Joe Alexander

There is a nice place to park next to the river called Lions Park and Transit Hub. The stop also has restrooms and access to a paved bicycle lane.

The drive through the mountains on Highway 6 takes you to elevations as high as 7,477 feet. I see a sign along the way that marks Soldiers Summit at 7,477 feet. There is snow around the road at the higher elevations, but the road itself is clear and dry.

I’m back down to around 4,000 feet when I hit Interstate 70 near Green River, Utah, and head east about 20 miles to pick up Highway 191 south toward Moab. I passed the entrances to the northern section of Canyonlands National Park and about 10 miles later Arches National Park shortly before I reached the Moab city limits.

Including some hotels, restaurants, a couple of truck stops and a few brightly colored fruit stands, the town of Green River sits near the intersection of Highway 6, heading northwest to southeast, and Interstate 70, which runs west to east through northern Colorado to Denver and all the way to the East Coast.

The river is fed by snow melt and has a lot of water flowing through it in late April. Green River joins up with the Colorado River south of here in Canyonlands National Park.