LGBTQ Desolation Canyon Rafting Trip

Sample Itinerary

The day before your trip:

Desolation Canyon trips begin with a scenic flight to the remote put in. Because of the flight logistics, we ask that (if possible) you plan to stop by our Green River, Utah, warehouse before 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time on the day before your trip to drop off any excessive or bulky gear as well as any personal beverages. These will travel to the put in by road, with the guides and all the gear.

Otherwise, please plan to attend the pre-trip meeting at our Green River warehouse at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time. A Holiday staffer will give you your waterproof bags, a brief orientation on how to pack and prepare for the flight, and let you know what time to meet in the morning (typically 6:15 a.m.). Consider purchasing a variety of last minute items from our store (look over our packing checklist to see what we carry).

Day 1:

On the morning of your trip, please arrive at the time established at the pre-trip meeting. We’ll load up in our vans for a 15-minute drive to Green River’s boutique airstrip. With the TVOP facilitators, travel in small, four- to nine-passenger planes, and fly directly up the Green River, over the Tavaputs Plateau and Desolation Canyon. You’ll be in the air for about 35-minutes, and the view is spectacular! Your Holiday guides will be waiting to greet you at the airstrip, and lead you on the first hike of the trip, a 45-minute descent to the rafts waiting at the river bottom. Guests who would prefer not to hike can be transported by vehicle to the river where the real trip begins! Watch cliff swallows explode out of their nests as the walls rise around us. Take a short hike to see an ancient turtle fossil, and make camp on a sandbar or in a grove of cottonwood trees.

Day 2:

Savor a few more miles of peaceful water as we row around Peter’s Point. Lighthouse Rock, named by John Wesley Powell, cues your guides into the whitewater just around the corner. Enjoy an inflatable kayak and splash through our first rapids. Hike to an ancient Fremont cultural site or explore a side canyon.

Day 3:

Take a short stroll to the historic Rock Creek Ranch, where Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch slept, and try to spot indigenous granaries on the canyon walls. Hold on tight (or paddle hard!) through rapids such as Chandler Falls and the biggest of them all, Cow Swim. Born of a flash flood in 2008, it marks the former location of a historic cattle ford.

Day 4:

Desolation’s walls soar ever higher, turning red and craggy, a breathtaking crescendo as we transition into Gray Canyon. Today brings even more whitewater fun with Wire Fence, Three Fords, and Coal Creek rapids. Look for evidence of a planned dam site on the hike to scout Coal Creek Rapid, and poke around in the ruins of a surveyor’s cabin just downstream.

Day 5:

With several more rapids left in the canyon, and a few more hours to listen to the song of the canyon wren as we approach the end of the canyon. We’ll have lunch and maybe squeeze in one more cultural site before arriving at the take out at Swasey’s Beach. We will return you to Green River, Utah (20-minute van ride). Our expected time of arrival back at our headquarters is 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.

As mentioned earlier, this is a sample itinerary and should not be thought of as the trip you will experience. It is intended to give an idea of what the trip will be like. It could also be exactly what you do. Keep an open mind, be flexible, go with the flow, and enjoy rafting Desolation Canyon!