Green River — Lower Canyon, Utah

Green River State Park to Ruby Ranch

The town of Green River sits on I-70 where the river leaves the Book Cliffs, and Green River State Park's ramp is mile zero for the Labyrinth Canyon float and the easiest bank access on the lower river. Crystal Geyser, a cold carbon-dioxide geyser created by a 1935 oil test well, erupts on river left about five miles down; it is a landmark, not a fishery. The first 23 miles to the private Ruby Ranch ramp are flat, open desert and mostly private land.

Labyrinth Canyon to Mineral Bottom

Ruby Ranch, which charges a launch fee, cuts the trip to 45 miles and puts you at the head of the canyon. From there the Green loops through Three Canyon, Tenmile Canyon, Hey Joe Canyon and the seven-mile Bowknot Bend to the Mineral Bottom ramp at the Canyonlands boundary, mile 68. It is Class I flatwater for canoes, kayaks and rafts, three to four days from town, and the take-out road drops down steep switchbacks off State Route 313 that turn to grease when wet.

Channel catfish and carp

This is a warm, silty desert river and there are no trout in it; the trout water on the Green is 200 miles upstream below Flaming Gorge. Channel catfish are the fish people actually catch, from the bank at camp or from the boat, and carp cruise the eddies and flats. Smallmouth bass and other introduced predators are present and Utah requires that any smallmouth, walleye, pike or burbot you catch be killed, not released, because they prey on the river's endangered native fish.

Native fish

The lower Green is critical habitat for Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, humpback chub and bonytail, all federally protected. If you hook one, it goes straight back. Roundtail chub, a sensitive species, must also be released below the Colorado state line.

Season and regulations

No shop publishes a fishing flow for this reach. The Whitewater Guidebook lists the Labyrinth float as runnable from 2,000 to 20,000 cfs, and the river drops out of its muddy spring runoff into a summer and fall base that usually sits between 2,000 and 8,000 cfs at the Green River gauge, which is the band this page treats as in range for fishing and camping on exposed sandbars.

A free BLM noncommercial river permit is required for any float between Green River State Park and Mineral Bottom, obtained by emailing the form to the Moab Field Office, and a copy must be with the trip leader. Fishing is open year-round under Utah rules with no limit on channel catfish and a mandatory kill rule for smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike and burbot; all endangered natives must be released immediately. Carry a Utah license, and confirm the rest in the current Utah DWR guidebook and on the BLM Labyrinth Canyon page.