Swinging Bridge Campground

Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado

I visited Colorado’s remote northwest corner for a camping trip the week of Memorial Day with my buddy, Jeff. This is a little-known area in Colorado reflected by the lack of traffic and visitors. We camped in the National Wildlife Refuge at the Swinging Bridge Campground on the Green River between the Flaming Gorge and Dinosaur National Monument.

This is a stunning area with abundant birds and other wildlife, including the two rattlesnakes we had close encounters with. The swinging bridge, which gives the campground its name is in a state of disrepair as a tractor broke the bridge in 2014. Currently, the bridge is only open to pedestrian traffic and is being held up by some clamps and chains.

Lodore Hall and Browns Park Schoolhouse

The Lodore School was built in 1914 and operated as a school until 1947, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. There is a lot of history at the Lodore Hall location, including the Lodore Hall/Schoolhouse, Fort Davy Crocket site, 2-Bar Ranch, and the cemetery next to Lodore Hall. The Lodore Cemetery is home to many of the original settlers from the Browns Park area including John Jarvie.

Lodore School

Gates of Lodore

At the Gates of Lodore, the Green River enters the canyon from the north dramatically. The canyon was named by John Wesley Powell in 1869 based on the poem “The Cataract of Lodore.” There is a small campground located here, maintained by the National Park Service, with a short 3/4-mile hike to an overlook of the canyon. This area is primarily used by river rafters on their way down the Green River from the Flaming Gorge to Dinosaur on the south end of the national monument.

Gates of Lodore

Vermillion Falls

The Vermillion Falls are about 25 feet tall and easily accessible from highway 318 between Browns Park and Sunbeam, Colorado.

Flaming Gorge

National Recreation Area

We drove the back road from Browns Park to the Flaming Gorge via the Clay Basin. We rented a kayak and spent some time on the reservoir before filling up on supplies and heading back to camp.

Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area

John Jarvie Historic Property

John Jarvie settled his homestead in 1880 and quickly set up a post office, trading post and a ferry across the Green River. This site has been reconstructed and is maintained by the BLM as a history museum that is nestled between 2 campgrounds. The site contains an earthen dugout home, blacksmith shop, storehouse and cemetery.

John Jarvie Site

Irish Canyon & Vermillion Bluffs

Irish Canyon is on the north side of Highway 318 on the way to Browns Park from Maybell. The area has an interpretive site and a campground. Be very careful walking around here, and Jeff set the world record for back peddling in flip flops as he almost stepped on a rattlesnake.

The Vermillion Bluffs are the primary geographic feature of the wide-open and remote Sand Wash Basin in northwest Colorado.

Irish Canyon

Vermillion Bluffs

All photos taken with Fuji X-T1 or iPhone.