Dinosaur river permits for sale now online

DINOSAUR I Changes are coming to the river permit lottery at Dinosaur National Monument.
Starting with the 2014 season, if you want to participate in the lottery for a high season permit to take a multi-day float trip on the Yampa or Green rivers, you can apply online through Recreation.gov for your permit. This change is part of an effort to better serve visitors and to go “green” by incorporating a paperless online system.
From now through Jan. 31, applicants can apply online instead of filling out a form and mailing it in with a check to the monument’s river office. Through the on-line system, applicants can also pay using a credit or debit card.
Recreation.gov does require each applicant to register and create a profile with their unique email address and a password so that they can process payments.
Previously, a potential river user could file only one application for only one possible launch date on one river. For the 2014 season, applicants can still file only one application, but they may choose up to four possible launch date/river choices on the application. The Yampa and Green rivers are still combined in one drawing system.
“This quadruples the number of launches you can ask for,” stated Kelly Kager, Dinosaur National Monument’s river office manager. “That’s a real plus for putting the lottery online. You also won’t have to write a check or rummage around for a stamp.
“A similar lottery has been run successfully online for the Four Rivers in Idaho for several years,” Kager said. “With the new system, we anticipate that we will be able to let people know the lottery results much faster. Lottery applicants will receive a notification by email.”
During the open period, applications can be submitted online any time of day, and the fee remains the same as previous years at $15 per application. Permit fees are also the same as last year: $185 for a multi-day permit and $20 for a single day permit.
The Dinosaur National Monument lottery for 2014 permits opened Dec. 1 at www.recreation.gov and closes on Jan. 31. This year, only the lottery application process is moving online.
Dinosaur National Monument’s River Office will continue the processing of all permits for successful lottery applicants. Reservations for the pre/post season launches or one-day permits in Dinosaur National Monument will be also processed through the river office beginning March 1 at 8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, as they have been in the past.
For more information, go to www.nps.gov/dino or call the Dinosaur National Monument river office at 970-374-2468 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.