Drive Harpers Corner Road, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado

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The Harpers Corner Scenic Drive is a 32-mile (55-km) (one-way) auto tour route from the Canyon Area Visitor Center to Harpers Corner. Dinosaur fossils are not located in this section of the park. The route goes by colorful Plug Hat Butte, which contains a wheelchair-accessible trail and a picnic area. As the road continues to gain elevation, the scenery reflects the changing ecosystems. The last 12 miles include several striking viewpoints and overlooks, some as high as 2500 feet above the Green and Yampa rivers. Steamboat Rock hides the confluence of the two rivers from view at the Echo Park overlook. A one-mile (one-way) trail at the end of the route leads to a vista with nearly 300 degree views into Whirlpool, Lodore, and Yampa canyons. Situated on top of a butte, the paved, wheelchair accessible Plug Hat Trail introduces visitors to the pinyon-juniper forest and offers sweeping vistas of the Colorado Plateau landscape. On the Harpers Corner Trail, situated on a ridge above the Green River, hikers can explore the pinyon-juniper forest and enjoy unsurpassed views of Steamboat Rock, the Green and Yampa rivers, and Whirlpool Canyon. Ruple Point Trail, which begins at the Island Park Overlook, crosses a rolling terrain and terminates at the edge of Split Mountain Canyon, offering hikers breathtaking views of the canyon and Green River. Fuel, food, and other services are not available along this route. The nearest services are in Dinosaur, Colorado, two miles west of the Canyon Area Visitor Center on Highway 40. Harpers Corner Drive is closed at Plug Hat Butte when heavy snow falls. The road reopens in the spring when conditions allow. Picnic tables are located at the following overlooks: Plug Hat Butte (4 m/6.5 km from the junction of Highway 40 and Harpers Corner Drive) Canyon Overlook (20 m/32 km from the junction of Highway 40 and Harpers Corner Drive) Echo Park Overlook (34 m/55 km from the junction of Highway 40 and Harpers Corner Drive) During the winter, cross-country skiing and snowmobile use are allowed on the closed portion of Harpers Corner Drive, beyond Plug Hat Butte. Throughout the winter, the first five miles of Harpers Corner Drive remain open and plowed to allow public access to the Plug Hat parking area for snowmobile and cross-country ski enthusiasts. Snowmobiles are not allowed off the road surface and may not go past the Echo Park Road turn-off.

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