rafting near Vegas
 

My 6-yr-old is coming to a conference in Vegas with me in March. We have a timeshare that runs by the week, so we'll have a couple days after the conference that we could do fun stuff in.
I would love to go river rafting with him! I don't think, however, that kids are permitted to raft through the Grand Canyon, and it seems kinda far, even though it is advertized as a day trip.
Can anyone suggest river runners closer to Vegas that offer good kids' trips? We want to get jostled and splash, but not to run class IV rapids (maybe a couple 2/3s). I'd rather not fork over a ton of cash for it either.
Thanks!

I can't think of any rapids near Vegas but several years ago I went canoeing down the Colorado starting at the base of the Hoover Dam. The water is pretty calm after the Dam and the scenery in the Black Canyon is beautiful. That being said the water was very cold(approx 55) when I went in July so I don't know if I personally would do this in March. Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire and Mount Charleston would all be good outdoorsy type places if you want to get away from the strip.

There's a company that does raft trips through Black Canyon, leaving from the bottom of Hoover Dam. It's a flat-water trip, so no rapids, but it sounds like a beautiful ride and a lot of fun. You don't get wet, these are pretty big, stable rafts, so it should be fine in March. I haven't taken this trip, but we did a similar one out of Page, AZ starting from the Glen Canyon Dam, which we thought was wonderful. I found this company when I was researching a trip to Las Vegas a couple of years ago, and if we ever go back there, I hope to take this raft trip. Here's their web site if you want to check them out:

http://foreverlodging.com/lodging.cfm?PropertyKey=130

we went with Arizona River Runners on a 3 day trip down Grand Canyon. Really the white water was nothing on their big raft. I was a little disappointed. it was cold, but you could swim for a brief period. I think they had an 8 year old on the trip we went. Camping on the banks under the stars is really cool. It is expensive.

Another option- Head up to Zion National Park and hike thru The Narrows. This is free and really nice. You will get wet. If your 6 year old is a real go getter hike up Angels Landing, but be sure and hang on to him for dear life. Sheer dropoffs. Zion is a better overall park than Grand Canyon because there is a ton of things to do there, But GC does offer one heck of a view.

I just saw March. I don't think many run the GC that early. In Zion you would want to rent a drysuit.