Protect

FLAMING GORGE

Utah and Wyoming

Fathom Restoration

41° 11′ 00″ N

109° 32′ 00″ WDAGGETT & SWEETWATER

Ninety one miles of water across two states, two rulebooks and one licence trap . Every figure is quoted from a federal or state agency, and where two agencies disagree both are printed.

91 milesLong

42,020Acres at full pool

375 milesShoreline

436 ftDeep at the dam

2 statesAnd two rulebooks

Conditions right now

Pulled live on every page load from the National Weather Service, from the USGS gauge on the Green River below the dam, and from Reclamation's own reservoir data service. The forecast is for the dam, which is one end of a reservoir ninety one miles long.

Forecast at the damNWS

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contacting the National Weather Service

Wind, next 12 hoursNWS

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a long narrow canyon reservoir funnels wind

Release below the damUSGS

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reading the gauge near Greendale

Reservoir elevationRECLAMATION

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full pool is 6,040 feet

About · 01

What Flaming Gorge is

A canyon reservoir ninety one miles long, half in Utah and half in Wyoming, behind five hundred feet of concrete that is not actually in Flaming Gorge.

Reclamation: "Flaming Gorge Reservoir extends as far as 91 mi upstream and is part of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, administered by the U.S. Forest Service."

"When the reservoir is full at elevation 6,040 feet above sea level, it has a capacity of 3,788,900 acre-feet and a surface area of 42,020 acres." The shoreline runs "375 miles (604 kilometers)" .

It is deep, and it is a canyon. "Depth of water at dam (when full) 436 feet (133 meters)" . Reclamation's own history adds the width: "with a maximum width of about nine miles near Linwood, Utah, the reservoir extends ninety-one miles upstream to within about four or five miles of Green River, Wyoming."

Two states, two counties: "State Utah & Wyoming", "County Daggett & Sweetwater" . No agency publishes how the surface area splits between them, so this page does not put a number on it.

"The 502 foot-high thin-arch concrete dam is located on the Green River in northeastern Utah about 32 miles downstream from the Utah-Wyoming border." Crest length "1,285 feet (392 meters)" .

"Construction of Flaming Gorge Dam, as part of the Colorado River Storage Project, began in June 1958 with the last bucket of concrete placed on November 15, 1962." "On December 10, 1962, the waters of the Green River began filling the reservoir behind Flaming Gorge Dam and nearly a year later on September 27, 1963, President John F. Kennedy initiated the first power generation at Flaming Gorge Powerplant."

The dam is not in Flaming Gorge COMMON ERROR

Reclamation says so twice. "The dam, actually located in Red Canyon twenty-seven miles below the Flaming Gorge, takes its name from the famous and colorful canyon located just upstream in the river basin." And: "Flaming Gorge Dam however, does not span the canyon from which it takes its name, Reclamation built it further downstream."

What it is for: "The CRSP was authorized on April 11, 1956 to regulate the flow of the Colorado River; provide for flood control; provide for storage and delivery of water for irrigation, municipal, industrial, and other beneficial purposes; and generate electrical power."

"On May 24, 1869, Major John Wesley Powell and his crew of nine men began a daring three-month expedition down the Green and Colorado rivers."

"On May 27, three days after they set out from Green River, Wyoming, they reached the Uinta Mountains in their small wooden boats and were impressed by the beauty of the sun's reflection off the brilliant red gorge that looked from a distance as if it were on fire." "Powell and his men named the canyon 'Flaming Gorge' then continued their successful trip downstream completing their journey in the late summer."

Reclamation cannot agree with itself on the party size. The web page says "his crew of nine men" ; Reclamation's own project history says the expedition "consisted of four wooden dories and ten men" . Both are printed here because both are Reclamation.

"The Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was established by Congress in October 1968. The NRA encompasses approximately 201,000 acres of scenic land surrounding Flaming Gorge Reservoir's 375 miles of shoreline which extends as far as 91 miles to the north."

The statute pins the date and the manager. Public Law 90-540 was signed 1 October 1968, and it says the area shall be administered "by the Secretary of Agriculture", "in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to national forests" . That is why this is a Forest Service place and not a Park Service one.

"Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, including the section of the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam, is administered by the Ashley National Forest."

