Flaming Gorge

Flaming Gorge is a reservoir damming the Green River on the Utah-Wyoming border. Click here for map. This is a large body of water, with many potential dive sites. Altitude is 6,100 feet.  The large size and rocky shoreline keep the silt down, so visibility is quite good. Spearfishing for bass is excellent. Lake trout are harder to find, but are big and tasty. Photo: Flaming Gorge from Dowd Mountain Bruce Argyle August 29, 1998

Cruise the underwater rock formations, or look for lost treasures under cliffs where people jump into the water. You'll quickly discover why Flaming Gorge ranks near the top of Utah's dive locations. And unlike Blue Lake, Fish Lake, and most of Lake Powell, "the Gorge" has air fills within an hour's drive. The two most popular sites at Flaming Gorge are the Visitor's Center and Mustang Ridge. Click for area map. At right is another popular site, the narrows near the Cart Creek bridge. Photo: Bruce Argyle August 15, 1998

The water: Surface water temperature is 69-70 degrees in mid-summer. Thermocline is around 40 feet. Temperature below the thermocline dropped to 60 degrees. Visibility varies from about 30 feet (on a good day) at Mustang Ridge to 60 feet in the deeper waters near the dam. Photo: Mike Engberson peeks through an underwater arch Bruce Argyle, Nikonos V 35 mm

In rocky areas between 5 and 30 feet, there are smallmouth bass. If you're looking for dinner, there are plenty of edible-sized bass that will cruise into range. Occasionally you'll see trout during the day near the cliffs. Photo: A 10-inch bass cruises the edge of the cliff Bruce Argyle, Nikonos V 35 mm, single YS50 strobe

Regulations: Spearfishing is allowed in Flaming Gorge. The target is large lake trout, although you can practice your aim on some very large carp. On the areas with loose rock and gentler slopes, you'll find plenty of smallmouth bass. Please click on "Regulations" for Utah spearfishing rules. You need a Utah fishing license to gather crawdads. Photo: Gary Argyle nabs a crustacean! Bruce Argyle, Nikonos V 35 mm, YS50 strobes

Near the cliffs, you'll have a great time "treasure diving." Flaming Gorge sees a lot of vacationer activity, and you can have a great time picking up after them. We found several shoes, shirts, towels, hair-bands and pins, coins, an anchor, and a working flashlight. Left: a shoe. Right, Mike finds an anchor. Photos by Bruce Argyle.

Sample dive #1: Mustang Ridge. Drive US-199 east past the dam. About two miles past Dutch John, you'll see the Mustang Ridge sign. Turn left. A mile or so later, you'll see a small bay on your left (this is before the campground entrance). If there are jet skiiers or boaters using the bay, you should hike along the edge before entering the water. Go along the east side (left) for a shallower dive among jumbled rock with lots of bass and crawdads. Go out to the point on the west side (right) for a cruise along perfectly vertical cliffs that extend down 40-50 feet. Cliff jumpers have littered the bottom with shoes, watches, and coins. You'll find swim-throughs and caves. There are plenty of crayfish and bass, for those gastronomically inclined towards lakefood. Because of jet skiers and motorboat action, Mustang Ridge often has lower visibility than the rest of Flaming Gorge (but it's still not bad). GPS of our sample site on the west side of the bay was N 40° 45.692' W 109° 26.055'.

P.S. Whoever lost the flashlight in the small cave at 40 feet below Mustang Ridge: The batteries were run down, but the light works great. Identify it and I'll give it back. - Email Bruce

Sample dive #2: Green River Dive. (NOTE: this dive requires experience, training, and surface support. If you don't have all three, contact Atlantis Divers in Vernal for a group expedition that includes training!) Heading east on US-199, cross the dam. Just past the dam, a road leads down to the river on your right. Enter the river for a drift dive past moss, trout, and rock formations. Additional Info.

