LGBTQ+ Lodore Canyon Family Rafting Trip 2024

Our LGBTQ+ Family Rafting Trip

Now in year 4 of the Holiday and The Venture Out Project (TVOP) relationship, we’re excited to bring yet another new affinity trip to Lodore Canyon! Introducing LGBTQ+ Family rafting! While our other trip offerings cater to adults 18+ identifying as queer, we want to also celebrate those of us within queer families. This trip is intended for anyone 8 and older who is a member of a family with a LGTBQIA+ person. We recognize that queer family structures come in all varieties, whether you identify as a queer individual or a family member ally, this trip is for you. We also understand and feel deeply that within the queer community, our chosen family is considered family and is as important, or more important than, who we’re born to. We welcome all family structures within the LGBTQIA+ community on this trip!

Although this particular family-centric affinity trip is a new offering, through our numerous trips with TVOP, we have a great balance with TVOP providing top-notch facilitators and a safer space for queer folks to be queer in nature, while Holiday provides trip logistics, exciting whitewater, side hikes, gourmet dinning, and just about everything else! Four days through Dinosaur National Monument offers the perfect blend of time to connect and bond with fellow queer families, exciting whitewater, and relaxation on beautiful sandy beaches. Wildlife is typically out and about throughout this canyon; if you keep your eyes peeled you may be rewarded with sightings of bighorn sheep, peregrine falcons, and maybe even bald eagles! This trip has it all!

If you’re looking to feel the comfort of enjoying such a treasured natural place within the context of a safeer than usual space, come join us on this 4th round of LGBTQIA+ affinity trips.

Vernal, Utah: Things to Do and Places to Explore

*The LGBTQ+ Family Rafting Trip through Lodore Canyon is a trip intended for queer families and queer ally family members. If you have any questions regarding this or any of our affinity group trips don’t hesitate to call our administrative office & ask for Lauren!

To register for this trip, head on over to The Venture Out Project’s Trip Sign Up page to get started! We can’t wait to float with you!

We acknowledge the Indigenous inhabitants of Lodore. In an effort to end the erasure of the traditional inhabitants of the land through which we travel, Holiday acknowledges that Lodore Canyon is the homeland of the Eastern Shoshone people and the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) people. We honor and respect these people, and continue to develop our land acknowledgment initiative. Read more here.

Book This Trip

Trip Overview

Type:
Rafting
Location:
Green River - Dinosaur National Monument
Length:
4 Days
Dates:
July 9-12
Meet at:
Vernal, Utah @ 7:00 pm (night before the trip)
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Min. Age:
8
Deposit:
400

Highlights

Travel back through time in this geologic timewarp canyon
Thrilling, technical Class III & IV whitewater
Embrace your wild self in a safer queer & trans outdoor space
Wilderness rafting trip with fully catered amenities
Dive into the heart of Dinosaur National Monument
Blue-ribbon trout fishing

Getting Here Before You Go Packing List FAQs

Rates & Dates

Itinerary

The Green River slips through the imposing Gates of Lodore, into the heart of Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado. The Green meets the Yampa River at Echo Park, then drops into Whirlpool Canyon and across the state line into Utah. It meanders through the idyllic Island Park, and then ducks into Split Mountain Canyon for eight more miles of rapids before washing up at the Split Mountain boat ramp.

Sample Itinerary

Meet for this affinity trip at our headquarters in Vernal, Utah at 7:00 p.m., Mountain Time, the night before your trip. There, Holiday guides will issue your waterproof bags and you can buy any last minute items from our accessories store at this time (see our packing checklist for a list of items you can find at our store).

Day 1:

Get to know other trip participants on the three-hour drive from Vernal to the put in at Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge. Pass through the dramatic Gates of Lodore and watch the natural world transform around you. Winnie’s and Disaster Falls are the first major rapids we’ll navigate: a fun taste of what’s to come.

Day 2:

The “Gates” mark the beginning of high desert country—the Colorado Plateau—in what is deemed an ecological transition-zone: a landscape teeming with wildlife. As the canyon narrows, more rapids emerge: Harp Falls, Triplet Falls, and Hell’s Half Mile. Hike at Rippling Brook and discover an intimate grotto waterfall.

Day 3:

Converge at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers at Echo Park, the canyon widens and the river circles Steamboat Rock. After looping around the ‘boat’s’ nose, the river cuts through the dramatic Mitten Park Fault and enters Whirlpool Canyon. The afternoon may be spent at Jones Hole Creek, a world-class trout hot-spot with side canyon petroglyphs and waterfalls.

Day 4:

Catch a few more rapids as you exit Whirlpool then enjoy a peaceful morning in Island and Rainbow parks before entering another massive gorge. The river’s powerful forces cut laterally through Split Mountain’s uplifted and colorful core. Run Moonshine, S.O.B., Schoolboy, and Inglesby rapids and slide into the take out at approximately 2:00 p.m. Our expected return to our headquarters is about 4:00 p.m.

Please remember, that this is a sample itinerary and may not be the exact trip you’ll experience. Lodore Canyon offers many options and each trip may feature different highlights. This is just one possible itinerary. Keep an open mind, go with the flow, and enjoy!

One of the best parts of a river trip is its flexibility. Weather, assigned campsites, river conditions, and countless other variables mean that every trip is different. This sample itinerary illustrates one possible four-day trip through Lodore Canyon.