paddle rafting the Grand Canyon last week in March

Mom and 11 year old son looking to raft the Grand Canyon in March (20-27). I can't find a 5 -7 day trip on a paddle raft. Most outfits start in April. Any ideas?

There is a reason that most outfits don't go in March. It is dangerous.

I wouldn't even consider it. You will be miserably cold. I wouldn't even go in April. You want to have a good experience. I assume this is your first trip? I can think of several other adventurous things to do in the Southwest that was as exciting to us as rafting the GC, and it would be much more conducive to weather.

I don't know of any outfitters that run trip in March. As stated above, it is too cold and dangerous.

If you choose to go later, like April, you should be aware that in 5 to 7 days you can only do a part of the canyon. You'll likely either have to hike out of the canyon at Phantom Ranch, or hike down to meet the rafts there.

"Mom and 11 year old son looking to raft the Grand Canyon in March."

Can't, and shouldn't even IF you could . . . .

Just because one wants to do something doesn't mean they can.

It is too cold in March, you can go then only with a good wet suit and even then it's pretty miserable. The water comes from about 600 ft down at the bottom of the Glen Canyon dam and is about 55-58º F even in August and you're wet a lot of the time in a paddle boat.

Can you go after school is out? Mid-May is an excellent time,

One more suggestion ... instead of signing on for an all-paddle trip I would strongly suggest the "hybrid" trip instead with an 11 year old. Hybrid trips have one or two paddle rafts and typically four oar rafts so you can switch from one to the other.

With the all-paddle trips everyone has to paddle (with the professional boatman in the back steering but not paddling) and often there is a brisk up-stream wind to make going tough, which would likely tire out an 11 year old eventually. The oar rafts are rowed by a professional boatman sitting in the center with two long oars with space for 4 passengers to just sit and relax.

Hi JKHP,

I work as a raft guide for one of the outfitters in Grand Canyon, which does a few all paddle trips (but mostly hybrid trips. I have guided over 140 trips in the canyon. Here are some answers to your questions

#1, commercial trips can not launch before April 1.

#2, the few companies that do all paddle trips generally requires the child to be 15.

#3, even on oar or hybrid trips(of which only a few outfitters do as well) the requirement is 12 years old at time of trip, but some companies will make exceptions on a case by case basis.

#4, to do an oar/paddle trip as short as 6 days you will have to do the upper section and hike out of the canyon or as short as 8 days if you do the lower section and hike in.

FYI over 95 % of the Colorado through GC is flat water. Paddling can get very tiresome especially if the winds blow upstream. I can not tell you how many times we have had people start out complaining that they were concerned, that with only one paddle raft on a hybrid trip, that they would not get to paddle enough. Often those same people, later in the trip (especially if there had been any upstream wind), would have to be cajoled to get into the paddle raft! I mean actually saying we don’t leave camp until 6 people step up to paddle! My advice to most people considering paddling in Grand Canyon, is to do a hybrid trip where you have the choice of paddling or not. If someone is an athlete and really enjoys working hard most of the day, then an all paddle trip may be more for them, but speaking from experience, it is really nice to have the choice to not paddle every day. Also, try and do a trip in late April/May/Sept/early Oct as if you hike in or out of canyon then it is more reasonable, but it is still doable in mid summer.

Check out this website to get some info on planning a trip http://www.ehow.com/how_4511365_book-grand-canyon-raft-trip.html Also, you can find a list of all 16 outfitters at http://www.gcroa.org/Pages/outfitters2.htm
If you want to make it easy on yourself call http://rivers-oceans.com/ , as they work with all the outfitters and can quickly find you a trip that works for you.

Hope this helps you with your planning.

Great information, as always, canyonwren!

I just hope JKHP is reading the responses and sees that they will have to wait until the son is older, and choose a date April 1 or later.

Good info, canyonwren.

Here's a company that advertises hybrid trips with a 12 yo age limit ... http://www.azraft.com/gc_hybridtrips.cfm ... on one of the hybrid rafting trips I did with them there was one boy either 10 or 11 so they will bend the age limit at times. He did fine paddling on the days with light rapids but the guides discouraged him from paddling on the (few) days we hit the really big whitewater.

