Cataract Canyon Stargazing Rafting Trip

Pre-trip meeting: Please plan to arrive at our Green River, Utah headquarters at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time the night before your trip. We’ll give you your waterproof bags and take care of preliminary business, making it easier to get on the river the next morning. This is a good time to purchase any last minute items at our on-site store (see our packing checklist for a list of items we carry). We also recommend that you drop off any personal beverages (beer, specialty soda, wine, etc.) at this time, so that we can keep them cold before packing them into our coolers.

We’ll meet you back at our Green River headquarters the next morning at the time determined during the pre-trip meeting. It’s a 90-minute ride to the put-in, east along the base of the Book Cliffs, then south toward Moab.

Hop in an inflatable kayak or onto a stand-up paddle board (SUP) for some exercise, or settle in on a raft. We’ll lunch on a sandbar and maybe take a short afternoon hike to an exposed petrified wood boneyard. Look up high to wave to visitors at Dead Horse Point State Park.

When we reach our beachside campsite, we’ll enjoy our first dinner on the river and allow Tom to introduce us to our galaxy.

Morning sun makes the walls glow like red gold. Listen for the descending song of the canyon wren, or paddle your SUP along the shore in search of otters and great blue herons. The Colorado meanders peacefully in this section.

Swim alongside the rafts or lounge under an umbrella; the afternoon may provide the opportunity to hike to thousand-year-old rock structures built by the Fremont Culture. Learn to spot granaries (ancient food storage structures) on the cliff walls as we continue downstream. At camp, settle in for another evening of counting shooting stars.

Float silently as we push off into the current this morning. Feel your senses come alive without the distraction of conversation. Today we will float by the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers, considered by some cultures to be the center of the universe.

Watch the red and white spires of The Doll House come into view, high above on the right-hand cliff. Hike a side canyon,  try your hand at paddling the inflatable kayak through rapids 1-4, or 6-10. Camp near rapid 10 and see how many constellations you can name!

It’s time for rapids! Watch as your guides take extra care rigging their boats this morning. Splash through Baseball Diamond, Upset, and Ben Hurt before arriving at the biggest of them all: the Big Drops. Thirty feet of elevation loss in three-quarters of a mile – cheering is encouraged as you’re in for a big ride!

Once we pass through the Big Drops, we’re officially in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. But, this doesn’t mean the rapids are finished yet. We’ll run a few more rapids before pulling over for one final night sleeping by the river. Explore a side canyon reemerging from higher reservoir levels, enjoy a steak dinner, and relish one more evening of epic stargazing.

Relish one last cup of coffee on the beach before pushing off. The transition between river and reservoir means that the lower rapids are constantly changing, with more emerging every year.

Take in the last views of the unbelievably tall, smooth walls of the lower canyon before we float under the Hite Narrows Bridge and to the boat ramp. It’s a spectacular two-hour drive back to Green River for a return time of 5:00–6:00 p.m.

Please keep in mind that this is a sample itinerary and not an exact description of your trip. The intent is to give a general idea of what your trip may entail. Rest assured, if you’re not doing these things, it’s because you’re doing other amazing things! It’s why our motto is “Go With the Flow”!