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Cellpic Sunday – The Flaming Gorge Dam

The Flaming Gorge Dam.

Daggett County, Utah.

The Green River, winding its way for 730 miles (1,170 km) through Wyoming, Utah, and a brief stretch of Colorado, carves out a vast watershed known as the Green River Basin. The headwaters of the Green River lie in the majestic Wind River Mountains of Wyoming where it flows into Utah a few miles south of the town of Green River, Wyoming.

The dam took six years to build and was completed in 1964. It created the Flaming Gorge Reservoir as part of the Colorado River Storage Project. The reservoir fills irrigation, residential, and industrial water needs across several states. Additionally, a hydroelectric power plant generates enough electricity to power about 120,000 homes. The Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was born out of the dam and reservoir where thousands of visitors enjoy boating, fishing, camping, hiking, and scenic beauty.

The dam itself is a marvel of engineering, the designers used a thin-arch design that optimizes strength and minimizes material usage. It’s constructed from over 987,000 cubic yards of concrete and features a crest length of 1,285 feet (392 m). U.S. Highway 191 carries traffic across the top of the dam which is located near Dutch John, Utah.

Adjacent to the dam is a visitor center where you can take in breathtaking views of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the surrounding mountains. Although tours inside the dam are currently unavailable due to safety precautions, you can still enjoy learning about the dam’s history, construction, and its role in the region.

On U.S. 191 just east side of the dam, a Forest Service Road (219) provides access to a spillway boat launch on the Green River. There is plenty of room to stop and take in a view of the dam. In fact, if you want to get even closer than we did, you can follow the road along the river to the dam. As we didn’t take that road, I can’t vouch for whether or not there would be good photo opportunities along the way, but if you have time, follow the road to the launch and check it out.

About the photo: I took two photos with my Samsung S23U and kept the wide angle view as the 10x zoom lens cut off the edges of the dam. I used the camera’s Pro mode and processed the DNG version of the image. I’ve found that when you import the files into Adobe Lightroom Classic, it ignores the JPG files that the camera also creates. I’ve taken to keeping them both on my hard drives and letting Lightroom manage the catalog. There was a minimal adjustment to the image. I adjusted the photo to fix a slight tilt and sent it off to Luminar Neo for final tweaks using my favorite tool, Enhance AI. To view the image in 2K HD via my Flickr site, click on the photo.

On the day this was published, we are just arriving back in New Orleans from a cruise. We will be driving much of the day. I apologize for having a delayed response to your comments and posts.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

62 comments

  14. […] I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday. — John Steiner […]

    Reply

  26. Marvel that it is, I hope that the reason for the gorge being named “Flaming” didn’t get inundated by the water?

    I hope you had a marvelous cruise, John. Welcome back!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Dries! The base of the gorge was lost to water, but the channel was very deep and long so the reservoir is long and narrow. There are plenty of flaming colors remaining above the surface of the water.

      Reply

  30. I thought it was interesting that they don’t take you inside because of safety. We toured the inside of Hoover Dam several times. It always amazes me how many leaks there are. I wonder why The Flaming Gorge dam is more dangerous inside than the Hoover Dam. 🙂 Great picture. I would love to see over the edge. Is there a walking path across the dam like there is on the Hoover Dam?

    Reply

    • I’m not sure why the level of security is higher here than at Hoover Dam, but maybe it’s simply a matter of manpower. I think the issue is not that the dam is unsafe, but that there might be people who would be interested in doing harm to the dam.

      We didn’t attempt to walk on either side of the dam, and the top is pretty narrow. US 191 is the road across the top of the dam, and I don’t recall seeing any walkways or sidewalks beside the road.

      Reply

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