GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA
Whitmore Helipad
Only a few miles below Lava Falls, at river mile 187.6, the towering canyon walls briefly relent near Whitmore Wash. This rare access to the rim in the western Grand Canyon provides enough accessible ground for a small helipad, making it a natural transition point between the river and the rim. The Bar 10 Ranch, not far away on the northern rim, is positioned perfectly to greet weary river travelers leaving the canyon, and welcome fresh-faced greenhorns excited for their flight into the canyon.
The Whitmore Helipad is where Western River Grand Canyon rafting trips both end and begin. After traveling 188 river miles, guests on the 6-Day and 7-Day expeditions fly from Whitmore Helipad to the rim. Guests beginning the 3-Day and 4-Day River & Ranch trips fly into the canyon here and step aboard the rafts for the lower-canyon journey.
Whitmore Helipad is less a place you visit than a threshold you cross - in one direction or the other.
Quick Facts: Whitmore Wash
- River Mile: 188, western Grand Canyon
- Feature: River-edge helicopter pad; the exchange point between upper and lower canyon trips
- Exit: 6 Day and 7 Day trips fly out to Bar 10 Ranch
- Entry: 3 Day and 4 Day River & Ranch trips fly in and launch
- Geology: Southern end of the Uinkaret Volcanic Field; lava once flowed into the river here
What It's Like at the Whitmore Wash Helicopter Pad
Whitmore wash is nothing visually spectacular, relative to all the other spectacles that have dazzled you all week. But the moment you round the corner something visually shocking comes into view. You might first see the helicopter flying over the rim, or parked on the pad in the shade of the cliffs, but the mixed emotions begin to take over.
If you are finishing the
6 Day or
7 Day trip, you lift off the canyon floor and the river falls away beneath you. The water you ran for a week shrinks to a green thread, the walls drop to eye level and then below, and in a few minutes you are over the rim and out, looking back down into a place most people only ever see from the top. If you are starting the
3-Day or
4-Day trip, it runs in reverse: you drop off the rim into the inner canyon, the walls rising around you, and the helicopter sets you beside a river you are about to spend days getting to know.
For a lot of guests it is the single most cinematic moment of the trip. The guides handle the transition the way they handle everything else: with a plan, a briefing, and a calm that comes from having done it many times.
Why Trips End and Begin at Whitmore Wash
Whitmore Wash works as a hinge because of where it sits. The upper two-thirds of the Grand Canyon, from Lees Ferry down, holds the big-name whitewater and the famous side canyons. Below Whitmore Wash, the canyon opens into a warmer, more volcanic lower third that runs toward Lake Mead. Whitmore Wash is the natural seam between those two halves and one of the only spots where a helicopter can reach the river. The 6 Day and 7 Day trips run the upper canyon and fly out rather than add days on the flatter water below, while the 3 Day and 4 Day River & Ranch trips fly straight in and run the lower section to Lake Mead.
The rim end of that flight is Bar Ten Ranch, a working cattle ranch on the Arizona Strip about nine miles from the North Rim, inside Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. For the
River & Ranch trip, the ranch is part of the experience itself, an overnight on the rim before the descent. For everyone else, it is the practical connection that lets a wilderness trip end without a multi-day hike out.
Lava Once Poured Into the Canyon Here
The dark cliffs around Whitmore Wash are not the same sandstone you see upstream. This is the volcanic western Grand Canyon, and the black rock is basalt, the cooled remains of lava that once cascaded off the rim and into the river itself. Whitmore Canyon sits at the southern end of the Uinkaret Volcanic Field, where lava flows poured into the canyon repeatedly over hundreds of thousands of years (National Park Service, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument).
The Park Service counts 17 known lava dams along this section of the river, each formed when a flow plugged the canyon and briefly turned the Colorado into a lake. The nearby Whitmore Sink cinder cone erupted roughly 260,000 years ago, and the flow events from Whitmore Canyon to Toroweap range from about 87,000 to 850,000 years old, dating established by U.S. Geological Survey geologists and summarized by the Park Service. What it means for a river runner is simpler. The rapids and the dark walls of the lower canyon are the leftovers of all that fire and water, and you fly in or out right over the evidence.