Sample dive #3: Visitor's Center Pinnacle. Description by Scott Gudmundsen of Vernal: Swim out from the point by the visitor's center picnic grounds (GPS N 40° 54.953' W 109° 25.484') to the right side of the island. There is a small rock about fifteen feet wide above the surface of the water, standing by itself perhaps thirty feet to the right of the island (GPS N 40° 55.046' W 109° 25.547'). Click for area map. This is a spire that drops down to about fifty feet. There are many very large boulders scattered about this pinnacle. We found five swim-throughs near the base of this spire. Circle the spire, headed down and check every dark nook and cranny. This dive reminds me of some open water ocean dives I've done at the Channel Islands around spires. Watch for lake trout and bass. A real great dive! I've laid white cave line here so that divers can "take a tour" of three swim-throughs. Total dive time if you bang them out is 12 minutes including the safety stop. Visibility below thirty feet is usually around 60 plus feet. Descend from the top of the spire, right side of island, placing yourself with your back to the island. You will drop down to about thirty feet. You will see an orange and white flashing barracade sign (it's not flashing anymore) upright in the rocks. Clockwise from this sign, about twenty or so feet away is the first swim-through at about 35 feet depth. Go through it (clockwise, stay high if you're large... if you're little, go clear to the back and squirm out the horizontal slot) then follow the cave line from the exit, west headed down to "The Grotto". Go into the grotto on your left and drop down inside. Turn around facing down and swim through the small hole that looks like a peep-sight on a rifle. Be careful about kicking up silt or you won't see anything. (If your wearing doubles it's a struggle to get through the keyhole.) Exit the keyhole and go back to the white line which will be above you to the right if your facing out from the cliff. Follow the line down again to the west and to a large swim-through at around 65 or 75 feet which is really just a large crack with a big chock-stone boulder wedged in it. Swim through this, then continue exploring or run back up the line to where you started. (NOTE: the space between shore and the island is considered a navigation channel. While you can swim across it, you should NOT tow your dive flag through this area, because the presense of your flag illegally blocks a boat traffic channel. Wait until you're at the pinnacle, then deploy your flag next to shore.)

Sample dive #4: The Dam Cavern. Description by Scott Gudmundsen of Vernal: Directly in front of the visitors center the rocky shore slopes down at a 40 degree angle. Click for area map. About 150 feet out from the visitors center, the slope drops straight down into over 400 feet of water. There is a fun swim-through where one can drop down a four foot diameter hole in the rocks at around 90 ffw. Continue down the hole for 20+ feet and enter a small room at 115 ffw with a vaulted ceiling. One can see the exit directly to lake-ward about 25 feet straight out that is just below the lip of the drop-off. A white nylon cave line leads from in front of the Visitors Center (at about 4 ffw depth) down to the entrance of the swim-through. One can see the exit from any portion of the swim-through, either directly above you, or in front of you, out to blue water... so I guess it is technically a cavern. (NOTE: This dive is deep and at altitude 6040 ft. Consider Nitrox. Also consider an altitude-adjusted computer, as this dive is the nitrogen-loading equivalent of a 150-foot dive at sea level! Watch your bottom time or you will end up having to decompress!)

Sample dive #5: Second Island from Visitor Center. Description by Scott Gudmundsen of Vernal:
Take a boat to the second island out from the visitors center. It's between Mustang Ridge campground and the Arch Bridge by Cart Creek (don't even try swimming out to it). This island offers by far some of the best diving at the gorge. I have laid cave line from the south corner of the island (GPS N 40° 55.083' W 109° 25.858') headed south-west to the best and most interesting areas which helps divers to not get turned around. Click for area map. The line starts (as of the end of August 1999) down around 12 fww and is tied off to a small dead shrubbery. Follow this line down. Go straight past two other lines that branch off and stay to the right. The line will wrap around a large fin that sticks up from the bottom. It's really cold, but visibility is fantastic! There will be over a dozen spires and fins that rise up from the bottom slope. The bottom is around 100 ft down. (Thermocline depth 65 ft, with temperature below 45 degrees, visibility 60 feet.) The tops of the spires around from eighty to fifty feet down. Explore from this fin and work your way south (to the left if facing out from the island). Use the guide lines to reorientate yourself because you will get turned around. Check out all the deep cracks and fissures. There are several very large swim-throughs.
Plan B: If you take the line down from the island and take the second Y to the left, it will lead you down deep to the mouth of a large swim-through. It's about 85 feet down and in the middle of a large area of spire/fin formations.
Plan C: Following the guide line down and taking the first 90 degree left turn-line, you will find yourself at a small rise at the edge of the drop-off. This is a good beginners dive. A steel post has been dropped in the rise, with an attached foam bumper for boats to slam against when the water level in the lake is really low. The line is tied off to the base of this, then drops off the cliff and out to the far left of the fin/spire formations. Explore the fins and spires headed right (west) from here, or explore the numerous cracks in the cliff and countless pop-gear, down-rigger type fishing gear scattered everywhere. There are some swim-throughs in this cliff as well. Be really careful of the hundreds of feet of stainless cable that downrigger fishermen have lost that is scattered in coils here and there. Take a pair of EMT scissors with you on every dive. A knife won't cut this stuff if you get tangled in it! EMT shears cut it like butter! HAVE FUN!

