Green River Spillway

The Flaming Gorge Dam to Little Hole route is the classic day float through Red Canyon below the dam — 7 miles of cold, clear tailwater through one of the most dramatic canyon corridors on the upper Green River. World-class trout fishing, extraordinary geology, and towering red sandstone walls make this the premier short float in the Flaming Gorge NRA.

The B Section on its own: Little Hole down to the Indian Crossing ramp, where the Green leaves Red Canyon and opens into upper Browns Park. Fewer anglers than the A Section above, because the only ways in are by boat or a long gravel road, and bigger fish, the twenty-five-inch browns the section is known for. Steady tailwater current with defined riffles at Washboard and Red Creek, cottonwood camps along the way, and no float permit. Dam-release water runs cold year-round here, so dress for immersion.

A and B back to back: launch below the dam, drift Red Canyon's quartzite walls to Little Hole, and keep going past the crowds into the open valley at Indian Crossing. Commonly floated in one long day, with the morning in the canyon and the afternoon in Browns Park. No float permit; the NRA entrance fee applies at the top. Dam releases change through the day with power generation, so check the schedule before you launch, and expect cold water start to finish.

Indian Crossing through Swallow Canyon to the ramp at the canyon's east exit: the C Section, cold clear dam-release water in a narrow cottonwood-lined canyon on the Colorado–Utah line, with mellow riffles, osprey on the cliffs, and the big browns of Browns Park. No launch permit. Regulated flow means the run is consistent all season where snowmelt rivers are not; the water is cold regardless. A day trip for most parties, or an overnight at one of the camps along the canyon. Both ramps are reached by dirt through Browns Park.

Browns Park on its own: from the Swallow Canyon ramp through the wide valley of cottonwood groves, wetlands, and open range where the Wild Bunch wintered, to the put-in at the foot of the Gates of Lodore. Class I flatwater, rich with wildlife, and the most abrupt transition on the Green: open sky and sage flats, then vertical red walls. No permit to float the park; the Gates of Lodore is an NPS lottery put-in, so this route ends where the permit system begins. Camping is generally allowed on the BLM and refuge lands. The shuttle is dirt through the park, high clearance after weather. Two or three easy days for a family or a canoer.

Launch at the base of the Flaming Gorge Dam through Red Canyon to Little Hole, the B Section's big-fish water to Indian Crossing, Swallow Canyon, and then Browns Park all the way to the Gates of Lodore. Four sections, no float permit on any of them, and cold, dam-regulated water the entire way, so the trip runs in summer when the snowmelt rivers are dropping. Plan it as a multi-day with camps in the B Section, Swallow Canyon, and the park. It ends at the Lodore put-in, where the NPS permit system begins; a party with a Lodore lottery date can treat this as the approach and launch into the canyon with the river already under them.