There is a fee, and you cannot buy it online PLAN AHEAD

The Forest Service lists "Day Use Pass - $5", "Week Pass - $15" and "Annual NRA Use Pass - $35", and states that passes "are available to purchase at any of our offices or any of the vendors listed below. They are NOT available for purchase online" . Check the current price before you go.

Green River

In at the north end, out of Wyoming. The Blacks Fork joins it at the head of the reservoir .

Flaming Gorge

91 miles of reservoir, 375 miles of shoreline, 436 feet deep at the dam .

Flaming Gorge Dam

502 feet of thin arch concrete, in Red Canyon, 27 miles below the gorge it is named for .

The Green River again

Out cold and controlled, into a blue ribbon trout river , then on to the Colorado and Lake Powell .

The dam is a temperature control, not just a wall"In 1977 and 1978, the dam was retrofitted with a selective withdrawal structure to increase water temperatures for the tailwater trout fishery." The trout river below the dam is an engineered outcome.

The releases are on a schedule"Releases will vary throughout the baseflow season." Hourly patterns are set with the power administration, so the river you waded this morning is not the river you wade this afternoon.

The dam changed the river below it, and Reclamation says so plainly: "However, the storage and use of water altered natural flow patterns, water temperatures, and water quality of the Green River."

"While non-native fish (trout) populations downstream of the dam flourished, native fish populations and their habitat were modified or adversely affected in part by construction and subsequent operation of the dam."

Then they changed the releases to suit the trout. "In 1974, a 400 cubic-feet per second minimum release was established; but under normal conditions a minimum release of 800 cubic-feet per second was implemented to improve the tailwater trout fishery and boating." "In 1977 and 1978, the dam was retrofitted with a selective withdrawal structure to increase water temperatures for the tailwater trout fishery."

The result: "Below the dam, the Green River is famous for its blue-ribbon trout fishing and white water rafting opportunities."

Right now the reservoir is also being drawn down for the reservoir downstream. "Between 660,000 and one million acre-feet of additional water is being delivered from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to Lake Powell through April 2027 to help keep Lake Powell above critical elevations." That notice is dated, and it will expire. Check the live card above.

Science · 02

The numbers, and where they disagree

One agency, four different answers for how much water this holds. All four are printed.

Figure	Value	Source
Length	91 miles	Reclamation
Maximum width	about nine miles, near Linwood	Reclamation
Surface area at full pool	42,020 acres	Reclamation
Shoreline	375 miles	Reclamation
Depth at the dam, full	436 feet	Reclamation
Full pool elevation	6,040 feet	Reclamation
Dam height above bedrock	502 feet	Reclamation
Powerplant capacity	about 150 megawatts	Reclamation
Recreation area	about 201,000 acres	Reclamation

Four capacities, one agency CONFLICT

Reclamation publishes four different figures for how much water this reservoir holds at 6,040 feet.

3,788,900 acre-feet	The narrative on Reclamation's Flaming Gorge page
3,788,799 acre-feet	The facts table on the same page
3,791,700 acre-feet	The original design figure, quoted in the 2019 survey
3,711,306 acre-feet	What the 2019 survey actually measured

The last one is the real answer, and the survey explains the gap: "Since the original filling of the reservoir in 1962, the reservoir is estimated to have lost 80,394 acre-feet of storage capacity (2.2 percent) due to sedimentation below elevation 6040 (top of active conservation pool)." The website figure is the design number, never updated. Surface area has the same problem: 42,020 acres on the website against "a surface area of 42,613 acres" in the survey .

Deer Creek runs 137 feet at its deepest. Jordanelle runs about 280. Bear Lake runs 208. Utah Lake runs fourteen. Flaming Gorge runs 436 feet at the dam .

Flaming Gorge

436 ft

Jordanelle

280 ft

Bear Lake

208 ft

Deer Creek

137 ft

Utah Lake

14 ft

That 436 feet is published as depth at the dam when full, not as a maximum depth for the reservoir . No agency page we could reach publishes a figure labelled maximum depth, so this page does not print one.

The outline on this page is a traced silhouette, not a survey, and it is worth being precise about which parts of it you can trust.

The proportions hold. Federal hydrography puts the reservoir at 40.7 miles north to south and 16.2 miles east to west . The drawing's aspect ratio matches that within about four per cent on both axes. So the shape is the right shape, and the north arm really is that long and that thin.