Sample Dive #6: Pillars Point. Description by Scott Gudmundsen of Vernal:
This site is opposite the southern tip of Kingfisher Island. Launch your boat at Sheep Creek boat ramp south of Manila on S.R. 44. (Access is only by water-craft.) The point is at a Y intersection in the canyons of the gorge. A fair amount of boat traffic goes through here, so be careful where you park your boat so it doesn't get banged around on the rocks. Enter the water on the left (when facing out towards Kingfisher Island). Follow the edge of the ledge at around thirty feet down and explore the twisting, turning arroyos around the spires. Some of the spires have large steel poles stuck in their tops with rubber bumpers for boats to slam against. These attract a lot of pop gear for your collection. The lake-side of these spires drop to the bottom of the gorge at between 175 and 195 feet, so these are tall spires. Stay above 90 feet and explore the numerous large vertical cracks that run up the cliff face. Many of these you can enter and go back over fifty feet into blackness (Don't try it if you aren't fully rigged for caving. Your bubbles will silt out your ceiling in seconds and you won't be able to extricate yourself!)

Sample Dive #7: Cart Creek Bridge. Description by Scott Gudmundsen of Vernal:
(*Note... Don't bother with this dive if it's spring. The run-off from Cart Creek turns this into a mud-hole. Wait until late July or dive it fall or winter when it's really clear.) Park in the gravel turn-out on the north side of the road on the south-west side of the bridge (opposite the dam side). Haul your gear down the slope and over the rocks to the waters' edge, about 75 yards down-slope. You'll be diving below a popular swimming/cliff-jumping ledge that is about twenty feet above the water. Dive below this ledge and collect all the shoes (I found a perfectly good matching pair that my teenage daughter wore for over a year!) dark glasses, prescription glasses, etc. that lay on and about an underwater ledge at about the thirty foot level. Drop down off this ledge (hope you brought a light) and check out the cliff which has some interesting and fairly large overhangs.
For a second dive, follow the wall going left (when facing the lake) and check out all the enormous boulders stacked on top of each other. There's some pretty big bass hiding in here, so spearfishing might be good if it's warm enough. Continue exploring some of the deep cracks that run vertically up the cliff from the bottom.

Getting there: Click here for map.
Ogden: Take I-84 east to Echo Junction where you'll pick up I-80 eastbound, then follow the Salt Lake directions.
Salt Lake: Go east on I-80, to a couple of miles past Ft. Bridger. Turn right (south) on W-410, continuing on W-414 in Mountain View. This road becomes U-43 as it crosses into Utah. In Manila, east takes you north along the west shore of the reservoir to W-530. South (right) on U-44 takes you to US-191, which turns north past the dam to Dutch John and the eastern shore (and Mustang Ridge). Alternatively, you can continue on I-80 all the way to Green River, Wyoming, then turn south on W-530.
Provo: Orem 800 North exit eastbound US-189 up Provo Canyon to Heber, then left (north) on US-40/US-189. Turn right (eastbound) on I-80, then follow the Salt Lake instructions above.
Alternate: From I-80 (Ogden divers on I-84 will need to come south about 20 miles on I-80), turn south on US-40/US-189. Drive straight through Heber, continuing east on US-40 when the routes separate. In Vernal, leave US-40 for US-191 northbound.

P.S. A surprisingly good dive in the same area is Red Fleet.