Echo Park Campground
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A public campground shut with nobody having to say why isn’t good enough.Ask why it’s closed →
- Right now
- ClosedThe agency’s own notice
- A night
- $12When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 23In the agency’s record
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Echo Park Campground is located adjacent to the Green River. There are vault toilets, drinking water spigots (seasonal), and a self-pay station. This location has both first-come first-served individual sites and a group site: Individual sites. Individual sites are all first come, first served. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a first-come first-served site. Once on site, you can pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app. Download the free Recreation.gov mobile app on Android or iOS prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service. Group site. The group site is available through advance reservation (in the campsite list tab, below) and is located approximately 800 feet (243 m) east of the individual campground sites. Keep reading
Recreation
Dinosaur National Monument covers over 210,000 acres (84984 ha). Visitor Centers. The monument features two visitor centers - one in Colorado and one in Utah. Quarry Exhibit Hall. You can see over 1,500 dinosaur fossils still in the rock inside the Quarry Exhibit Hall (Jensen, Utah). History & Culture. Numerous cultural sites reveal stories of the people who lived here before and include Fremont petroglyphs, homestead cabins and former ranches. Hiking trails allow in-depth exploration. Hiking. There are miles of trails for hiking and cross-country travel. Unimproved hiking trails lead to the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers or to views of the Mitten Park Fault. River Rafting & Boating. Whitewater rafting is a highlight of Dinosaur National Monument, with multi-day trips available on both the Yampa and Green Rivers. Yampa River trips begin at Deerlodge Park , running through famous rapids like Teepee, Big Joe, and Warm Springs before joining the Green River at Echo Park and continuing to the Split Mountain boat ramp . Green River trips launch at Gates of Lodore , winding through deep canyons before meeting the Yampa and following the same route to Split Mountain. The Yampa, the largest free-flowing tributary of the Colorado River system, has a shorter, snowmelt-driven season. Raft trips must be arranged in advance. For more information, visit Dinosaur's Commercial Guided River Trips page. Private River Trips require a permit. Scenic Drives. Several roads provide access to key destinations and scenic sites. Scenic drives allow the windshield visitor to see spectacular geology.
Facilities
The Echo Park Campground has vault toilets and drinking water spigots (seasonal). All campsites have picnic tables and a campfire rings. Walk-in sites (Sites 18-21) do not have campfire rings. The group site and walk-in sites have food storage lockers.
Natural Features
The campground is set on a bench along the Green River and provides spectacular views of the surrounding canyons, Green River, and Steamboat Rock.
Nearby Attractions
On the Utah side of the monument, the Quarry Exhibit Hall allows visitors to see dinosaur fossils exposed in the rock. Besides the monument, nearby Utah State Parks, the Ashley National Forest, Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area and Bureau of Land Management sites provide additional recreational opportunities.
Charges & Cancellations
Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. •Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. •You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Late Cancellations •Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. •Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. •Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. •Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. •Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. •Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. •Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. •Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure.
What the agency tells you
Echo Park Campground is located on the Colorado side of Dinosaur National Monument on a high clearance, 4WD road which may become impassable. Please ensure this is the facility you want before you book. On the Utah side of the park, you'll find Green River Campground and Split Mountain Group Campground
This location has both first-come first-served sites and a group site. The group site is available through advance reservation only. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a first-come first-served site. Once on site, you can pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app. Download the free Recreation.gov mobile app on Android or iOS prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service.
Dinosaur National Monument has a separate entrance fee. Campground reservations do not cover entrance fees. You may pay the entrance fees on the Utah-side entrance station or at the Quarry Visitor Center OR present a valid Interagency pass upon arrival. You may also purchase a Dinosaur National Monument digital site pass in advance.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Climate. Summers are hot and dry with daytime high temperatures often exceeding 95° F (35C). Winters can be cold and snowy. The group site and campground are usually inaccessible from November through April.
Proper food storage is required in campgrounds, picnic areas and while backcountry camping. Though Dinosaur National Monument is in the high desert, it is home to black bears along with many other animals.
Road Conditions. Access to the Echo Park Campground is often dependent on weather conditions. Local weather often causes the road to the campground to become impassable. The Echo Park Road is a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive road. The road quickly becomes impassable during rainstorms and snowy weather. Even under the best of conditions, trailers of any size are not recommended on the Echo Park Road. Access to the Echo Park Campground and Group Site is often impossible during the winter months. Before traveling, please check the park's Current Conditions page or call the Quarry Visitor Center at (435) 781-7700.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 23 · 4 walk-in, 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- 19 of 23 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Bear boxes
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 107th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 2
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:43 UTC
The Echo Park Campground is also temporarily closed because of road damage.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Every line of the receipt · 11
What you actually pay
“Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. •Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
What the agency said · 1
The Echo Park Campground is also temporarily closed because of road damage.
