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
