Flaming Gorge? Are we talking flaming as in fires!

Jensen, UT to Manila, Utah (more sightseeing!)

June 23-25, 2016

Having seen a place on the map called Flaming Gorge National Recreation area I have to admit I was intrigued with the name if nothing else so we decided to take the longer route to Salt Lake city so we could see this place with the interesting name.  It was named by John Wesley Powell when he navigated the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and 1872.  Of course at that time there wasn't a dam creating the large reservoir we see today but it is a beautiful place.  For anyone who loves fishing and boating it's a great place to spend some time.  There's lots of interesting geology as well with signs posted along the highway to indicate what layer of rocks you are driving over and what type of species were living there millions of years ago.

I can't wrap my mind around a time 200+ millions of years ago!

The is only a small portion of the reservoir created by the dam.

The Flaming Gorge Dam itself.  Check out the road up the hill there! 

The spillway.  We saw a sign that indicated that the area
below the dam was rated as a world class fishing area.

Along the road, not too far south of Manila, there is a geologic side trip you can take
 to see the rock formations up close.  We were glad we took the time to drive it.

This is looking just left of the picture above.  It's a rugged but beautiful place. 

More rock formations which make you wonder about how they were formed
and what kinds of things have eroded them in the millions of years since then.