Split Mountain Daily
Rainbow Park to the Split Mountain ramp: eight miles, four rapids, one gorge cut straight through a mountain. Day-use permit from Dinosaur.
Split Mountain Daily is the whitewater finale of Dinosaur National Monument run on its own: eight miles from the Rainbow Park ramp into the gorge where the Green cuts straight through the Split Mountain anticline, with Moonshine, SOB, Schoolboy, and Inglesby in quick succession before the paved ramp at the bottom. Class III–IV, with SOB challenging at low water; at high water Moonshine has a wave and demands commitment. Strong paddlers are through in three or four hours; groups should allow a full day.
A National Park Service day-use permit is required. The shuttle runs on Island Park Road and through Jensen, Utah. The Park Service closed the Rainbow Park road, campground and ramp on September 25, 2026, likely through spring 2027, and the trip does not run until they reopen.
Rainbow Park to Split Mountain
Eight miles from the Rainbow Park ramp through Split Mountain Gorge, where the Green cuts straight across the mountain’s fold, to the Split Mountain take-out. Moonshine, SOB, Schoolboy and Inglesby come close together: Class III, and IV at Moonshine and SOB at some flows. A popular day run from Vernal and Jensen, and the last leg of the Lodore and Yampa trips.
- Distance
- 8.3 miles
- Typical days
- 1
The journey
Permit
- Split Mountain Day Use Permit — National Park Service — Dinosaur National Monument
Access
- Put-in
- Rainbow Park Boat Ramp
- Take-out
- Split Mountain Boat Ramp