Chapter 8 – Utah- July 2025
After the purchases were completed at the Visitors' Center, the family climbed back in the van. Ziva headed back to US Highway 40 West and then turned onto US Highway 191 towards Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Where US 191 turned to cross the Green River down river from the dam, she followed the signs for the Visitors' Center for the structure. The drive to the dam took about eighty minutes total.
"Welcome to Flaming Gorge Dam. U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Re- re-clam… help Abba!" Tali tried to read the sign at the entrance to the dam's visitors' center.
"Reclamation," he replied. "It means reclaiming the land by managing the water and generating power."
Anthony looked towards the dam from the Visitors' Center parking lot; he was not too impressed by the view so far. "I see water and something holding it back. It doesn't look all that big from here."
Tony chuckled, "That's because we are on the reservoir side; on the other side is the big drop and you can see the entire structure of the dam."
"Does the road go over the dam?" Rivka pointed to some people that appeared to be crossing the top of the dam.
Ziva nodded, "Yes, and after we have seen all that the Visitors' Center has to offer, we will drive over the dam and a small way back towards it to the spillway overlook. There you will be able to see the full structure."
"Cool!" LJ and Beth were very interested as to how the dam kept all of that water from spilling over.
The boys spotted a large silvery round thing in the area between the building and the parking area. There were also some covered picnic tables nearby.
"What is that?" Anthony pointed to the large item.
Tony followed the boy's pointing, "I believe that is a turbine that is used to generate electricity when the water passes by it. We can probably learn more about the turbines and power generation inside."
Inside the family learned the history of the area and of the dam. They learned that it was constructed between June 1958 and November 1962, and that the reservoir began filling in December 1962. The first power generation was in September 1963. They also learned that the three generating units have a capacity of about 150 Megawatts, and the powerplant produces approximately five hundred million kilowatt hours of energy annually which is enough to serve about 50,000 households.
The dam itself is 502 feet high and is an arch-shape with crest length of 1,285 feet, and contains 987,000 cubic yards of concrete. The top thickness is twenty-seven feet, and the maximum base thickness is 131 feet. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir has a total capacity of 3,788,900 acre-feet and an active capacity of 3,515,700 acre-feet. At normal water surface elevation, the reservoir has a surface area of 42,020 acres.
A scale model of the dam showed the various components, including the intake pipes, the generating plants, and the outflow pipes into the river below the dam. LJ was fascinated by the model, especially the parts that could be activated to simulate the flow of the water.
Rivka and Beth discovered that the Dinosaur National Monument area is part of the Flaming Gorge Country by viewing a three-dimensional map of the full gorge and reservoir. They also learned that it covered parts of three states; Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming.
Ziva took one of the brochures about the two scenic drives on either side of the gorge. She had originally planned to just follow US 191 north, but when she learned that UT 44/ WY 530 had fifteen interpretive stops along the west side of the gorge, plus a view of the Red Canyon, she noted to Tony that they would take the west side scenic drive instead. Once in Wyoming, she could get on Interstate 80 eastbound to reconnect with US 191 towards the next destination.
After viewing the exhibits at the Visitors' Center, they rode over the dam and Ziva pulled into the overlook on the east side to view the dam from the river side. Anthony was duly impressed with the size once he could see the full dam.
After pictures, they loaded back in the van and drove over the dam a final time to head to UT 44 at the Greendale Junction to start the journey on the Flaming Gorge - Uintas National Scenic Byway. The twists and turns in the road were not quite as snaky as those near the Continental Divide, but Tony was glad Ziva chose to drive this leg of the trip.
While the kids were enjoying the views, Ziva paid careful attention to the twisting and turning of the roadway. At a straight, almost flat, area, she sighed so that her husband heard. He smirked at her.
"What?" she glanced at him.
Tony grinned, "Just think, twenty years ago you would have taken all those turns recklessly. Tim and I would have been puking our insides out."
"Maybe so, but I have the most precious cargo in the passenger area now. My children are more important than the thrill of being on the edge of danger," she replied as she turned to the Red Canyon overlook.
The beautiful reddish-brown coloring of the rock structure of the gorge had all of the DiNozzos oohing and aahing. The sunlight highlighted the reds and the contrasts on the canyon walls. Many pictures were snapped with phones and the two DSLR cameras.
An hour later, after stopping at nearly all of the fifteen interpretive sites, Ziva turned from UT 44 to UT 43 in Manila, UT to connect to WY 530. She was very happy to realize that this portion of the scenic route along the Flaming Gorge did not have anywhere near the twists and turns in the roadway as the Utah part.
Tony estimated that they'd taken close to four hundred pictures along the route with all of the devices. There were a few places in Wyoming that they stopped to view the reservoir and gorge and take pictures, but the one-hour drive to Interstate 80 was less interesting than in Utah.
In Green River Wyoming, Ziva found a place to stop for a late lunch near the interstate. The next leg of the trip would take the family across the state of Wyoming from south to north on the western side of the state.
"Yellowstone, here we come," Tony announced as Ziva turned onto the ramp for I-80 east to reconnect with US 191.