The area does not hold. Scale the drawing by its area against a published 42,020 acres and it comes out only 33 miles tall, because the narrow canyon arms are drawn thicker than they are so they survive at small size. A silhouette that honest about the width of the Green River arm would be a hairline on a phone.

Which is why there are no pins and no distances on the drawing anywhere on this page. Every place you can click opens a real map at a published coordinate instead. The drawing is here to say which lake this is, and nothing more.

"From 1979 to 1984, Flaming Gorge Dam operations were evaluated for potential effects on four endangered fish species found in the Green and Colorado River basins: Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, razorback sucker, and bonytail."

The 1992 biological opinion was blunt: "The opinion stated that the operation of Flaming Gorge Dam at that time was likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered fish in the Green River and outlined elements of a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative that would offset jeopardy to the endangered fishes."

The humpback chub was downlisted STATUS

Fish and Wildlife's own recovery programme page still calls all four species endangered . Fish and Wildlife's own rule says otherwise: "We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reclassifying the humpback chub (Gila cypha) from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), due to substantial improvements in the species' overall status since its original listing as endangered in 1974." Effective 17 November 2021.

So: bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker are listed endangered. The humpback chub is listed threatened. This page follows the rule, not the web page.

The two agencies also disagree on when the recovery programme started. Reclamation says "In 1987, the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) was initiated" . Fish and Wildlife says "In 1988, the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program was established" . Both are printed.

The release below the dam is USGS 09234500, Green River near Greendale . Reclamation itself points the public at this gauge, listing it as "Downstream: USGS Site #09234500 - Green River near Greendale, UT" . It updates within the hour and its readings are marked provisional until USGS reviews them.

The reservoir elevation comes from Reclamation's own data service . It is a daily value and it lags by a day or two, so the card above prints the timestamp rather than pretending it is live to the minute.

The forecast is the National Weather Service point forecast for the dam . On a reservoir 91 miles long that is one end of it, and the Wyoming end can be doing something else entirely.

Recreation · 03

Getting on the water

Fourteen ramps, marinas and campgrounds on both sides of the state line, each one on a real map at a published coordinate.

The whole reservoir

Centre of the USGS National Hydrography water body polygon for Flaming Gorge Reservoir. GNIS feature 1441113 is about 10 km south of this and would push the Wyoming end out of frame.

Open in Google Maps →Directions →

Ramp and campground coordinates from the Forest Service, Utah's boat ramp dataset and the Bureau of Land Management. Landform coordinates from the federal names database.

Place	State	What it is
The Spillway	Utah	The tailwater put in, directly below the dam. Float craft only.
Cedar Springs Marina	Utah	Marina and ramp, closest to the dam
Mustang Ridge	Utah	Boat launch and campground
Sheep Creek Bay	Utah	Boat launch on the west arm
Antelope Flat	Utah	Boat launch and campground
Lucerne Valley Marina	Utah	The big Utah marina, just south of the line
Stateline Cove	Utah	Campground, 70 m south of the 41st parallel
Anvil Draw	Wyoming	Southernmost Wyoming ramp
Brinegar Crossing	Wyoming	Boat launch
Buckboard Crossing	Wyoming	Marina and ramp
Firehole	Wyoming	Boat launch, swimming beach and campground
Little Hole	Utah	Green River, the take out at the bottom of Section A
Indian Crossing, Bridge Hollow	Utah	Green River, Browns Park campgrounds

Coordinates for the ramps and campgrounds come from the Forest Service recreation dataset, Utah's boat ramp dataset and the Bureau of Land Management. Every one is printed under its map so you can check it. The federal names database has purged man made structures, so it carries none of these.

Fishing · 04

Fishing Flaming Gorge

Twelve species, two states that do not agree, and one licence mistake that catches people out every year.

Opens a live Google map. Pick a species, get both states' rules, the named spots and what people throw at it.

