nina

Has anyone done them? The only one I could find was through an outfit called Aramark-Wilderness River Adventures, and it starts at the base of Glen Canyon Damn to Lee's Ferry. Lee's Ferry is where the multi day trips actually through the canyon begin.

My question is this. What is the scenery like on that part of the river? Worthwhile or would it be a waste of time since we will not be going through the Grand Canyon proper.

Does anyone know of other one day rafting trips in Arizona with great scenery? Thanks.

Paul Rabe

An alternative, for which I have had absolutely no experience with (I only know the URL) is

www.hualapaitours.com/Hrivertrip.html

One day tours through parts of the Canyon outside the National Park are $250 per person.

ALF

It ain't much of a trip from Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's ferry, and it's not very far either. It sure wouldn't be worth much to do that trip.

Hualapai River Runners go from Diamond Creek, near the bottom end of the Grand Canyon, and go on into Lake Mead. I have not personally taken this trip, but I have watched their rafts go in at the Diamond Creek put-in (many multi-day trips take out at Diamond Creek). The rafts are fairly large with big metal frames inside, and seats for passengers. Some of the rafts looked a bit crowded to me, but at least they go through a few rapids before encountering the slack water of Lake Mead. I must admit to being a bit of a snob about rafting the Grand Canyon, but it looked like the Hualapai trip would be pretty good.

The only other choice is to helicopter in and then raft down to Diamond Creek. I have heard about this option, but don't know any more about it.

nina

Thanks. We are taking our sons, who are 10 and 13, so don't want to try a short trip before we incur the very large expense of a multi-day rafting trip.

Nancy

Dear Nina:

I did the one-day trip in October 2000 and thought it was beautiful and well worth it. Of course, the gorge is nowhere as deep as the Grand Cayon, and there are no rapids. However (contrary to the thread above) I thought the cliffs were beautiful and dramatic, and there is quite a bit of birdlife as well as small wildlife.

You did not mention if you and your boys have previous rafting experience. If you have never done a raft trip before, I am sure you would enjoy this, and I know you kids would too. I did the Snake River many years ago and have whitewater rafted in several places in Asia, and I still liked the trip. It might be a good introduction into rafting, as you say, before you get involved in the expense of a long trip. Some people aren't comfortable on the rafts, and this would be clear in the few hours of this trip.

I don't know of any other one day trips in that area of Arizona.

Hope this is helpful.

nina

Thanks Nancy, it's very helpful. We haven't done a rafting trip before, so I guess we have low to no expectations.

Was the trip you took through Aramark? If not do you have the name/contact information? Thanks.