DUTCH JOHN, Utah (ABC4) – The Flaming Gorge Dam Visitor Center will reopen its doors on Friday, April 15, after being closed for its seasonal closure in late October.

The public will once again be able to access exhibits, although guided tours of the dam will no longer be offered. A press release states that a part of the walkway allows visitors to still view the riverside of the dam.

The opening offers visitors an opportunity to learn about the dam and the hydropower operations while experience the beauty of Flaming Gorge.

The Visitor Center is operated through the Intermountain Natural History Association, which also partners with the Dinosaur National Monument, John Jarvie Ranch, and Fossil Butte National Monument.

A little bit about the Flaming Gorge:

“In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell and his crew of nine men began a daring three-month expedition down the Green and Colorado rivers. On May 27, three days after they set out from Green River, Wyoming, they reached the Uinta Mountains in their small wooden boats and were impressed by the beauty of the sun’s reflection off the brilliant red gorge that looked from a distance as if it were on fire. Powell and his men named the canyon ‘Flaming Gorge’ then continued their successful trip downstream completing their journey in the late summer.”

Construction of Flaming Gorge Dam came as part of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP), which ran from June 1958 until November 1962. The 502 foot-high, thin-arch concrete dam is located on the Green River in northeastern Utah about 32 miles downstream from the Utah-Wyoming border. The Flaming Gorge Dam is one of the four units of the CRSP, which provides vital water storage and hydropower generation.

On December 10, 1962, the waters of the Green River began filling the reservoir behind Flaming Gorge Dam and nearly a year later on September 27, 1963, President John F. Kennedy initiated the first power generation at Flaming Gorge Powerplant.

The powerplant produces approximately 500,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy annually which is enough to serve about 50,000 households. The power produced by Flaming Gorge Powerplant is distributed by the Western Area Power Administration to Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, and Nevada.

Click here for more information about the Flaming Gorge Dam and visitor center hours.