Utah man dies in rafting accident in Dinosaur National Monument

The body of a 50-year-old man from Sandy, Utah, was recovered following a rafting accident during a privately authorized trip on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.

According to a press release from the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office, around 4 p.m. Thursday, monument staff were notified that a boat was stuck on a rock in the Hells Half Mile rapids. One person in the group was missing and believed to be trapped under the raft. The group was eventually able to untie and secure the boat, but the person, now untied, was unresponsive and drifting downstream, having lost his life jacket.

River Patrol Rangers were notified and began a raft trip through Lodore Canyon to intercept the group and conduct recovery operations. Additional support traveled by car via Echo Park Road. At 7:45 a.m. Friday, monument staff received information from Adrift, a commercial rafting company, that the victim’s body had been found approximately 10 river miles downstream from the accident site and had been secured by guides.

With the help of Adrift guides, monument staff and the Vernal-based Classic Air Medical helicopter crew, the victim’s body was transported to the Moffat County Coroner’s Office. The raftman’s name is being withheld while family members are being notified.

Dinosaur National Monument thanks Classic, Adrift, River Runners Transport, Moffat County ACTSS (Advocates, Crisis, Trauma, and Survivor Services), and Monument staff for their assistance in the search and recovery efforts and extends condolences to the family and river community affected by this incident.

Hells Half Mile is a Class III/IV rapid on the Green River in the Canyon of Lodore in the Colorado section (Moffat County) of Dinosaur National Monument. It is located approximately 12 river miles downstream from the Gates of Lodore boat ramp near the north boundary of the monument. Flow velocities in the Canyon of Lodore section of the Green River are affected by the water release at Flaming Gorge Dam, which averaged 4700 cubic feet per second from June 25-28.

Dinosaur National Monument covers over 210,000 acres in Colorado and Utah. The monument is best known for the Dinosaur Quarry and the fossils it contains, but also includes canyons along the Green and Yampa Rivers.