Identity of Canyon of Lodore Rafting Victim Released

News Release Date:
June 29, 2024

Contact: Sonya Popelka, (435)781-7702

Dinosaur, Colorado - The victim of a rafting accident during a private permitted trip on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument has been identified as Michael Harp, 54, from Sandy, UT.

Around 4:00 pm on Thursday, June 27, monument staff were notified that a boat was pinned on a rock in the rapid named Hells Half Mile. One person from the group was missing and suspected to be pinned under the raft. The group was eventually able to unpin and secure the boat, but Harp, now dislodged, unresponsive, and having lost his lifejacket, drifted downriver.

River Patrol Rangers were informed and initiated travel through the Canyon of Lodore by raft to intercept the group. Additional support traveled by car using the Echo Park Road.

At 7:45 am on Friday, June 28, monument staff received information from Adrift, a commercial rafting company, that the victim's body had been found by guides approximately 10 river miles downstream from the location of the accident. Control of the scene was shortly turned over to River Rangers on a Resource Science and Stewardship trip.

With the assistance of the Vernal-based Classic Air Medical helicopter crew, the victim's body was transported to the Moffat County coroner.

Dinosaur National Monument expresses appreciation for Classic, Adrift, River Runners Transport, Moffat County ACTSS (Advocates, Crisis, Trauma, and Survivor Services) and monument staff from multiple divisions who assisted in search and recovery efforts, and offers condolences to the family, friends, and river community impacted by this incident.

Additional background information:
Hells Half Mile is a class III/IV rapid located on the Green River in the Canyon of Lodore in the Colorado portion (Moffat County) of Dinosaur National Monument. It is approximately 12 river miles downstream of the Gates of Lodore boat launch near the monument's northern boundary. Flow rates for the Canyon of Lodore section of the Green River are influenced by the water release at Flaming Gorge Dam, which averaged 4700 cubic feet per second from June 25-28.

Dinosaur National Monument consists of over 210,000 acres in both Colorado and Utah. While the monument is best known for the dinosaur quarry and the fossils preserved there, the monument also contains spectacular canyons along the Green and Yampa rivers. These rivers are famous among whitewater rafters who travel here from across the globe to raft them.

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