Travel and Accommodations
It can seem a little off the beaten path getting here, but all of the roads in are highways and they’re all in really good shape.
Fly
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City is the closest major airport to Dinosaur, but still about 3 hours (200 miles) away. It has the most flights, most options for car/rv/van rental, but is the farthest away. More information about the drive to Dinosaur from Salt Lake City below in the Drive section.
Airlines: Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit,Southwest, and United
Grand Junction
Grand Junction is about 2.5 hours straight south of Dinosaur, so a little closer than Salt Lake City, but not appreciably. Less options for flights and van/rv rental, but there are lots of rental car options. Colorado National Monument is just outside of Grand Junction (and is fantastic), and you can find shuttle options to Moab right from the airport. More information about the drive to Dinosaur from Grand Junction below in the Drive section.
Airlines: American, United, Allegiant, Frontier
Vernal
Vernal Regional Airport is only about 30 minutes from Dinosaur, and is the shortest trip to get in. However, it is also the most limited in that it only flies United and only has 1 rental car option (though being so close, finding a pickup/drop off might be pretty easy, and we can help you coordinate that).
Airlines: United
Don’t forget: If you’re flying, you’ll need to rent a car to get to Dinosaur, or catch a ride with someone who is. Let us know if we can help you get here in any way, including helping find rides to and from the airports.
Drive
If you’re driving, check out our Trip Extenders for interesting routes to get to Dinosaur, and things you can see on the way. The address for the Quarry Visitor’s center (the campground is a few miles directly past this, but has no address) is:
11625 E 1500 S
Jensen, UT 84035
The coordinates are 40.44435141230302, -109.25324411738072
From Salt Lake City
This is an easy and fun drive from Salt Lake City. A little over 3 hours in total time, I had service (AT&T) the entire drive and there’s plenty of gas and services. It starts by crossing the lush Wasatch Mountain range, and continuing through the beautiful Uintah National Forest (pronounced yoo-in-tuh). Once you pass the Strawberry Reservoir it’s like a switch gets flipped to barren-mode, and by Duchesne you will be in full blown desert. There are 2 towns, Heber City and Roosevelt, which are both very cute and good spots to pick up lunch or services. Gas is cheapest in Salt Lake City and Vernal though.
Once you get close to Vernal, it will attempt to take you through some ranch land to bypass the town, but I’d recommend just staying on the main highway as Vernal is cute! Not bypassing only adds about 3 minutes and is a lot more direct (bypassed route has a lot of stop signs and crossing traffic):
From Grand Junction
This route goes over the Bookcliff Mountains, climbing about 4,000ft from Grand Junction. It has a couple of tight hairpin turns to get to the summit going North, and there are absolutely NO services between Fruita/Loma and Rangely, about 75 miles. The road gets a lot of snow in the winter, so expect potholes, crumbling edges, sparing guard rails and lots of turn outs. It’s used primarily by truckers, so you’ll see a lot of them on this drive. I promise it is not as scary as I’ve made it sound here, it’s absolutely gorgeous, just keep your wits about you!
Stay
We have already reserved and booked the entire campground for the dates of September 8 – 12, 2022. We will be staying in our van at the camp ground all weekend, and invite you to tent camp, RV, trailer, or van camp with us! There are water spigots, but no electrical or water hookups at the camp sites. There are flushing toilets. You are welcome to run a generator until 9pm, and we will have some power hookups available for phones and cameras. There is cell reception across most of the park.
There are showers ($3 + a quarter per 5 minutes) and a dump/fill station ($11) 15 minutes from the campground at the Outlaw Trail RV Park.
Whether camping is your thing or you’ve never done it before, we would ask that you consider it for the weekend – all the activities, food, and hanging out will be happening at the campground, and you don’t want to miss out!
We recommend checking out a van or RV for the weekend. It acts as both your transportation and your bed, so if you’ve always wanted to check out what #vanlife is all about, here’s your chance! We’ve put together a pretty good list of RV and van providers in the SLC area below. We would love to pack the campsite so you can eat, drink, and hang out with us all weekend without having to leave and miss something. There is no cost to camp, as we’ve already rented the entire campground. We also recommend extending your trip if at all possible, and check out some of our favorite places in the area!
If you are planning on staying in the campground, we will assign your spot based on arrival, family, and need to be closer to bathrooms etc. Depending on size of vehicles, you may be sharing a spot with another vehicle.
If you would rather stay in a hotel, our non-campers can stay in Vernal UT, about 30 minutes away. We recommend the SpringHill Suites (~$200/night), but there are plenty of hotels to choose from, and you can find a list here.
These are not the only providers of RV or van rentals, but these are ones we’ve seen around. Also, if you’re coming in from somewhere other than Salt Lake City, there may be other regional providers not listed here. Feel free to search around, and if you find something we’ve missed, let us know!
RVs
Cruise America
Cruise America is the largest RV rental agency in the West.
El Monte RV
Another large RV rental agency, renting their own RVs
RVezy and RV Share
Rent from people who are renting out their RV, kinda like AirBnB for RVs
Outdoorsy
Does RVs and vans, rent from individuals
Vans
Van will be a little more expensive than RVs, but are easier to drive and maneuver.
Outdoorsy
Probably the best way to rent a complete van (not 1 way), since you are renting from an individual and not a builder or agency
Escape Camper Vans
Small, funky, basic vans that are in abundance in the West. Easy to do 1 way rentals.
Canyon Recreation
Jeeps and new Broncos with rooftop tents
Native Campervans
Basic camper vans in larger Sprinter-type formats
Wander Vans
A variety of van sizes in Sprinter-type formats
Moterra Vans
Nice, complete camper vans in large formats, but minimum of 5 days
Hotels
Hotels are located in Vernal, UT, about 30 minutes from the campground. There are other hotels in the area, and some farther out, so feel free to look around if these options don’t suit your fancy.
SpringHill Suites (~$200/night)
⭐️ Most wedding guests staying in a hotel have already booked here