Lake trout

Unlimited under 28 inches, one over

The fishery this place is famous for

Kokanee salmon

The fishery that replaced the rainbows

Autumn closed in both states

Rainbow trout

Back, and running 14 to 18 inches

Named by Wyoming Game and Fish

Brown trout

Turns up in the trout catch

Over five pounds, reported

Bear River cutthroat trout

Not the same cutthroat as the river below

The subspecies Wyoming names

Smallmouth bass

Eats crayfish, and the rule flips at the state line

3 in Utah, zero in Wyoming

Largemouth bass

In the rulebook, not in the reports

Regulated by Utah, presence unconfirmed

Burbot

Illegally introduced, and it goes in the bin

Must be killed. Both states

Channel catfish

Six of them, if you find them

Utah writes a limit here

Mountain whitefish

A tailwater fish, not a reservoir fish

Green River below the dam

Utah chub

What the lake trout eat

Forage, named by Wyoming

White sucker

The other half of the forage base

Forage, named by Wyoming

Drawings are illustrations of the named species, not photographs of fish caught here. Presence is taken only from Wyoming Game and Fish , the Utah Fishing Guidebook and Utah's Blue Ribbon waterbody records . Where to fish and what to throw come from angler sources, marked with letters instead of numbers.

Read this before you buy anything TWO STATES

At Bear Lake, a Utah licence covers the whole lake. At Lake Powell, a Utah licence covers the whole lake. At Flaming Gorge it does not.

Utah spells it out: "To fish across state lines at Flaming Gorge Reservoir, residents of Utah or Wyoming must have a valid resident fishing license from their state of residence and a reciprocal fishing permit from the other state."

And for everyone else: "If you are not a resident of either Utah or Wyoming, and you want to fish all of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, you must purchase nonresident fishing licenses from both states."

	Utah permit, for Wyoming residents	Wyoming stamp, for Utah residents
Price	$59	$30
Runs for	365 days	the calendar year

The stamp dies on 31 December TIMING

Wyoming Game and Fish: "While annual fishing licenses in Wyoming and Utah are good for 365 days from the purchase date, the reciprocal stamp is only valid for the calendar year of the purchase." Buy it in November and it is dead in six weeks.

Also: "The stamp is only valid for Flaming Gorge Reservoir and does not permit the license holder to fish any other water. The stamp is only available for Wyoming or Utah residents."

Rule	Utah	Wyoming
Smallmouth bass	Limit 3, combined with largemouth	Zero. All returned to the water immediately
Lake trout	No limit at 28 in or less, only 1 over 28 in	Same, and reclassified as nongame
Burbot	No limit. Must be killed immediately	No limit. Must be killed immediately
Trout and kokanee	4 combined, no more than 3 kokanee	4 per day, no more than 3 kokanee
Kokanee in autumn	Statewide possession ban, 10 Sep to 30 Nov	Immediate release on this reservoir, same dates
Gaffs	No rule	Prohibited
Ice fishing lines	Up to six, stay within 100 feet	Up to six, stay within 300 yards
Night closure	Linwood Bay, 15 Oct to the second Saturday of December	No closure

The two states contradict each other on daily limits UNRESOLVED

Utah: "Anglers are only allowed one daily limit at Flaming Gorge."

Wyoming: "When daily creel limits differ between states for a species or category, legally licensed anglers in possession of a valid reciprocal stamp or anglers legally licensed in both states, shall be entitled to catch a daily creel limit from each state's portion of the reservoir"

Those cannot both be followed at once, and smallmouth bass is exactly the case where the limits differ. This page is not going to tell you which one wins. Take the cautious reading, which is Utah's, and ring both agencies if it matters to you.

Rules change every year and this page is not the guidebook. Utah's own book warns that "some of those changed in 2025" , and Wyoming's current chapter took effect on 1 January 2026 . Read both before you fish.

The tailwater is not the reservoir and it is not regulated like it. Utah writes it as its own water, from the Colorado state line upstream to the dam:

Utah, Green River, dam to the Colorado line SLOT LIMIT

"Limit 3 trout (2 under 15 inches and 1 over 22 inches)." and "All trout from 15 to 22 inches must be immediately released."

"Artificial flies and lures only." and "CLOSED to fishing from a boat with a motor between the Utah-Colorado state line and Flaming Gorge Dam."

And the same kill rule as the reservoir, widened: "No limit for burbot, northern pike, smallmouth bass or walleye. Anglers may not release any of these fish, which must be immediately killed."

