Rainbow Park Campground
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $12From, per site
- Sites
- 54 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Rainbow Park Campground is 28 miles (45 km) from the Quarry Visitor Center in the Utah portion of Dinosaur National Monument. It is located on a rugged dirt road that is impassable when wet. The campground sits beside the Green River near the Rainbow Park Boat Ramp at the head of Split Mountain Canyon. Rainbow Park Campground is open year-round, but there is no winter maintenance on the unpaved road. 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. River Rafting & Boating. Whitewater rafting, both commercial and private, is popular on the Green and Yampa Rivers. The Yampa River multi-day rafting trips begin at Deerlodge Park. The Yampa rushes downstream 44-miles (71 km) to join the Green River at Echo Park. Boaters continue downstream on the Green River to the take-out at the Split Mountain boat ramp. The Yampa is the largest free-flowing tributary within the Colorado River system. As such, it has a shorter season marked by fluctuations in water level resulting from snow received in the winter. It is characterized by famous rapids such as Teepee, Big Joe and Warm Springs. 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
Vault Toilets - year round There is no potable water available at this campground. You must bring all the water you need for drinking, washing, etc. There are no hookups, dump stations, or facilities for filling an RV water tank anywhere in Dinosaur National Monument.
Natural Features
This campground sits beside the Green River near the Rainbow Park Boat Ramp at the head of Split Mountain Canyon. It has wonderful views of geologic features such as the Mitten Park Fault.
What the agency tells you
Dinosaur National Monument charges an entrance fee separate from camping fees. You may pay the fee upon arrival at the entrance station or visitor center or purchase in advance. The park also honors Federal interagency passes (e.g., annual, senior, access, 4th grade, Golden Age pass etc.).
The road to Rainbow Park is rugged, requires a high-clearance vehicle, and is impassable when wet.
Small RVs (up to 15 feet/4.5 m) and truck-top campers permitted. Each site is limited to 8 people and 2 vehicles. All vehicles must stay on gravel road or designated parking area. Do not block roads. Stays are limited to 14 consecutive days.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
There is no potable water available at this campground. There are no hookups, dump stations, or facilities for filling an RV water tank anywhere in Dinosaur National Monument.
Summers are hot with daytime high temperatures often exceeding 100°F (38°C).
CAUTION: Dinosaur National Monument is home to black bears along with many other animals. Proper food storage is required in campgrounds. Don’t feed or approach wildlife.
Pets must be kept on a leash (6 feet/1.8m maximum). Pets are allowed at campsites and within 100 feet (30 m) of roads and parking lots. Don’t leave pets unattended and/or tied to an object. Pets aren’t allowed on nearby hiking trails, on the river, or in the backcountry.
Fireworks of any kind are prohibited.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. Build campfires only in fire grates provided. Never leave fires unattended. Ensure fire is completely out and cold before leaving. Collecting wood from the ground or breaking it off trees/plants is prohibited
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 5 · 4 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 25 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…to see spectacular geology. Facilities Vault Toilets - year round There is no potable water available at…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…Facilities Vault Toilets - year round There is no potable water available at this campground. You must bring all…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 192nd darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:33 UTC
recreation.gov lists 4 of the 5 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $12 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
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
recreation.gov availability, read 15:33 UTC · rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
5 sites
All 5 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. 4 of the 5 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Scan and Pay | Rainbow Park Scan and Pay | type not stated | 20 ft | |
| 1 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | $12 | |
| 2 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | $12 | |
| 3 | tent only nonelectric | 25 ft | $12 | |
| 4 | tent only nonelectric | 25 ft | $12 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Big Pine I River Camp3.4 mi
Split Mountain Group CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 5.6 mi
Green River CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 6.3 mi
Echo Park CampgroundDinosaur National Monument · 9.8 miParadise Park Campground21 miRainbow Park Campground is 28 miles (45 km) from the Quarry Visitor Center in the Utah portion of the monument. It is located on a dirt road that is impassable when wet. From the Quarry Visitor Center, drive south on State Road 149 for 4 miles (7 km). Turn right onto Brush Creek Road, and follow it for 5 miles (8 km). Turn right at the fork, following the signs to Island Park for 4 miles (7 km). Turn right onto the Island Park Road and follow it for 12 miles (19 km) to reach Rainbow Park Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Jensen, UT
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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Rainbow Park Campground is in Utah’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Kennedy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →