On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
lashonharangue
My spouse and I have taken canoe trips on the Green River about 10 times – a couple of times with a group, but usually just by ourselves. In 2022 I had back issues that made the trip problematic. We didn’t want to give up these trips so we made some adjustments for 2023.
First, we cut down on the number of miles we had to paddle. We chose a put in location closer to the confluence of the Green with the Colorado River. This allowed us to paddle fewer hours between camping spots. Second, I used a seat that had back support. Third, we used smaller dry bags for our gear so loading and unloading the canoe was easier. Finally, we scheduled rest days where we just relaxed in camp. These accommodations to getting older made the trip much more enjoyable.
Our outfitter drove us from Moab through Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land to the start of the trip. I took this picture just before we loaded our gear into the canoe. Sometimes rangers from Canyonlands National Park (which you enter seven miles downstream) will be there to check your permit. However, no one was there that day.
Note: Locations on the Green River are noted based on the distance to where it empties into the Colorado. They are derived from “Guide to the Colorado & Green Rivers in the Canyonlands of Utah & Colorado” by Tom Martin and Duwain Whitis. Please do not rely on these posts when planning a trip as conditions vary considerably based on river levels.
If you look closely there is a dark brown line that goes up the far canyon wall. That is the road down from the top that our driver descended 900 feet with a van full of people hauling a trailer filled with canoes and all the gear and supplies. I tried not to look down. A spur off that road called the White Rim Trail parallels the river for several miles. It is the line above the vegetation on the lower right.
It was overcast as we paddled downstream. There was intermittent drizzle and we saw lightning down river. So we made camp just after crossing the boundary to the Canyonlands National Park.
The next morning the storm was gone and the cliffs were lit by the sunrise.
We stayed at our next campsite for two nights. I was moving a dry bag and discovered this small frog underneath. It was maybe 1.5 inches long. We saw a few more during the trip and heard them everywhere.
One more shot before we loaded up the canoe and headed downstream. The light and sky were always changing.
This was taken as we paddled downriver. The large block of White Rim Sandstone fell into the river at some point in the geologic past. There are campsites on both sides of the river near it. However, we were heading further to Upper Cabin Bottom.
This was photographed at sunrise looking upriver from Upper Cabin Bottom. It is one of our favorite spots on the Green River and we spent three nights there. There is a small rocky shelf about halfway up the bank. With overhanging vegetation and a tarp it is possible to sit in the shade all day and watch the river go by.
We mostly sat in the shade and read our Kindles. This is looking across the river and downstream in the late afternoon.
Next up – More of the Green River to the Confluence and a little of the Colorado.
Baud
Such gorgeous scenery.
OzarkHillbilly
Nice trip. Looking forward to the next installment.
raven
Awesome!
eclare
What Baud said.
Betty
Simply beautiful.
SiubhanDuinne
Some of those pictures are simply breathtaking! What a beautiful country we have.
P.S. Not just the spectacular scenery, but the little things, too. What a cute frog.
HinTN
Thank you for taking us down onto that beautiful river and into that glorious country.
BenInNM
Looks wonderful. I love Canyon Lands but I never thought to canoe through it. I guess I had always assumed the river would be too rough, but obviously not.
I’m also looking forward to the next installment. Thanks for sharing.
cckids
Amazing pictures! Though I’m so, so happy I moved to the PNW, I will always love the red rocks of the desert SW. What a fantastic trip!
Xavier
You could throw a dart at a map of southern Utah and there should be a National Park there.
lashonharangue
@cckids: I took the photos with my phone and cleaned them up with software. I didn’t want to risk dropping my expensive camera in the river.
Denali5
The Green River trip is amazing. I am so glad I had the chance to do it with my husband and a small group in 2006. Thanks for bringing back the memories!
WaterGirl
Wow. Since Baud stole my word – gorgeous – I will have to do with absolutely stunning. Looking forward to the next installment.
Albatrossity
Great pics, and it sounds like a great trip. Looking forward to the next installment!
I think that is a toad, not a frog. Possibly Woodhouse’s Toad, but more likely Arizona Toad, based on that small size.
Torrey
Awesome–in the earlier sense of that word, before it was used to describe things like, I dunno, scrambled eggs or hitting quorum at a meeting. The colors are amazing.
Yutsano
🐸 🐸 🐸!!!
There really is some stellar scenery in the rocks of Southern Utah. I also had to recalibrate as there is a Green River in Washington. But I suppose it’s not that uncommon a name.
mvr
You take really good pictures of a really beautiful place. I say that based on the evidence of your photos – I don’t think I’ve ever seen this part of the Green River in person.
I also like the toad.
Thanks!
Netto
In 1968, my dad had something of a midlife crisis and got swept up in the romance of a river trip. I was 11, my twin brothers were 15, and my mom required some convincing when my dad came home from work in a snowstorm towing a 16-foot motorboat and announcing that we were going on a trip in the spring. At the time, Glen Canyon was recently dammed and Lake Powell was in the years-long process of drowning history and had not yet found fame as America’s Party Pond. The plan was to put our boat in several days’ float above the confluence with the Colorado, float down to the confluence, motor up the Colorado to Moab, drive to Hite marina, and spend a week exploring the visibly rising shorelines of Lake Powell. (It may well have been Mineral Flat where we put in. I clearly remember the drive down the cliff towing the boat.). It was one one those experiences that forms a fossilized imprint in your childhood, and I whenever I see pictures like these it brings back that summer, and I thank my dad for indulging some wanderlust.
These photos could have been taken in 1968, but I was jolted out of my reverie when I read “We mostly sat in the shade and read our Kindles.” We were a family of readers, but in 1968 kindles were only good for lighting campfires!
StringOnAStick
I did this part of the Green in canoes 6 years ago; thank you so much for such lovely photos and a reminder of just how peaceful and beautiful it was!
way2blue
lashonharangue. Love these photos. Especially the first sunrise and the frog err toad. Who does a good job of matching the speckled rock. (I did a one day float trip down the Green River with my family years ago. I think we put in just below the dam (?). Drifted, stopped for lunch, drifted, hopped in the water when too hot… Great birthday present .) Thanks for sharing.
Cowgirl in the Sandi
How lucky you are to be able to do this trip so many times and to show us your beautiful images. I’ve seen the Green river from above and would love to see it from a canoe – in my next life I guess!
Kelly
Canyonland National Park is wonderful. I camped at Devil’s Kitchen in the Needles District a couple times with a 4×4 enthusiast friend. Beautiful country, potentially hard on equipment . Riding in a friend’s 4×4 suited me. Much beauty within day hiking distances from the regular car accessible trailheads.
cope
Spectacular, thank you. This is one of the reasons we recently moved back to this part of the country (Western Colorado). My brother-in-law is an experienced rafter and just bought an newer, bigger raft for next season. I can’t wait to tag along on some of his trips.
stinger
What beautiful photos — thank you!
BigJimSlade
Beautiful!
ab_normal
Lovely pics!
Just spent Thanksgiving week at Horsethief Campgrounds — we visited Arches and both Islands In the Sky and Needles Districts of Canyonlands. I now understand how people fall in love with that area.
Dog dawg damn
One of my bucket list trips. Amazing photos