Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area:
Red Canyon Overlook

The Basics

ADDRESS: on Forest Service Road 95, which branches off of Utah Highway 44 approximately 25 miles southeast of Manila, UT and 14 miles southwest of Dutch John, UT

LAST VISIT: 2024

VIDEO: Link to Flaming Gorge Video on YouTube

The Red Canyon area contained a few places that we visited:

The Red Canyon Overlook provides a beautiful overview of Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the 1700 foot deep canyon, surrounded by red sandstone walls. The white wakes trailing the boats in the deep blue waters added even more color and contrast to the scene. We did find this particular overlook to be a bit crowded for our tastes, but not enough to consider skipping the amazing views.

Canyon Rim Overlook was just a short drive away at the Canyon Rim Campground. This overlook provided a similar, but slightly less expansive view. We were the only people there at the time. This was most likely because it was in the off season, but I would think that even in season, it is probably still less crowded than the Red Canyon Overlook with the larger parking lot and viewing area. We stood there for a long time, transfixed by the view. After some time, we noticed two crows talking to each other. It was interesting to listen to one call out, and then hear the other one respond back with exactly the same call. At first, we thought we were hearing an echo! It took a while before we realized that it wasn't an echo, it was a conversation.

There is a visitor center located by the main overlook. Unfortunately, due to our trip being after Labor Day, the visitor center was closed for the season.

We also spent some time in the picnic area by West Greens Lake, where we watched several bighorn sheep. That was certainly a highlight!

Our Opinion

We imagine that between Memorial Day and Labor Day, this must be a very crowded place, but even then, we would definitely make the stop. The overlook probably provides one of the best views of the reservoir and the canyon.