Best Tent Camping near Dinosaur National Monument

We spent one night on July 19th, 2018. 

This campground is located within Dinosaur National Monument right on the Green River. The sites were open and average but it was all dry camping. This would normally be fine but the temperatures were >100 degrees and it was too hot to really enjoy. The rest rooms were functional but had no showers or towels/dryers. They have wood for sale if you want a campfire. The water was comfortably cool with a small rocked in area for little people to play in the water. 

It sits at the bottom of the hill right on the river so once the sun drops, the campground is in shade which dropped our temperature by a good 20 degrees. There were nice clean pads for tents, fire rings and wood picnic tables.

I recommend this park for cooler temperatures.

Green River Campground is located inside Dinosaur National Monument - on the ‘Quarry side’ of the park, in Utah. It is a short drive from the vistitors center and quarry, and is next to the Green River.

BEWARE: We trusted Siri's directions, and she steered us in the wrong direction - she sent us across the Colorado border and to the ‘Canyon side’ of the park. We saw a sign reading DNM, and passed a visitors center, so we figured we were in the right place - we should have stopped at the visitors center, we may have saved ourselves from getting a little lost. After driving 15 miles or so we came to a stopping point - you needed a 4 wheel drive vehicle to continue down a couple of the roads. There was a sign post with a map, but the Green River Campground was nowhere to be seen. Since we didn’t have 4WD we figured the campground was not accessible through the roads within the park, so we had to backtrack back to highway 40 towards Utah to the Quarry side. Lesson learned - follow the directions on the park's website, NOT SIRI!

If you have an easy-up or some sort of shade canopy, I highly suggest bringing it with you when you are camping in this part of Utah! As stadard for the area, most of the campsites do not have much in the way of shade. We camped this past July, and it was extremely hot for most of the day and well into the evening. There were a couple sparse trees in our site, but they did not provide any shade. We tried to rig up a shade canopy with an extra tarp, but there wasn't much to tie it to, nor did we have much rope.

Warning: The area does have black bears, but there were no bear bins in the campground, so you have to lock all of your food and toiletries in the car at night. There are bear-proof dumpsters for trash and recycling though. I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows - he suggested putting put a towel and gear over your coolers when keeping them in the car overnight in bear territory.

The bathrooms were clean - no showers are available, though.

There were not any water spigets around by the sites, but there was a faucet outside the rest rooms for dish washing and water bottles.

The fire pit had a very nice cooking grate - we always bring a small collapsable grate in case the fire ring doesn’t have one, but no need to use it this time!

It got very windy during the day, and after coming back from a hike we found our tent blown over, despite having staked it down. Stake your tents down well!

We only saw one scorpion in our site for the two nights we stayed - one crawled up by the fire ring and hung out with us next to the camp fire. He was small. I would still suggest always zipping up your tent completely every time you open and close it, and to check your shoes if you leave them outside!

Some sites in Green River are "riverside," but are not directly next to the river - perhaps 30 yards away. We walked down to the river - we did not see any true trails to the river, but we didn't take the time to look around. The river and surrounding moutainous region was beautiful, and the cold water was a great way to cool off after a hike in the heat.

I was able to get some cell service down in the campground, but it was definitely better up near the visitors center.

Green River Campground is a great basecamp for those wishing to explore Dinosaur National Monument! Bring lots of water - it is HOT in the summer! We chose to get up early to hike and beat the heat - afterwards we packed up lunch and drove over to Josie Morris cabin. The Josie Morris cabin is an interesting historical site - what one women accomplished out in the middle of nowhere was impressive! Josie planted a lot of trees on her land, so there is a nice shady lawn with picnic benches and a view - it was the perfect lunch spot! The petroglyphs around the park are a must see, as is the quarry exhibit hall!

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $18/night

Plumbed Toilets: Yes

Drinking Water: Yes

Showers: NO

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grates: Yes

Shade: Limited!

