Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Bonanza, UT

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

Down a 30 minute dirt road sits this breathtaking park with 4 campsites. We visited on a busy weekend (labor day weekend) and we only had 1 neighbor. This made for a very quiet, relaxing stay.

Each shaded site is equipped with fire ring with attached grill, an adjacent picnic table, and spots for a maximum of 2 tents in each campsite. The skies were very dark at night, perfect for seeing shooting stars and the milky way. You can park your car abut to the site, increasing ease of access to things stored in there, and walk down to the rocky beach for some toe-dipping. Note that you are not allowed to launch boats from there (even kayaks) without a permit, as the water gets fast quickly past the beach.

Sites are $6/night at the campsite payable via personal check or with cash. River rafting trips launch from the adjacent beach daily, so you'll have company at 10am and 6pm daily for ~15 minutes.

Pro tips:

- There is little firewood around these sites, bring your own from in town.

- Site has pit toilets, hand sanitizer, recycling/trash, but no running water. 

- Closest grocery store is the Walmart in Vernal, UT.

- Bring bug spray! The mosquitoes are vicious here.

- Road is easily accessible by sedans, SUV's etc…just not in the rain (the road will easily wash out).

- Be on the lookout for the house about 10 minutes away from the main road that is equipped with its own residential water slide…that was a fun discovery!

This area is very open with patches of quakes you can park in or near for some seclusion. The Range Study has one bathroom facility right at the entrance. There are a ATV trails running everywhere in this area. This place tends to be really busy as it can accommodate large groups. That's why it received only 3 stars this time, there was just far to much ATV traffic for my liking. There isn't many places to hike around here. My dog and I were able to get out a lil bit but we had to keep avoiding the ATV's. There is all kinds of wildlife in this area including deer, chip munks, squirrels, elk, and occasionally a bear. So be sure to keep trash and all food inside or bear proof. Good area to let dogs and kids run. And if your like me, this is a great place to pick dandelions for dandelion Jelly!