Passes & Canyons Blog

I wanted to see if the road through Dinosaur National Monument was rideable on a dual sport bike and found that indeed it was. Of course, just a couple weeks before we went there Dom Chang rode that route on his Ural sidecar rig but OK, he had three wheels, plus, Dom goes anywhere Dom wants to go. There’s no one more hard core.

So I’m here to tell you what the road is like. We started where County Road 14 takes off from U.S. 40 at Elk Creek, went along the Yampa Bench Road to get to the Echo Park campground, and later went up the Echo Park Road to the rim where we rejoined the pavement. I was hoping to embed a Google map showing the route but for some reason, although after much hassle I finally got the route mapped, whenever I click the embed button it changes the route. So here’s the link that will take you to see the true route.

Heading in it’s your basic gravel road. Washboard in some spots, loose gravel here and there, and even a bit of sand occasionally. But no big deal. You wind around through some private land on the county road and then pass a sign and fence telling you you’re entering the monument. You’re climbing as you go and then come over a ridge and see the Yampa canyon laid out before you. As you descend and near the river–still out of sight–there are some wonderful views.

By this time you’re on the Yampa Bench Road. It runs along the so-called bench below the mountains to the south and the gorge of the river to the north. At times you can see the river but much of the time you can’t. There are three viewpoints, however, that you can turn off and go down, and then hike the rest of the way to the cliff above the river. These are worth it. Particularly the first you reach coming this direction, Wagon Wheel Point overlook, is so incredible that if you came to this park and only saw this one thing your trip would be worthwhile. Ride out to the point as far as the road goes and then walk all the way out to the point. You won’t be sorry.

Other than the overlooks there is nothing else remarkable about the Yampa Bench Road. It seems certain that it would be impassable in wet weather because you would get into some of the gummy red dirt that this part of the country is famous for. But if you have a cloudburst, just wait it out, give the road a little time to dry out, and you can go on. Plus there was one mudhole we encountered. Not big but messy.

After 42 miles you come to the intersection where the road to the top of the canyon goes off to the left. Stay on the other road and another 4 miles brings you to Echo Park. This is just a short walk from the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers. And yes, the echoes are amazing. Plus, the campground is surrounded by cliffs rising straight up about 1,000 feet or more. Gorgeous and awe-inspiring. And incredibly peaceful. Stay a night or two if you can, walk out to the confluence, and relax. We did.

Leaving a couple days later we took the Echo Park Road to the rim. This road they tell you straight out that it is impassable in the rain. I assumed that meant mud but in fact it is quite a good gravel road. What makes it impassable is that there are a dozen or more washes where, if it had been raining for awhile and the water had time to run and collect, these washes will be flooded. You wouldn’t even consider taking your motorcycle through that water, although some idiots would probably think their SUV would make it.

I emailed the park superintendent before we went–I work for the National Park Service so I have all this information at my fingertips–and I asked him about this road. His response was simple: Yes, the road is impassable when it’s raining. Just wait for the rain to pass and for things to dry out and you’ll be fine. Have a great trip.

It didn’t rain while we were there, in fact the weather could not have been more perfect. The road up to the rim gets steep and the view back into the canyon is superb. We went out as far as the road in the rim goes and saw spectacular scenery. We had a fabulous time. And it’s funny because when Dom was there just two weeks before he was unimpressed.

Bottom line: The monument is okay, perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the sights in other parts of Colorado, with majestic mountains in the distance and towering rock formations to pose my motorcycles in front of.

We thought of Dom a hundred times while we were there. We couldn’t have disagreed more.
He concludes saying, “Now that I’ve seen the canyon portion of this monument, I probably won’t be coming back. I guess that’s the criteria for a location isn’t it? Would you return willingly?”

Yes!!! We absolutely would! We loved Dinosaur. And yes you definitely can do it on a motorcycle. Just don’t try it on your Harley bagger. Although I am acquainted with a certain old BMW street bike that has made this trip.

Recent from the National Motorcycle Examiner
Adventure riders have unique lodging option in northwest Colorado

Biker Quote for Today

There is nothing I won’t ride on your bike.

We went to Dinosaur National Monument this past weekend for three days and loved it. Besides seeing the place, I wanted to see how the roads would be if you were on a bike–a dual sport bike of course. I already had a pretty good idea you wouldn’t want to take those roads on a street bike.

We came in at the east end of the park, turning off U.S. 40 at Elk Springs onto the Bear Valley Road or County Road 14. From here to the Echo Park campground, where we were headed, it’s about 46 miles of gravel–some of it quite rough. This road later becomes the Yampa Bench Road, which runs alongside–but way above–the Yampa River.

I’ll tell you about the road some other time; it’s definitely doable on a bike as long as it’s not rainy.

What I want to tell you about now is the guys who showed up in the campsite next to ours our second night there. We had gone up on the rim for the day and when we came back in the evening there were four motorcycles right next to us. Judy headed back to our site and I plunged right in, having a good time shooting the bull with these guys for half an hour or so.

They were out of Texas and they connect with each other for these rides through ADV, the Adventure Rider forum. They had trailered up to Oak Creek, Colorado, and took off riding from there. Between them there was a smaller KTM–not one of those big new Adventures–plus a Kawi KLR 650, I believe a Suzuki DR650, and another bike I thought he told me was a BMW but the guy is a big Triumph fanatic so I’m not so sure. It definitely wasn’t one of the big, newer BMW adventure bikes. I don’t know; I just don’t know every bike on sight.

They’re on a 2,800-mile ride with no time constraints. They’ll take it day by day. One guy told me he’s got the whole month set aside but expects they’ll do it in about two weeks. Their route was prepared for them by a fellow in Utah who sells these sorts of plans. That’s an interesting concept. Heck, I map out Colorado rides for people frequently and I don’t charge a dime. I don’t plan to start charging, either.

Taking off from Oak Creek, which is south of Steamboat Springs on CO 131, their route guy did get them off to a good start by sending them over Dunckley Pass and Ripple Creek Pass. They were heading into Utah, then up into Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and then back to Colorado. And they’re doing most of it on the dirt.

These are not a bunch of young guys, either. They all have grey hair. The first one we encountered was heading to the outhouse just after they arrived and he said hello and “I’m getting too old for this.” Apparently not too, too old, though.

Their trip got off to an inauspicious start when one of them improperly engaged his clutch right at the start and before he had rolled eight inches, he told me, he dropped the bike. And then, they said, the guy we had met hadn’t gone a quarter mile on the dirt when he went down. Some people were starting to have reservations.

They got rolling though and things smoothed out. Coming over Dunckley and Ripple Creek, one said, it was gorgeous but the road was so rough you couldn’t look at the scenery, you had to keep watching the road. Bill and John and I rode over that pass once about 25 years ago and I do remember it being so rough that I didn’t remember much about the scenery. It’s truly is gorgeous, by the way. I’ve been over it in cars a number of times so I’ve had a chance to look.

Not sure quite what their route was from Meeker, where they came out, but they came into Dinosaur the same way we did, on the Yampa Bench Road. I believe they said one or two more bikes went down along this stretch. I remember there was one really muddy spot and that gave someone some trouble.

They made it in, though, and were thrilled to be out on the first night of this great trip. The next morning we all packed up around the same time and Judy and I left first. We were all going out via the road up to the rim so I was pleased to be ahead of them so we could stop and I could get some shots looking down on them as they came up the road. I picked a good vantage point, got shots of them below, then more shots of them as they passed us and went on up. We waved and they waved and that was the last we saw of them.

Biker Quote for Today

A good rider can overcome marginal equipment. However, even the best equipment can’t overcome a marginal rider.