Also, I mentioned people going earlier in the year and fighting the cold. These were private trips, not commercial. Many people have their own rafts and gear, and demand for private permits in warm weather is very high (I think the current wait is at least 10 years), so people will take winter trips. Some guys I know did a trip in December and even with full wet suits said they just couldn't get warm and had a fairly miserable time.

bookmarking because of canyonwren's excellent info

Excellent information given by all, here are a few more "tidbits" I'll throw in for good measure:

You have to realize that the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon is a totally different "animal" than other rivers of the world. Where most rivers rate their rapids on a scale of 1 to 5, the rapids of the Grand Canyon are rated on a scale of 1 to 10, and one rapid, Lava Falls, can sometimes go all the way up to 11 (just like "Spinal Tap" hee hee). That's why it's so hard to even find a trip where they'll allow a child to paddle. If you can't find a suitable hybrid trip for yourself, next best thing is an oar trip. The guides do the rowing for you, but they have the upper body strength and knowledge of the river to keep it safe.

March? Forget about it - too dang cold. Try for May or September. May tends to be more stable weather-wise; September is the tail end of Arizona's monsoon season, so afternoon thunderstorms are common. Afternoons are still hot.

Good tip re: Rivers & Oceans. They will save you a TON of legwork. See, there are over a dozen companies that offer a variety of trips and who you choose probably won't come down to who they are - they're all good - but who has the trip offering that best fits your schedule. For more info check out www.rivers-oceans.com or call 1-800-473-4576.

Well I certainly received my answer. Thanks so very much for all the useful and thorough information. As a first-timer on this site, I am impressed with the wealth of info out there. Trust we will not be on the Colorado in March!

<Trust we will not be on the Colorado in March!> but hope to see you some other time

Spirobulldog,
I am curious what adventures you can offer in the Southwest for my son and I. We are traveling from the Northwest.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Katie

Oh my gosh Az has tons of great places, if you are still planning on visiting here in March, definately go to Sedona. Tons of great things there, hiking jeep tours, balloon tours, beautiful scenery. Cool indian ruins close by too. Of course Grand Canyon, but pretty cool at that time of year, maybe even snow. You may even go farther south with a visit to the Sonoran Desert Mueseum (a Live museum great for kids). Tucson area. Weather is ideal in Southern Az then, but can be cold in Northern AZ. You can do a one day float raft trip up in Glen Canyon(near Page),which is very popular and fun. There is a more exciting motorized whitewater one-day trip(that starts last two weeks of March) at the other end of Grand Canyon more towards Vegas. Either trip in March could be very cold however, especially the whitewater trip. Scottsdale area has nice hotels with great pools for kids.

If you still want to raft, here is a great option. There may actually still be rafting on the Salt river near Phoenix in March, I think this year with the El Nino snowpack we are supposed get, that they may be doing rafting on that river that late. I think the Salt is one of my most favorite rivers, after the Colorado in Grand Canyon. I think it is the only river in USA that you can run commercially between January/Febuary and March/April in the "off season". You can do a 3 or 4 day overnight though a faboulous remote wilderness area. The river runs through some beautiful gorges with giant Saguaro cactus growing along its banks! Very surreal and not many other places where you can raft in that type of vegetation. You will paddle on that trip through very fun rapids. There are around 4 outfitters offering the trip.

Canyonwren,
Thanks for the great info and options. How wonderful!
Katie

One of my very favorite places is Moab. My all time favorite adventure (even beats rafting the GC) is canyoneering with www.deserthighlights.com We did Krill Canyon with him and then I have also done some waterfall rappelling with him in Oregon on a special thing that he does only a couple weeks in the year. Owners name is Matt and I have been with he one of his guides(Herb). He has a couple of other guides as well.
In Moab you could also go on a 4 wheel drive excursion with Moab Adventure Company. They also do canyoneering, but I would stick with Desert Highlights for that. You could do a couple of really awesome hikes in Arches(hike to Delicate Arch and do then entire Devils Garden Trail). I would imagine you could float in Canyonlands in March. This would not be white water(this would be before Cateract Canyon). They have wild and mild rafting, but I don't think they would offer any whitewater that early.

Another thought was Zion, but I think March is a little early for it.

I would imagine you could see Big Bend National Park and do the Rio Grande in March. I haven't been to this one yet, but hope to go sometime.

Moab is just awesome, check it out.

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A4F2C632106F?source=pw980
Canyoneering in Oregon Photos



http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A0A579218D66?source=pw980

Moab, Arches National Park, Flight over Canyonlands, few pics of canyoneering in Arches