Rainbow Park to Split Mountain permit
Nine miles of the Green River from Rainbow Park through Split Mountain Canyon, r...

Colorado Plateau Rivers · Colorado
Through Dinosaur National Monument.
70% of the openings our scanner caught on Gates of Lodore were gone within 10 minutes.
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May through September - the Green's high use season runs to September 12, well past the Yampa's July 11 close, and the monument says the Green is always floatable for any approved craft. Early season means colder water and bigger rapids; late summer means warm camps and lower, more technical lines.
Sign up at Recreation.gov if you don't have an account. Verify your email and add payment info ahead of time.
Submit your application between December 1, 8:00 am MT and January 31, 11:59 pm MT. Apply for multiple dates to increase your odds.
Results are typically announced February 12 at 8:00 am MT; acceptance closes March 1, and leftovers release March 6, 2026 at 8:00 am MT. Check your email and your Recreation.gov account.
Permits get cancelled daily. Peak cancellation times are 24-48 hours before the trip date.
Get notified when cancellations happen. Pro and $19 single-permit alerts are checked about every minute, 24/7; free accounts are checked hourly.
Fitness and endurance required
Climbing, scrambling, or specialized skills
Steep dropoffs and fall potential
Route finding and trail clarity
Difficulty of bailing out mid-route
Private boaters with Class III+ experience running a rigged multi-day trip. Prior comparable experience is a stated requirement, not a suggestion.
The monument's own bar: experience on the Green and Yampa in Dinosaur, or on other comparable Class III or higher whitewater rivers, is mandatory.
Parties without a boatman who has run Class III or harder, and anyone planning to sort out equipment at the ramp.
The Green through the Gates of Lodore shares a single Park Service permit with the Yampa - Recreation.gov 250014 - but has a longer season. Its high use season for 2026 runs May 11 to September 12, against the Yampa's May 11 to July 11, because the Green is dam-regulated and the monument states it is always floatable for any approved craft.
The quota is in launches per day, with only 300 launch permits issued across the whole high use season: two per day from May 11 to 20, three per day from May 21 to July 11 not to exceed two launches per river, and two per day from July 12 to September 11. Low use season is one permit per day within the monument.
Trips may include no more than 25 persons, and only one permitted group is allowed per campsite. Fees are $15 non-refundable to apply and $185 on confirmation - a flat recreation fee per permit rather than per person - plus a $35 Extended Stay Fee where it applies. Monument entrance fees are separate.
The lottery runs December 1 to January 31, with results February 12 and confirmation due by March 1. There is no wait list for unconfirmed reservations, and all low use permits plus any unclaimed high use permits release on March 6, 2026 at 8:00 am MT, with cancellations posting randomly within 24 hours.
Equipment matches the Yampa's: fire pans elevated at least four inches, at least 100 square inches with a 3-inch rim, on a fireproof tarp, blanket or welder's cloth; a mesh strainer required on multi-day trips; strained fire residue and all floatables carried out; Type I, III or V Coast Guard approved life jackets properly worn by every participant on any craft with a minimum inherent buoyancy of 15.5 lbs for adults; a rescue and Z-drag kit, air pump, repair kits, spare oars and paddles, spare PFDs, kitchen floor tarp and first aid kits. Helmets are required in all named rapids for canoeists, kayakers including inflatable kayaks, and paddleboarders.
The same unresolved conflict applies here as on the Yampa: Recreation.gov's permit content says bag systems such as wag bags or PET systems are not permitted and requires a washable, reusable container toilet, while the monument's own March 2025 Boating in the Monument regulations list commercial bag systems as approved if carried in hard-sided containers or heavy-duty waterproof bags labelled Human Waste. Confirm with the River Office before buying.
There is no formal orientation, but there is a mandatory check-in inspection - failure to possess all required equipment at check-in will result in the inability to launch - and every permit holder must read and carry a printed copy of Boating in the Monument.
The Green through Dinosaur is the dam-regulated half of a two-river permit, which makes it the reliable one. Where the Yampa's high use season ends July 11 with the snowmelt, the Green's runs to September 12, and the monument states plainly that the Green River is always floatable for any approved craft.
The monument publishes the run as 44 miles from the Gates of Lodore to Split Mountain, and separately gives the upper leg alone: 19 miles from the Gates of Lodore to Echo Park. Below Echo Park it is 17 miles through Whirlpool Canyon, six through Island and Rainbow Parks, and nine rushing miles through Split Mountain, punctuated by four rapids, to the Split Mountain boat ramp. The Lodore launch is 106 miles north of the Canyon Visitor Center.
Powell named three of these rapids himself - Disaster Falls, Triplet Falls and Hell's Half Mile - and the monument's helmet rule names 15 in total: Teepee, Little Joe, Five Springs, Big Joe, Warm Springs, Winnie's Rapid, Disaster Falls, Harp Falls, Triplet, Hell's Half Mile, Greasy Pliers, Moonshine, SOB, Schoolboy and Inglesby. Depending on water level some are rated as high as Class IV, and the monument makes prior experience on comparable Class III or higher whitewater mandatory.
The canyon walls close over you within a mile of the launch - the Gates of Lodore is an actual gate - and then it is red rock and named rapids for two days until Echo Park opens up under Steamboat Rock.
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Yes - a Dinosaur National Monument river permit, which covers both the Green and the Yampa on one application. It costs $15 to apply and $185 on confirmation, and the $185 is a flat per-permit recreation fee rather than a per-person charge.
44 miles from the Gates of Lodore to Split Mountain, which the monument breaks down as 19 miles to Echo Park, 17 through Whirlpool Canyon, six through Island and Rainbow Parks, and nine through Split Mountain to the boat ramp. The Lodore launch is 106 miles north of the Canyon Visitor Center.
The monument publishes 15 named rapids in its helmet rule: Teepee, Little Joe, Five Springs, Big Joe, Warm Springs, Winnie's Rapid, Disaster Falls, Harp Falls, Triplet, Hell's Half Mile, Greasy Pliers, Moonshine, SOB, Schoolboy and Inglesby. Powell named three of them himself - Disaster Falls, Triplet Falls and Hell's Half Mile.
The monument states plainly that the Green River is always floatable for any approved craft, which is the practical difference from the undammed Yampa. Its high use season runs to September 12, against the Yampa's July 11.
No more than 25 persons on a noncommercial river trip. Only one permitted group is allowed per campsite, with a maximum of 25 river trip participants per site on private trips.
The application period runs December 1 through January 31. Successful applicants are notified on February 12 and must confirm no later than March 1 - there is no wait list. All low use permits and any unclaimed high use permits become available on March 6, 2026 at 8:00 am MT.
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Consider these alternatives if your preferred dates aren't available.
The other half of the same permit - 44 miles down the last major undammed tributary of the Colorado.
Snowmelt-dependent with a high use season ending July 11, and craft choice governed by flow. Same application, same $185.
84 miles of the Green in Utah with over sixty riffles and rapids, none of them particularly difficult.
Much easier water and much easier odds - six groups a day at peak - but $40 per person rather than a flat permit fee.
Class II to III through the Goosenecks, in two segments totalling 84 miles.
Gentler water and a dual group-or-person daily cap, with per-person fees from $10 to $30 depending on segment.
Nearby campgrounds to complete your Gates of Lodore trip
Very HardIn Demand8 sitesDinosaur National Monument
Very HardIn Demand55 sitesRocky Mountain National Park
Very HardIn Demand147 sitesRocky Mountain National Park
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