Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
A Forest Service recreation area, not a park — high Wyoming desert falling into the Uinta forests, with a Blue Ribbon tailwater below the dam.
Flaming Gorge · Red Canyon · Green River tailwater · Uinta Basin
National Recreation Area 207,363 acres Est. 1968 USDA Forest Service — Ashley National Forest
Overview
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was established on 1 October 1968, and unlike almost everything else in this directory it is not a Park Service unit: it is administered by the Forest Service, on the Ashley National Forest, under the Secretary of Agriculture. It runs 207,000-odd acres across the Utah–Wyoming line, from Wyoming high desert down into the forested slopes of the Uintas, wrapped around a 91-mile reservoir held back by a 502-foot arch dam on the Green River. John Wesley Powell named the gorge in 1869, on his way down the Green, for the red sandstone burning in the light. The reservoir is a Blue Ribbon fishery and a boating lake. The reach that matters to a river runner is below the dam — the A-, B-, and C-sections, cold and clear and released on a schedule, with Red Creek Rapid the only named drop on the tailwater. A Recreation Use Pass is required at the major launches and at the Little Hole trail; it is not sold online.
Getting in
Activities
Rafting / River
The Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam is the tailwater run: the A-section from the dam to Little Hole, then the B- and C-sections on through Browns Park. Cold, clear, dam-released, and busy — Red Creek Rapid is the only named drop.
Fishing
A Blue Ribbon fishery on both the reservoir and the tailwater below the dam.
Permit required
Hiking
The Little Hole National Recreation Trail runs the river bank from the dam tailwater downstream — a Recreation Use Pass is required to park at it.
Cycling
Biking is among the recreation uses the Forest Service lists across the area's 72 recreation sites.
History
John Wesley Powell named Flaming Gorge in 1869, descending the Green on his first expedition, for the red sandstone cliffs burning in the light. Flaming Gorge Dam placed its last concrete in November 1962 and was dedicated in August 1964, as part of the Colorado River Storage Project; Congress established the recreation area around the reservoir four years later.
Modern issues
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Management plan revision
Status: decision signed
The Forest Service published a new Flaming Gorge NRA management plan and environmental assessment in January 2025, with a Decision Notice and FONSI signed in September 2025 — the first comprehensive revision in decades. Verify current rules against the adopted plan before relying on older guidance.