National Park Service · posted Oct 15, 2026
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Big Pine I River CampAshley National Forest · 9.1 mi
- Cottonwood River CampJohn Wesley Powell National Conservation Area · 9.7 mi
- Rainbow Park CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 9.8 mi · 5 sites
- Gates of Lodore CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 15 mi · 21 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 16:43 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
23 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 22 mapped sitesAll 23 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 23 of the 23 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Echo Park Campground Group Site | Echo Park Campground Group Site | group standard area nonelectric | 406 ft | 190 ft | $25 |
| Echo Park Individual | 1 | standard nonelectric | 131 ft | 159 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 10 | standard nonelectric | 101 ft | 303 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 11 | standard nonelectric | 63 ft | 404 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 12 | standard nonelectric | 63 ft | 422 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 13 | standard nonelectric | 115 ft | 350 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 14 | standard nonelectric | 121 ft | 404 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 15 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 352 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 16 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 403 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 17 | standard nonelectric | 129 ft | 276 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 18 | walk to | 52 ft | 155 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 19 | walk to | 52 ft | 154 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 2 | standard nonelectric | 131 ft | 183 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 20 | walk to | 57 ft | 147 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 21 | walk to | 89 ft | 188 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 3 | standard nonelectric | 101 ft | 214 ft | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 4 | standard nonelectric | 108 ft | 196 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 5 | standard nonelectric | 101 ft | 133 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 6 | standard nonelectric | 71 ft | 156 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 7 | standard nonelectric | 111 ft | 57 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 8 | standard nonelectric | 71 ft | 125 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Echo Park Individual | 9 | standard nonelectric | 108 ft | 77 ftGreen River | $12 |
| Individual Sites | Echo Park Scan and Pay | type not stated | $12 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Big Pine I River Camp9.1 miCottonwood River CampJohn Wesley Powell National Conservation Area · 9.7 mi
Rainbow Park CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 9.8 mi
Split Mountain Group CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 15 mi
Green River CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 15 mi
Gates of Lodore CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 15 miStarting from the town of Dinosaur in northwestern Colorado, travel approximately 3 miles (5 km) east on Highway 40. Turn left onto the Harpers Corner Road and travel for approximately 24 miles (39 km). Turn right onto the Echo Park Road and travel approximately 13 miles (21 km) to the Echo Park Campground. When you reach the campground, travel an additional 800 feet (244 m) to the Group Campsite. It takes most visitors around 90 minutes to travel from the town of Dinosaur to the Echo Park Campground Group Site. WARNING: The Echo Park Road is a high clearance, four wheel drive road. The road quickly becomes impassable during rainstorms and snowy weather. Even under the best of conditions, trailers of any size are not recommended on the Echo Park Road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Dinosaur, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 65°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 8°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Echo Park Campground is in Colorado’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Jeff Hurd (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 4
We read the agency’s notice and couldn’t get a reason out of it, so it’s filed as no reason we could read. That reading is ours. The draft to the agency asks what closed Echo Park Campground, what reopening it would cost and what date they’re working towards. The draft to Congress asks them to put the same question in writing and to fund the answer.
- The office that runs itDinosaur National MonumentNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyJeff HurdU.S. Representative · Colorado’s 3rd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJohn W. HickenlooperU.S. Senator · Colorado
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMichael F. BennetU.S. Senator · Colorado
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who found out at the gate, or a week before the trip. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks what remains to be done at Echo Park Campground, what it costs, and what date they’re working towards.
Subject Echo Park Campground: what it would take to reopen
To the National Park Service, Dinosaur National Monument: I was planning to camp at Echo Park Campground in Colorado and found it closed. The notice says: "The Echo Park Campground is also temporarily closed because of road damage." (https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/conditions.htm, read Oct 16, 2026) Could you tell me what closed Echo Park Campground, what has to happen before it reopens, and what date you’re working towards? If the answer is funding or staffing you don’t have, please say so plainly. Sent about Echo Park Campground (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Echo Park Campground would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Echo Park Campground is closed (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado)
Dear Jeff Hurd, I’m a constituent in Colorado’s 3rd district. I went to camp at Echo Park Campground, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and found it closed. The notice says: "The Echo Park Campground is also temporarily closed because of road damage." (https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/conditions.htm, read Oct 16, 2026) The notice doesn’t say what closed it, which is worth asking about on its own. A campground on public land going dark with no stated reason and no reopening date isn’t something the public should have to guess at. Please ask the National Park Service, in writing, what reopening Echo Park Campground would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 23 campsites are open next season. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Echo Park Campground (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Echo Park Campground would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Echo Park Campground is closed (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado)
Dear John W. Hickenlooper, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I went to camp at Echo Park Campground, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and found it closed. The notice says: "The Echo Park Campground is also temporarily closed because of road damage." (https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/conditions.htm, read Oct 16, 2026) The notice doesn’t say what closed it, which is worth asking about on its own. A campground on public land going dark with no stated reason and no reopening date isn’t something the public should have to guess at. Please ask the National Park Service, in writing, what reopening Echo Park Campground would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 23 campsites are open next season. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Echo Park Campground (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Echo Park Campground would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Echo Park Campground is closed (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado)
Dear Michael F. Bennet, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I went to camp at Echo Park Campground, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and found it closed. The notice says: "The Echo Park Campground is also temporarily closed because of road damage." (https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/conditions.htm, read Oct 16, 2026) The notice doesn’t say what closed it, which is worth asking about on its own. A campground on public land going dark with no stated reason and no reopening date isn’t something the public should have to guess at. Please ask the National Park Service, in writing, what reopening Echo Park Campground would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 23 campsites are open next season. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Echo Park Campground (Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado) via campanac.com