Topping a lot of bucket lists, rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon draws tens of thousands of people every year. Starting downstream in the placid water at Lee's Ferry doesn't begin to hint at the roller-coaster ride waiting whitewater rafters. Rafting trips into the Grand Canyon range from half-day whole family pontoon rides to 18 day adventures for die-hard rafters.
Which Grand Canyon to Raft
Pick a place to start rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. You can start a rafting trip in Las Vegas or Laughlin, Nevada; Kingman or Williams, Arizona; and it will be hours before you can dip your toe into the Colorado River at the far west end of the Grand Canyon. Start the trip at Lees Ferry or Page, Arizona, and you're on the water at the east end of the Grand Canyon in a matter of minutes.
Commercial and Non-Commercial Rafting
Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon requires permits from the National Park Service or the Bureau of Land Management depending on where you put the raft into water. Two types of permits are available and the numbers are strictly regulated by the land management agencies. Private concessionaires line up for the commrecial permits, but you can join the weighted lottery to obtain a non-commercial permit organizing your own Colorado River adventure.
Half-Day Rafting
Half-day rafting trips are available only from Page. You can pack the whole family, including children age four and older, on this pontoon run from Glen Canyon Dam 15 miles downstream into the east portal of the Grand Canyon. The half-day trip starts with a ride dropping 200 feet into the Glen Canyon Dam tunnel to board the rafts. The trip loops back towards Glen Canyon and rafters take out at Lees Ferry. This is the only rafting at the Grand Canyon allowing young children on the Colorado River.
Full Day Rafting - Grand Canyon East
Rowing is the one-day trip on the Colorado River east of the Grand Canyon. Putting in at the Glen Canyon Dam you'll float downstream through Marble Canyon, past petroglyph sites and into the transition between the Marble and Grand Canyons. The rowing raft trip returns to Lee's Ferry for take out. You're on the water from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Full Day Rafting - Grand Canyon West
One-day raft trips boarded at Diamond Creek on the Hualapai Indian Reservation have a long travel time. You hop a charter bus for the three-hour-plus ride to the river, so less than half your 12-hour day is on the Colorado. Weather permitting, you get a helicopter ride back to your bus; if prohibited by weather, the rafting trip is extended into Lake Mead; the return bus trip takes five hours.
Commercial Rafting: Three to 18 Days
Getting into the heart of the Canyon is the rafting trip of which most people dream. The National Park Service issues vendors commercial permits for trips ranging from three to 18 days. The shorter trips, generally three to seven days, start at the East end of the Canyon and take out at Phantom Ranch, one mile below the South Rim. Your days on the water end with a three- to five-hour hike to Grand Canyon Village. The longer trips go deeper and deeper into the Canyon, with the 18-day trip covering all 225 miles of the Colorado River.
Non-Commercial Rafting: Three to 25 Days
Organize a rafting adventure for you and 18 friends through the Grand Canyon with your National Park Serivce noncommercial rafting permit. Using a weighted lottery system, the Park Service awards launch slots to noncommercial groups to run the Colorado River through the canyon. Permits cover adventures running three to 25 days. John Wesley Powell and crew had to pack everything with them on that historic first run through the canyon. Your meals and gear await you at the end of each day's rafting when contracting with one of the authorized adventure supply concessionaires.
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