benitaswan

Hello Again:

Now that I have a place to stay in the Grand Canyon, I've moved my thoughts toward a rafting adventure for my family. Our kids are 15 and 11 girls. Can you suggest a smooth rafting website or telephone number? We will be at the GC 2 full days and 2 half days. Thanks in advance.

benitaswan

I supposed I should have written 15 y.o. and 11 y.o. girls. My hubby and I do NOT have 26 kids!

PaulRabe

The shortest raft ride within the Grand Canyon National Park is three days, and it is definitely NOT a smooth ride. Also, you'll have to hike out from or hike down to the Phantom Ranch area.

There are a few raft rides you can take outside the Grand Canyon NP, and they may well meet your needs.
http://www.raftthecanyon.com/
Per person cost is $87 for a half-day ride and $161 for a full day ride.

There is also a one day white water raft ride in the West Rim,
http://grandcanyonwest.com/rafting.php
at a cost of $324 (plus tax and surcharge) per person.

janisj

I don't think anything will meet your rafting needs. The 1/2 day tour PaulRabe links leaves from Page which is nearly 150 miles from where you are staying.

For a family not into major hiking, etc -- I personally think staying nearly 4 days at the south rim is overkill.

InSandy

The only smooth water trip is the http://www.raftthecanyon.com Canyon Discovery. It is a great trip and well worth the effort to get there. You will learn so much about the desert, the river, the people who lived here. It is a learning and fun trip. You can drive yourself or have a shuttle get you. Check on that website under Plan Your Trip,,,and then Grand Canyon.

Though with only 2 full days at the canyon I'm not sure when you'd have time to take off to do it. (unlike janisj I think two full days and two half days at the south rim would be great even if I never left the rim)....
Maybe you could use one of your half days heading out the east rim and entrance and then drive to Page yourself for an afternoon raft tour.

spirobulldog

The shortest real rafting trip is 3 days and really to do it right you need a 6 or 7 day trip. Yes, rapids are there. Getting wet is the fun part. We took our daughter when she was 11. It was a great trip they we are glad we experienced it.

benitaswan

Thanks all. We got it booked! raftthecanyon is exactly what we were looking for!!!

spirobulldog

raftthecanyon is GLEN canyon not the GC.
Although, I am sure you will enjoy it.


I am with janis on the 2 days at each rim being a bit much. What are you going to do on those 4 days?

InSandy

benitaswan, I had a feeling that was what you wanted. You should enjoy it.

Hey spiro, it is still the Colorado River and where did you get 2 days at each rim? I only read 2 days and two half days at the south rim.

spirobulldog

The Colorado River runs all the way from Moab to Lake Mead in basically a Canyon. I can tell you for sure that is different on many stretches. Cateract Canyon and The Grand Canyon being the two stretches of what I would call "real rafting" IMOP, smooth water floating is super boring after an hour or so and will be really boring for kids. The big J-Rig Rafts aren't really that dangerous and you can decide how wet you get- based on where you sit(for the most part). The OP said Grand Canyon, so I assumed that's where they wanted to raft. Generally speaking rafting the Grand Canyon is considered a multi-day event. Even the short 4 day trip we took was not really like doing the entire thing, I would think. We did basically the last 1/3 of it ending at Lake Mead. We started out near the Bar Ten Ranch at Whitmore Wash(I think).

I misread when I said north and south rim. I suppose I though since they will be leaving out of Page for their rafting that meant they were staying at both rims. I still am reading 4 days at South Rim-and if you aren't hiking, I guess you just like to look off into the canyon. Certainly is amazing, but not something I would want to do for that length of time.

janisj

"Certainly is amazing, but not something I would want to do for that length of time."

That is what I meant about overkill. I honestly don't think parts of 4 days (2 full and 2 half) would be that great for a family w/ kids. We all agree the GC is amazing. But the question is whether the view is a 4-day view.