Cell Service: Limited

Animals Bins/Food Lockers: NO

Trash: Yes

SEPTEMBER 2020 This campsite is in the first few miles of Dinosaur National Monument along the Green River. It has 4 campsites but each campsite has three turnout parking areas that accommodate about 9-10 cars. The sites are $40 each and can be reserved online. I estimated each group site was about a football field of space. Each site has three fire rings and about 6 picnic tables. Each site is separated into 3 different sites. Most people who reserve online do not realize how much space they have even when they are here. There are public bathrooms with indoor plumbing including a sink, urinal, and toilet. There is clean running water available. No shower. There is a second bathroom under construction (we never heard noise from the construction). The two of us were traveling in one van and found the Green River campground (the other campground in DNM) was packed with people, and the sites too close together. So we bit the bullet and paid $40 for a group site here. It was such a large amount of space we wound up letting other travelers stay the night in the other two spaces in our site. Even with others “in our site” we still had about 10 times more space then if we stayed in the Green River Campground. The next three nights this campground was reserved. We asked another camper if we could stay one of their 3 spaces and they were more than happy to share the abundance of space. The night sky was magical. Lots of kids in this campground. Dogs allowed on leash. Walking distance to trails. Walking distance to a boat ramp where lot of rafters take off. A couple of miles from the DNM Quarry. Don’t miss the trails up to Hog Canyon and Box Canyon, trail head is at Josie Miller Cabin. Easy trails for all ages. Box canyon was incredible.

Spent 2 nights at the Green River Campground. Loops A and C are first come, if you need shade take loop B or C. Loop B reservations only. All sites are nicely spaced with no designated tent pad. Finding a level spot might be difficult. Beautiful dark sky area and the stars at night are awesome. At night you can hear the Green River-which is near by. My T-Mobile service was great and they also have firewood to purchase if you like. Flush toilets and water. No showers or other amenities. Remember it’s the desert so bring plenty of water when hiking at near by Dinosaur National Monument, which where the camp is located in. Nice quiet campground definitely will come back.

This city operated RV/ Camping Park in Rangely, Colorado is an excellent city managed spot to spend the night or several days. The park offers electric sites for $20.00 a night or $10.00 a night for no electricity. Water spigots are located all around the park and there is a dump station on site. Numerous giant Cottonwood trees provide a lot of shade for the park. Located just outside of Rangely, everything you need is just minutes away.

City Parks and Rec staff frequent the property and are friendly and willing to help anyone in need.

There is restroom facilities and showers on site.

Dinosaur National Monument is only 30 minutes away and east of town is Kenney Reservoir is just minutes east of town and offers fishing, swimming and boating.

Make sure to visit the “Tower” on the west side of town. It is a converted, 3 story, water tank that is now a recording/ sound studio.
The acoustics of the tower is definitely something you should experience!

We stayed here four nights with our 32 foot fifth wheel and there is several spots to fit that and our truck. Lots of space for tent camping on grass.

Highly recommend Rangely Camp Park!

No hookups but this is a gem of a campground. Quiet and peaceful And right on the Green River within the Dinosaur National Monument. Someone in a previous review called it ‘tent city’. I didn’t have that experience at all. I totally loved this Campground and would definitely book again. You can run a generator from 7am-9pm, but I heard none of that (except mine for an hour to get my fridge back up and running, lol). Of course we were out exploring most of the day. They do have bathrooms with toilets and water stations. No showers. My son is in a wheelchair and the handicap site was nice and close to the bathroom with a paved walkway: Stay here, you won’t be disappointed!

We did a small backpacking trip from the Greendale Overlook on highway 40 to the Canyon Rim campground for the night. The hike was beautiful, crossing creeks and surrounded by ponderosa pines. It's about 4.5 miles one way.
Canyon Rim Campground is beautiful, also surrounded by ponderosa and aspen, and with a beautiful overlook of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. There are specific sites for tent camping, and plenty of RV spots. Each spot has tables and fire rings. There are vault toilets.
Our only complaint is that all of the water to the campground was shut off! No signs warning that there was no water available. This was actually awful as we had backpacked in with our dogs (who at this point were very thirsty), and brought dehydrated food that required water to make. Luckily, Red Canyon Lodge is located about a mile away. We were able to hike over and buy water. 16 small bottles of water for like 45 dollars...not ideal.