Green River Rafting Trip with Ben Weiss and Friends

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For this trip, you’ll want to pack your sandals AND your dancing shoes! Ben Weiss, a seriously talented Salt Lake City based musician, will be teaming up with members of his expansive musical collecting to join us for a special music trip through Lodore Canyon.

Think a little bluegrass, a little rock, some pop and punk, and a little something else that’s all their own. Lodore’s magnificent canyon walls and white beaches often inspire a sense of awe and peaceful solitude—but sometimes they make us want to move, to sing and celebrate together, and that’s what this trip is about.

Listen to some of Ben’s Weiss & Friends sound here!

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.

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Trip Overview

Type:

Music
Location:

Lodore Canyon - Dinosaur National Monument
Length:

4 Days
Dates:

August 7 - 10, 2026
Meet at:

Vernal, UT @ 7:00 am
Difficulty:

Intermediate
Min. Age:

8
Prices:

$1,575
Deposit:

400

Highlights

Enjoy intimate concerts from musicians who know how to have a good time!
Rapids every day, including the infamous Hells Half Mile
Opportunities to paddle inflatable kayaks
Mind-blowing geology and incredible canyon walls
Camp along the river while professional guides take care of all the work

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Green River Rafting Trip with Ben Weiss and Friends

Insider’s Guide Things to Do in Vernal, UT FAQs Getting Here Before You Go Packing List

Rates & Dates

Itinerary

The upper Green River flows quietly beneath the natural rock “gates” of Lodore Canyon in northwestern Colorado, but it soon picks up the pace as it drops 14 feet per mile to its confluence with the Yampa River in the iconic Echo Park. It continues into Whirlpool Canyon, across the Colorado-Utah state line, and through a series of dramatic geological shifts. The trip’s grand finale is Split Mountain Canyon with eight more miles of rapids. Our take out point is the Split Mountain boat ramp, 44 miles from where we started.

Sample Itinerary

Night Before

The evening before your trip at 7:00 p.m., Mountain Time, meet your party at our headquarters in Vernal, Utah for a pre-trip orientation meeting. Learn how to pack your waterproof bags, drop off any personal beverages, and hear more about what to expect on the river. This is also a good time to buy any last minute items from our on-site store you may desire (see our packing checklist for a list of items you can find at our store).

Day 1

Meet back at our headquarters in Vernal, Utah at 7:00 a.m., Mountain Time. Our put-in is in Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge, just upstream of the imposing canyon entrance. We’ll get you outfitted with your personal flotation devices and run through a little orientation before pushing off. The whitewater starts small at first, but we’ll run Winnie’s Rapid and Disaster Falls before reaching our camp—and the first concert venue—for the night.

Day 2

Listen to some light mandolin-picking as the day starts. Watch the light slowly dance its way down the thousand-foot canyon walls and enjoy a breakfast of eggs to order and fresh-baked muffins.

Today we’ll run two of the biggest rapids of the trip: Triplet Falls and Hells Half Mile, both named by John Wesley Powell, who was the first person of European descent to run the Green River, in 1869. We may spend the afternoon hiking to a secret waterfall or to a spectacular overlook, or just relaxing on the beach listening to the band jam.

Day 3

Today we’ll float past the confluence with the Yampa River, the last river in the Colorado River system that isn’t regulated by a dam. Swim through the calm water of Echo Park below the confluence, then climb back in the rafts for a splashy entrance to Whirlpool Canyon. For our last night together, put on your dancing shoes and get ready for a riverside party that only we know how to throw!

Day 4

Greasy Pliers Rapid is a fun way to start the day. Most of the morning will include calm water as we float through Island and Rainbow parks. We’ll eat lunch within the entrance of Split Mountain, a massive, colorful gorge cut by the Green River’s powerful forces over time.

There are several great rapids in Split Mountain: Moonshine, S.O.B., Schoolboy, and Inglesby make for a great, refreshing finish. We generally aim to be at the take out around 2:00 p.m. Our expected time of arrival back at our headquarters is between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.

Don’t forget: this is a sample itinerary. Lodore Canyon offers a wealth of ways to spend each day, and every trip is different. We encourage you to go with the flow and to embrace each day as a different adventure!

Any trip into the wilderness—including a river trip—will be changeable by nature. There are countless variables that could impact the itinerary of a trip, including weather, group interests, assigned campsites, and river conditions. This sample itinerary illustrates one possible four-day trip through Lodore Canyon.

F.A.Q.

Weather & Water

The Gates of Lodore is our coolest trip in terms of temperature. With tall, steep canyon walls and lush vegetation, shade is plentiful during the heat of the summer. For average year-round temperatures, check out Dinosaur National Monument’s website.

This trip features Class II-III whitewater with rapids evenly dispersed over each day. Being a dam-released stretch of river, the water here is cool and clear.

Boat Options

We typically run the Gates of Lodore in oar rafts, but a paddle boat could be considered upon request for a group of six or more dedicated paddlers.

We bring inflatable kayaks on this stretch but not stand-up paddleboards.

Meals & Camping

All of the meals on the trip, from lunch on Day 1 to lunch on the final day, are prepared fresh on the river by your guides.

Our campsites on this trip are assigned to us by the park service. Each site on this stretch is scenic, pristine, and spacious, with most sites featuring a sandy beach and lush vegetation.

Trip Rating

This trip is considered to be beginner to intermediate.

Packing

If you follow this packing list, you will have everything you need for this trip… just don’t forget your dancing shoes!

Cancellation Policy

To see our full cancellation policy, head to our main FAQs page.

Reviews

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Holiday River Expeditions

Average rating:

3 reviews

Rick S

Aug 25, 2026

by Rick S

Outstanding in every way. Even though this was my second trip on the Gates of Lodore, it was equally enjoyable, esp. the addition of Ben Weiss and friends.

Kevin M

Aug 17, 2026

by Kevin M

The pre-trip experience was wonderful! Communications and staff interactions were superb!

This was my second gates of Lordore trip with Holiday. Both times the experience was excellent! Fantastic guides and food, wonderful equipment and fabulous experiences. The knowledge and expertise of the guides was excellent. Having been a professional guide many years ago, I understand the logistics and expertise of the trip and the guides as well as the “behind the scenes” staff members. This trip included music and the musicians (Ben Weiss and Friends) were absolutely wonderful! Super talented and fun! They added an entirely new dimension to the trip and it was amazing! All of the guides were great, preparing the excellent meals and taking care of us. I have to offer a special praise to Cloud, our trip leader. Her calm authority and demeanor, excellent guiding skills and knowledge of everything around us really made the trip exquisite. Thanks to everyone involved!

Narcy K

Aug 17, 2026

by Narcy K