Grand Canyon Rafting Trips

Week-long Grand Canyon rafting trips are the most popular - particularly on motorized rafting trips where you can travel much further into the canyon during that one-week time span. Motorized rafts (like Western's J-Rig) are able to cover more miles through the Grand Canyon in one week than an oar-powered craft, which can take a full week to travel only half the distance in the same amount of time as a motorized rig. Some oar-powered trips may take as many as 21 days to row through most of the canyon's 277 miles.

Why do the miles matter in Grand Canyon? No one likes "FOMO" (Fear of Missing Out). Simply put, miles matter when it comes to seeing and exploring all the Grand Canyon has to offer. Some outfitters offer 5 or 6 day trips that only travel 88 miles to Phantom Ranch. This essentially cuts the very heart of the Grand Canyon experience in half. That's sad. :(

Back to List

Western's Week Long Trip

The Perfect Introduction to Grand Canyon Rafting
The 3 Day Expedition is an excellent way to introduce yourself to the Grand Canyon - and even to whitewater rafting in general. Half the length of the 6-7 day trip, milder white water rapids, and fewer, shorter hikes, the 3-day expedition is the perfect introduction to Grand Canyon rafting. The lower part of the canyon is not short on scenery though! Begins and ends in Las Vegas, Includes flight to Bar Ten, helicopter, jetboat, and motorcoach return

The Fully Packed Grand Canyon Tour
The 4 Day Expedition includes all the river trip of the 3 day, but pause for a night at the Bar Ten Ranch after your scenic air tour over Lake Mead and the Western end of Grand Canyon. Enjoy horseback rides, skeet shooting, local beef BBQ dinner, optional ATV ride, an evening of cowboy entertainment (best in the west - or at least for 80 miles around, helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon, and a speedy jetboat ride out! Yeehaw!

The Ultimate Grand Canyon Rafting Vacation
Western's upper Grand Canyon 6-7 Day Expedition is, in our opinion, the ultimate Grand Canyon rafting vacation. It traverses the most iconic - or well known - section of the Grand Canyon, which includes popular features like Redwall Cavern, the Little Colorado, Crystal, Hermit, Granite rapids, Elves Chasm, Deer Creek Falls, and Matkatimiba and Havasu Canyons. At the end of this trip, a helicopter takes you up and out of the canyon at mile 188 to the Bar Ten Ranch airstrip for return to Las Vegas or Marble Canyon, AZ.

Back to List

Each of the different Grand Canyon rafting outfitters refer to their trips in terms of "upper vs. lower" Grand Canyon - yet the meaning may be entirely different depending on how they have chosen to divide the canyon at Phantom Ranch (mile 88).

Western River's upper Grand Canyon rafting trips comprise the first two-thirds of the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry (mile 0) to the Helicopter pad at Whitmore Wash (mile 188).

Western's lower Grand Canyon rafting trips travel through the lower, or final third of the Grand Canyon from the Helicopter pad (mile 188) to Lake Mead (mile 277).

Back to List

The minimum age requirement for this upper section of the Colorado River (Western's 6 or 7 day expedition) is age 12. Grand Canyon rafting for families with kids ages 9 and up will enjoy rapids on the lower third of the Grand Canyon on the 3 day or 4 day expeditions.

Learn more about the physical requirements of a rafting trip with our resource page. Age requirements largely coincide with the intensity of the whitewater, the hikes, and the trip length.

Back to List

Physical Requirements

APRIL - You've heard that "April showers bring May flowers" but this pattern is about a month ahead in the Grand Canyon. April is best for witnessing the desert in brilliant cactus blooms. Rain and cooler temps are possible but are generally diminished by the end of March. Expect verdant green canyon slopes rather than the dry yellow which appears as early as June. Expect generally clear skies and clear streams.

MAY - Cactus blooms linger as temperatures rise. Generally clear skies and clear streams.

JUNE - Vegetation dries, wildflowers hide, and temperatures rise in June. Days get longer, but that doesn't necessarily equate to more hikes during the days, rather just more sunlight during in camp hours.

JULY - Summer days in the Grand Canyon get HOT in July, making a nice splash in rapids or a side stream dip all the more enjoyable.

AUGUST - Rapids! River flows from Glen Canyon Dam begin to increase in August, which generally means more punch per wave in Grand Canyon.

SEPTEMBER - Sunlight shifts and shadows make the canyon more pronounced than the direct sunlight of summer.

