-part 2
"Engineers don't idle well."
I completely agree!!! Thanks very much for all of the info. CO FlyFisher. It is extremely helpful.
Dave, the only mistake, if you can call it that, is that Red Canyon Lodge Restaurant is open to anyone, my wife and I like to eat there when we take the "loop tour" around the Gorge from here in Rock Springs. Also, thanks for putting this info up, it would take me a month at least to get this much info typed!! As for anyone coming this way to visit, it doesn't need to be just fishing, pm me. If you are interested in any of the local history, geography, etc., my wife and I would love to show you around. Unfortunately, the days Royce is planning to be here are my four dayshifts, the fun of 12 hr. shifts. Oh well, maybe next time.
Last edited by Byron Zuehlsdorff; 03-17-2011 at 02:03 PM.
Wyo-Blizzard
No problem! I hope it helps, and that you have a good time!
I wrote this (not Dave).I wasn't sure about the Red Canyon Lodge restaurant as it has been awhile since I've been up there (I mentioned to call and check about that), so thanks for clearing that up. It took me a little while to type, but I had all the links saved previously, so it wasn't that bad. I've PM'd a couple people over the years with some of this info, and decided it would be a good idea to write it all down and post it up. Now hopefully it doesn't get lost.
"Engineers don't idle well."
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