Why Aren’t There 1 or 2 Day Rafting Trips in Grand Canyon?

Why Aren’t There 1 or 2 Day Rafting Trips in Grand Canyon?

Grand Canyon is visited by around 5 million people every year. It’s so incredible that it’s recognized as one of the seven wonders of the world. It’s no wonder that people are looking for more ways to explore it, often when they only have a few days to spare. So with that kind of demand, why aren’t there any 1 or 2 day rafting trips in Grand Canyon?

Grand Canyon is BIG

When you think of Grand Canyon, what are the words that come to mind? Did “vast,” “deep,” “huge,” or their synonyms make your list? Grand Canyon is famously BIG, and that makes short trips within the canyon logistically challenging at best. Here’s the math on Grand Canyon’s big-ness (courtesy of the National Park Service):

• Park size: 1,218,375 acres / 493,059 hectares / 1,904 square miles / 4,931 square kilometers
• Length: 278 river miles / 447 river kilometers (distance as the raft floats, not as the crow flies)
• Width at Marble Canyon: 600 feet / 180 meters
• Average Rim to Rim Width: 10 miles / 16 kilometers
• Maximum Rim to Rim: 18 miles / 28.8 kilometers
• Average Depth: 1 mile / 1.6 kilometers
• South Rim Elevation: 7,000 feet / 2,100 meters
• North Rim Elevation: 8,000 feet / 2,400
• Volume: 5.45 trillion cubic yards / 4.17 trillion cubic meters

No matter how you figure it, the canyon is big. One by-product of its length and depth is that there are very few places where a person can actually access the river. There are even fewer where you can put a boat in or take one out. Anyone who wants to experience Grand Canyon from the Colorado River will have to plan on closer to a week instead of a 1 or 2 day rafting trip. That means that for the most part, anyone boarding a boat at Lees Ferry should plan to be there for a while.

Access Points for Grand Canyon Rafting Trips

The different companies that operate Grand Canyon rafting trips all do things a little differently, so we can’t give you the exact details for every trip, but here are the access points we use at Hatch:

Lees Ferry (mile 0): This is where we put all of our boats on the water and where our passengers join us to start their Grand Canyon rafting journeys. Just a few hundred feet downriver is the boundary for Grand Canyon National Park.

Bright Angel Trail (mile 89): This trail connects the South Rim of Grand Canyon to the river. On some trips, we offer guests the option to book an Upper Canyon or Lower Canyon option. Upper Canyon guests hike out of the canyon on this trail after rafting for 4 or 6 days depending on their trip type. Lower Canyon guests hike into the canyon on this trail before rafting 4 or 7 days depending on their trip type. The Bright Angel Trail between the South Rim and Phantom Ranch is strenuous – up to 9.5 miles long and changes more than 4,400 feet in elevation, all in the sun and heat, so guests need to be in excellent hiking shape before attempting it. 

Whitmore Wash (mile 188): In most of the canyon, helicopter use is prohibited except in case of an emergency to protect the remote and serene nature of this backcountry environment. This is one location where helicopter access is allowed, and it’s where guests on Hatch trips depart the canyon. All guests will exit here, except those on Upper Canyon trips who hiked out the Bright Angel Trail. This also marks the downriver boundary for the national park.

Diamond Creek (mile 225.9): For our oar powered trips, this is where those smaller rafts will be taken out of the water and then driven back to the Hatch warehouse in Marble Canyon. This is the first road that connects with the river after departing Lees Ferry.

Pearce Ferry (mile 280.5): Hatch takes its larger motorized boats out of the canyon at Pearce Ferry—the last stop before the treacherous Pearce Ferry Rapid (considered un-runnable) and Lake Mead. 

As you can see, there’s just no way to feasibly make 1 or 2 day rafting trips in Grand Canyon National Park. Perhaps more importantly, would you really want to go on one? With all the incredible sights, sounds, and experiences waiting for you in the canyon, we’re pretty sure you’ll want your Grand Canyon rafting trip to be as long as possible!

If you’re ready to spend more than a day or two, check out Hatch’s rafting trips!