That is a real slot. The reservoir has nothing like it. Up there the lake trout rule is a one over maximum, not a protected band . Down here a 17 inch brown goes back.

Utah lists the sport species as brown trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and mountain whitefish . The Forest Service puts it plainly: "The Green River offers excellent fishing for rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout."

Anglers split the river into three sections. Section A runs from the dam down to Little Hole and is the busiest. A guide service describes the two named rapids in it: "Bridge rapid, about 3 miles in, is very easy as long as you go right." and "Mother-in-Law rapid is about five miles down" . Section B runs on to Indian Crossing, and Section C to Browns Park.

Wyoming has no say down here. The dam is in Utah and the river runs south into Utah and Colorado, so every Wyoming Green River rule in Chapter 46 is for water above the reservoir . Anyone reading Wyoming's book for tailwater rules is in the wrong state.

Check the release before you wade IT CHANGES HOURLY

The live card at the top of this page reads USGS 09234500, the gauge Reclamation itself points the public at . Releases follow hourly patterns set for power generation .

Recreation · 05

What to watch for

A fish you must kill, a fish you must release, cold water below the dam, and a boat inspection rule that changes at the state line.

Burbot must be killed BOTH STATES

Utah: "No limit for burbot. Anglers must not release any burbot they catch. All burbot must be immediately killed."

Wyoming, as a blanket rule across five counties: "Burbot (ling), walleye, yellow perch and northern pike are designated as nongame fish." and "All burbot, walleye, yellow perch and northern pike caught shall be killed immediately."

They are here because somebody put them here. "This species was illegally put in the Green River drainage more than 20 years ago, and the first documented recording of burbot in Flaming Gorge by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department was in 2006."

Smallmouth bass go back in Wyoming ZERO LIMIT

"All smallmouth bass shall be returned to the water immediately." Three are legal in Utah . Crossing the line with three in the boat is the easiest citation on this water.

The water below the dam is cold and it changes GREEN RIVER

Reclamation: "Recreationists below Flaming Gorge Dam should review posted information, closely monitor changing conditions, and use extreme caution when recreating in or around the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. Water will be colder than usual and will run high and swift during periods of elevated releases."

Releases are not steady through the day: "Reclamation has coordinated with Western Area Power Administration to create hourly scheduled release patterns, which include fluctuations for power generation." The live card above reads the gauge.

Mussels, and what is actually here AIS

There are no quagga or zebra mussels in this reservoir. Utah: "While the presence of quagga and zebra mussels in Utah is currently limited to Lake Powell, these invasive species threaten all of Utah's waterbodies." Wyoming: "Wyoming does not currently have any known populations of zebra or quagga mussels."

Other invasives are here. Wyoming lists New Zealand mudsnails as present in "Flaming Gorge Reservoir" among other waters .

Both states want your boat inspected AND THEY DIFFER

Wyoming: "Any watercraft transported into Wyoming from March 1 through November 30 must undergo a mandatory inspection by an authorized inspector before launching in any water of the state."

Utah: "All boaters, whether you are a Utah resident or nonresident, must take the annual Utah mussel-aware boater course and have proof of course completion in your launch vehicle" , and "Boaters are required to stop at all operating AIS inspection stations."

The decal rule differs. Wyoming requires an AIS decal for non motorised craft; Utah charges only for motorised boats . A paddleboard that is legal at the Utah end can be illegal a few miles north.

Algae CHECK BEFORE YOU GO

Utah's environmental quality department monitors two beaches on this reservoir and publishes any advisory on its recreational water quality page . Wyoming publishes its own advisories separately. This page does not print a bloom status, because a status copied today is wrong tomorrow.

Open the Utah advisory page →

Ninety one miles of water, and the rules change halfway up it.

Fathom Restoration is a Utah 501(c)(3) that runs volunteer dive cleanups and is built to pull what does not belong out of Utah water, statewide.

Donate to Protect Flaming Gorge

Every figure on this page is quoted from the source named beside it.

FLAMING GORGE

What Flaming Gorge is

Ninety one miles of reservoir across two states

Five hundred and two feet of concrete, and it is not in Flaming Gorge

The dam is not in Flaming Gorge COMMON ERROR

John Wesley Powell, 24 May 1869

Two hundred thousand acres, and the Forest Service runs it