Back to List

There are only a few ways into or out of the Grand Canyon - and a seven-minute thrill ride in a helicopter with Papillon helicopter pilots is the most memorable (and easiest)! The helicopter pad at Whitmore Wash (mile 188) is positioned just within the Hualapai Tribal lands, and right at the river's edge to exchange 6-7 day upper canyon guests for a fresh batch of rafters for a lower canyon 3-4 day Grand Canyon rafting trip. In the early days of rafting Grand Canyon Western partnered with the Hualapai Tribe and the Bar Ten Ranch to make this the ideal exchange between guests flying into, or out from, their Grand Canyon rafting trip.

Back to List

The upper two thirds of the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry (mile 0) to just below Lava Falls (~mile 188) contains class III - V rapids and is popular among able-bodied beginners ages 12 or higher. Rapids in the lower third of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon are much milder (class II - III), and perhaps more suited to Grand Canyon rafting for timid beginners, or families with younger children ages 9 and up. If you are concerned about the level of adventure involved in Grand Canyon rafting you will be interested to learn more about the design of Western's exclusive J-Rig raft.

Back to List

Your packing list, provided by Western River Expeditions has been carefully compiled over so many decades of running these Grand Canyon rafting trips. Some will say the list was "spot-on", while others may say they "never used this item or that". Often the difference comes down to what the weather did that week in the canyon. There is no underestimating the value in being prepared, with the right gear. That said, there is a balance in how much your one duffle bag can carry - and whether you can carry that duffle bag up the beach or not! Each trip has a packing list specific to it, so once you pick a trip, you'll know what to pack!

Back to List

Learn More About Packing

So many of our guests in the Grand Canyon have never been camping a day in their lives. It's true! But every single one of them does us proud. It's pretty easy to be a happy camper when your outfitter and guides provide top of the line camping equipment like cots, sleeping bags, river dry-bags, and meals that just don't stop - and keep you on vacation! There is some work involved in unloading the boats in our famous "fire-line", and we show you how to set up your tent and cots, but there's a reward in feeling free and capable of setting up your own little camp each night.

Back to List

Camping with Western

Rafting trips in the Grand Canyon allow access to waterfalls, secret grottos, caverns, slot canyons, fossils, native ruins, and geologic wonders that casual hikers from the rim will simply never see. Yes! Rafting trips include plenty of hiking into side canyon discoveries that backpackers dream for days about, and rim visitors will simply never know about. Some rafting outfitters that exchange guests at Phantom Ranch (mile 88) have their guests hike 7 miles or more to/from the rim a mile above to begin/end their rafting trip. This is a highly strenuous day of hiking that is not a part of any Western River Grand Canyon itinerary.

Back to List

Nearly 5 million tourists visit the rim of the Grand Canyon each summer, to look over the edge and witness how immense it is, take a few photos, visit a gift shop or two, then grab an ice cream cone and wander away to some other viewpoint. Seeing the Grand Canyon is a very popular thing to do. It’s the iconic American Road Trip to the Grand Canyon! But there's more to it than that.

There really is a river down there in the bottom of the canyon! Yes, you can go white water rafting on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon! On the river, you'll get a perspective that only an elite group of people experience and know about - places you never would have guessed are down there deep in the canyon like hidden waterfall grottoes you never would have guessed were there, and of course there’s the white water rapids to experience! The difference between seeing the Grand Canyon and experiencing the Grand Canyon is obvious once you try interacting with it.

Back to List

For 3-4 days in the various sections of Grand Canyon, you can expect to pay anywhere from $1500 to $2,000. In the upper sections of Grand Canyon, you can expect to pay between $2,500 - 3,000 for 6-7 days. Western River Expeditions trips through the Grand Canyon are on motorized J-Rig rafts. Other companies offer non-motor (oar-powered) trips that can take as long as 21 days to row the 188 or 226, or 277 miles from trip beginning to trip end; at a cost upwards of $5,000 or more.

The value of your time and money is a real question, so consider the length of the canyon you want to experience, what you want from that experience, and what you value most from your time and money. Western River Expeditions has carefully crafted the experience of rafting the Grand Canyon since 1961 into what we consider the very best way to maximize your time, the value, and the experience of a lifetime in the Grand Canyon.

Back to List

About Western

There are no one-day rafting trips in the Grand Canyon. Available access points in or out of the canyon prohibit one-day rafting trips in the Grand Canyon.

Scenic float trips from Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry are available nearby, including the popular horseshoe bend on the Colorado River. Lee's Ferry, Arizona is where Glen Canyon ends, and Marble Canyon and the Grand Canyon begin.

Back to List