Whitmore Wash: Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Whitmore Wash in the Grand Canyon?
Whitmore Wash is at river mile 188 on the Colorado River, in the western Grand Canyon, where a side drainage meets the river. It marks the seam between the upper two-thirds of the canyon and the lower third that runs toward Lake Mead. There is no road to it; the only ways in or out are by river or by helicopter.
Why do Grand Canyon rafting trips use a helicopter at Whitmore Wash?
Because it is one of the only places a helicopter can reach the river, and it sits at the natural dividing line between the upper and lower canyon. Rather than spend extra days on the flatter water below, the longer upper-canyon trips fly out here, and the shorter lower canyon trips fly in here to launch. The helicopter connects the river to Bar Ten Ranch on the North Rim.
Which Western River trips exit at Whitmore Wash, and which begin there?
The 6 Day and 7 Day Grand Canyon trips run the upper 188 miles from Lees Ferry and exit at Whitmore Wash, flying out by helicopter. The 3 Day and 4 Day River & Ranch trips begin at Whitmore Wash, flying in by helicopter and launching onto the lower canyon toward Lake Mead.
How does the helicopter exit and entry work, and what does it cost?
The helicopter ride between the river and Bar 10 Ranch is included in all four Western River Grand Canyon trips. Exact helicopter scheduling and logistics are confirmed in your trip details.
What is Bar Ten Ranch and how does it connect to Whitmore Wash?
Bar Ten Ranch is a working cattle ranch on the Arizona Strip, about nine miles from the North Rim inside Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, near the top of the helicopter route in and out of Whitmore Wash. On the 4 Day River & Ranch trip, guests spend a night at the ranch before flying down into the canyon. On the other trips, it is the rim-side connection point between the helicopter and the trip's flights back to Las Vegas, NV or Page, AZ.
Is the helicopter safe, and who flies it?
The helicopter transfer is a routine, long-established part of these trips, run by a helicopter service. The flight is short, the guides brief the group beforehand, and it is one of the most memorable parts of the trip for most guests.
What is the lower canyon like below Whitmore Wash?
Below Whitmore Wash, the Colorado runs roughly 92 miles to the Western River jetboat takeout at Lake Mead, through the warmer, more open lower third of the Grand Canyon. The rapids are gentler than the upper canyon (Class II-III), the walls are dark and volcanic, and the section ends with a jetboat ride out across Lake Mead. It is the part of the canyon the 3 Day and 4 Day trips run.
Still curious to learn more?
See more common questions or contact us.
Experience the Grand Canyon on a Western River Guided Trip
Whitmore Helipad sits near mile 188, the hinge between the upper and lower Grand Canyon. Which side of that hinge you start on depends on the trip you choose.
Six days in the Grand Canyon. Run Crystal Rapid and Lava Falls, hike hidden side canyons, sleep on beaches no road will ever reach, and helicopter out of the canyon.
- Begins: Las Vegas
- Best for: Rapids & Hiking
- Rapids: 60+ Class III-V
- Ages: 12+
Seven days exploring 188 miles of the Grand Canyon. Run famous rapids, hike hidden side canyons, camp beneath the stars, and helicopter out of the canyon.
- Begins: Las Vegas
- Best for: Extended Vacation
- Rapids: 60+ Class III-V
- Ages: 12+
One night at Bar 10 Ranch with horseback riding and cowboy BBQ, then helicopter into the Lower Grand Canyon for three days of whitewater rafting and exploration.
- Begins: Las Vegas
- Best for: River + Ranch
- Rapids: 16 Class II-III
- Ages: 9+
Helicopter into the Lower Grand Canyon for three days of whitewater, hikes, and desert nights. Then continue downstream by jet boat to Pearce Ferry.
- Begins: Las Vegas
- Best for: Shorter trip
- Rapids: 16 Class II-III
- Ages: 9+
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