The Green River begins as snow melt and trickling spring water high in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. It makes a 730-mile journey down from the alpine peaks and across the high desert basins of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, falling over 9,000 feet before joining the Colorado River in the heart of the red rocks of Canyonlands National Park. Of the two rivers, the Green is actually the larger, draining a greater area than the Colorado River. Politics alone, not geographic reality, gave the name of the smaller tributary to the whole river system.
This river was home to the Fremont Indians in prehistoric times and the Utes during the past several hundred years. The Fremont Indians shared some characteristics with their Anasazi neighbors, but while the Anasazi turned to agriculture during the first few hundred years of the millennium, the Fremont seem to have maintained a strong connection to a hunting-gathering lifestyle, and perhaps a religion based on ancient shamanism. Fremont rock art and archeological sites are abundant along the Green River. As one moves closer to the Canyonlands confluence of the two rivers and the two cultures, the remains left by these people change as well.
The Green River is perhaps most famous as the river down which John Wesley Powell and his two expeditions of 1869 and 1871 traveled to explore the region from Green River Wyoming to the mouth of the Grand Canyon, a distance of over 1,000 miles. Powell's first journey was largely exploratory - fraught with the catastrophes and dangers of the unknown. His second expedition brought scientists to observe, map and catalogue the geology, geography, flora and fauna, and Indian tribes of the region. During these voyages, Powell and his men did groundbreaking work on geology, geography, biology and Indian culture and language.
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Most of the current names of side canyons, rapids and geographical features were given by Powell and his men, and much of the information gathered on these explorations is the basis for current knowledge and scientific studies.
Traveling the length of the Green, it is at times hard to believe that one is on the same river, so varied are her landscapes. From the muted gray and green slopes, wide canyon walls and energetic Class II and III rapids of Desolation and Gray canyons, to the absolute tranquillity of the sheer slickrock walls and mirror reflections of Labyrinth and Stillwater canyons, the Green River cannot be characterized in a single description. One can visit her waters many times and never see the same thing twice.
Red River Canoe Company offers guided tours on some of the premier sections of the Green River. Some stretches offer challenging whitewater canoeing, others are composed entirely of long lengths of calm paddling and solitude. All boast some of the most extraordinary scenery on the Colorado Plateau.
LABYRINTH CANYON
STILLWATER CANYON
Red River Canoe Company
1371 North Highway 191
Moab, Utah 84532
800-753-8216
redriver@redrivercanoe.com