mamalirv

Any advise on a grand canyon rafting trip tour? We may be a big group...20 or so people. Is there a better touring company...how many days are advised? We would probably want to end up in Las Vegas.

PaulRabe

First and foremost: if you want to raft in the national park, you're talking a minimum of three days, and that's only if all twenty of the people are willing to walk between the rim and the river (20 people, of different abilities, even hiking down the South Kaibab Trail, is NOT recommended).

Secondly, these tours cost hundreds of dollars a day per person, and a group of twenty would have EXTREME difficulty finding any openings for any date with any company in 2012. So you're talking about a lot of money in 2013.

Still interested? Here's a list of links to licensed tour operators:
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisi...cessioners.htm

You can raft NEAR the national park for one day:
http://www.raftthecanyon.com/
http://grandcanyonwest.com/rafting.php

For both of these, you'll have to spend the night before your tour outside of Vegas.

For a group this large, I would make the reservation with the company FIRST, then let whatever date you're able to find be the starting point for all other considerations.

tomfuller

You can do some cheaper rafting near Page Arizona.
http://rafting.allaboutrivers.com/Ar...ing-tid95.html
There are many other places to go rafting other than the Grand Canyon.

spirobulldog

there are some companies that do the West portion of the canyon. You are helicoptered to the bottom there. We did this with Arizona River Runners. They offer a 3 or 4 day Trip. One of those nights is spent at Bar 10 Ranch. Then you have 1 or 2 nights actually spent in the Canyon. This is about the last 90 miles of the canyon. Spectacular to us, but most consider it the least spectacular. To really do it, you need 7-10 days or so. And Paul is correct, it might be hard to get a group of 20 for 2012. Everyone would need to know what they are getting themselves into. This isn't one of those things that is for everybody.

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.

hfechick

Yup, you're looking at a 2013 trip at the earliest. You haven't given any indication of what your priorities are, so it's hard to say, but in general I'd recommend a full canyon non-motorized trip. This would take between 11-16 days depending on the company, the take out point, and when you decide to go. You might not be able to take a "shoulder season" (April, September, October) trip with a group of 20 people--those trips generally seem to have an 18 passenger limit while May-August trips can accommodate larger groups.

The river outfitters association website gives a good overview of the trip options with links to the companies that offer each type of trip:
http://www.gcroa.org/Pages/options.htm

Before deciding between individual companies, I would suggest that you decide on the trip options that you want, particularly the type of watercraft, the trip length, and the approximate trip dates. This would narrow your search considerably. I'd recommend a full canyon trip since hauling your gear either all the way up or down the Bright Angel trail in the summer would not be a fun prospect for most people.

tatshenshini

You may want to check out www.raftgrandcanyon.com. This website explains all of the different options available when rafting the grand canyon. There are quite a few outfitters who operate trips from Las Vegas. One is Colorado River & Trail Expeditions(www.crateinc.com). They offer a multitude of trips including the ranch & raft whitmore down trip that is all-inclusive from las Vegas and includes a scenic flight, helicopter ride, raft trip, and jetboat ride. They also do the full canyon trips. I know that many companies still have plenty of space in 2012 and would love to have your business!