Green River Campground

Having gravitated toward free campsites lately, I’ve become pickier about paid sites. The $18/night rate reflects having access to running water and flush toilets, I believe. We were able to find an amazing shady spot that accommodated our two sleeping tents plus a shade tent over the picnic table that was close to the restroom and the river. If we had been in some of the less-shaded spots that were a longer walk to the restroom or the river, I might have been a little less approving of the $18 cost, but if you’re accustomed to paying upwards of $40/night at RV parks, the location and the larger, more private sites will make this feel like a bargain (but no dump site). Trash and recycling is provided. It was a great base camp for seeing Dinosaur NM.

There are a few options in Dinosaur and in Vernal for gas, restaurants, and supplies, but if you’re used to larger towns/cities, you’ll find the offerings limited, so don’t plan to eat most of your meals out, if that’s something you enjoy doing on a trip. My friend and I both use Verizon and our service varied a bit. We were generally able to send/receive text-based messages from the campground, but expect to have to drive to get better signal (but you may have better luck than I did).

The campground has a few different kinds of sites—some back-in and some “pull-up” (not really pull-through, but you can sidle your rig alongside some sites where the parking spot is a widening of the road, if that makes sense). Loop B is reservable online, but loops A and C are first-come, first-served.

While in the park, we explored some of the other campgrounds. Rainbow Park was absolutely horrible for mosquitoes (mid-June). We had a much better time at Green River Campground than we would have at Rainbow Park. We still went home with some bites, but nothing like Rainbow Park.

Green River Campground is about 6 miles from the entrance and Quarry Visitor’s Center on the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument. The campground has three loops: A loop is first come/first serve and has fewer trees with more exposed spaces, catch the River Trail between sites A10 and A11; B loop allows reservations mid-May through mid-September and open spots are available for one night only; C loop is also first come/first serve, river access is easier and there are more trees/shade. All three loops are a mix of pull-through and back-in sites, each with a picnic table and fire ring.

There are bathrooms in each loop (flush toilets) and outdoor water spigots, but no showers. No dump station. Garbage dumpsters and recycling stations are next to the bathrooms.

We scored a pull-through site on the river side and loved it! Lovely views across the water and easy access to a sandy riverside place to sit or play. The river runs pretty fast and was chocolate brown from heavy rains during our stay. We visited the Colorado side of the park and checked out some of the boondocking spots off of Blue Mountain Road. We weren’t tempted to move. We also drove the 13 miles of dirt road to Echo Park campground. It’s worth the drive just for the fun of it, but certainly not appropriate for larger rigs or if you’re just looking for an overnight spot.

Green River is close to the absolutely not to be missed Fossil Quarry and this would be our pick for camping if we return.

We had 3 bars of Verizon 3G.

We arrived on a Saturday before noon in June and there were plenty of first come first serve spots available. The site was a pull-over to the side of the road style spot. There aren't any hookups but loop A has plenty of sun for solar.

We only had time to go to the visitor center and tour the Quarry Exhibit Hall (which is really cool). We also enjoyed the trail off of loop A which goes along the river.

We got a pullthru site that had our door facing the river. It was beautiful, but getting warm by late June. We had spent the previous nights boondocking just outside the Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado side at about 7000', and found this boondocking to be crowded and hot. There was no respect for campsite - if someone wanted to go to the river, they walked between our motorhome and toad and through our site to get there.
It was nice to be able to see the dinosaur bones, and take the Desert Voices hike, the auto drive and see the pictographs, and to attend the ranger talk on bats.

This NP campground has paved pads, picnic tables, and flush toilets. Loop B has cottonwoods for some shade. Sites are not jammed against each other but there is no sense of isolation. The campground is heavily used. (note the Split Mountain Campground is now only for picnics and group camping).

Regular price $18. Senior Pass $9.

Contrary to other reviews we had no Verizon coverage.

As National Park campgrounds go, this is pretty nice. Spaces are not jammed together and you’re not on top of your neighbor. If you’re venturing there during summer months, you’ll want to grab a spot with some shade. It can be very warm there.

The Green River runs pleasantly alongside the campground. Too thick to drink, too thin to plow- in other words, I wouldn’t swim it.

The visitor center for the park is absolutely world class.

Sitting on the banks of the Green River, the campground is a convenient base for exploring the realm of Dinosaur National Monument. The upsides include river access, clean flush toilets & water, and an uber strong cell signal. The only downside is if you co e in without reserving, you'll probably get a site with no shade and the sun here is brutal.

Sites are level and easy to negotiate. The Ranger programs in the evening are top notch. Insider secret--- take your favorite libation over to the Split Mountain group site, bring some beach chairs, and enjoy the sunset along the cool waters of the Green.

We were in loop A which is walk in. Loop C is also walk in. Loop B is reservations only at least 24 hours in advance. We have a senior pass so the cost was $9 per night. The sites are all paved and level. No hookups, but there is central water and flush toilets. Our site #8 had splendid view of Split Mountain and it was on the river. However swimming is prohibited due to the swift current.