Specialty Trips

Women’s Mountain Biking Clinic

New for summer 2023, we are excited to offer two women’s multi-day mountain bike clinics! Join Holiday’s experienced guides and the professional coaches of Women in the Mountains for a women’s mountain bike clinic trip on the iconic White Rim Trail! Holiday’s guides handle the cooking, and camp logistics, and bring a 4×4 support van to carry the load. Meanwhile, Women in the Mountains provides top-notch, certified PMBIA coaches to guide you through this biker’s paradise.

Our 3-day trip is intended for intermediate mountain bikers comfortable biking 25-30 miles/day on mostly double track.

Our extended 4.5-day trip provides ample time for skills clinics with your coaches. While this curriculum is designed for beginners, it is an excellent way for seasoned riders to review the basics, break old habits, and ride trails with renewed confidence.

Native Voices

Join Holiday and Forrest Cuch for a special Native Voices Desolation Canyon Rafting Trip, through traditional Ute lands. On this trip, we will hear from one of the voices that need to be heard most as the West faces a critical moment in time to protect our region’s rivers. Forrest will join us August 28-September 2nd 2023 in one of the plateau’s most remote and beautiful canyons along the stretch of the Green River which also serves as the modern-day Western border for the Uintah Ouray Ute Tribe.

Protect Our Winters Fundraiser Trip

Join us for a 3-day Protect Our Winters (POW) fundraiser trip through Westwater Canyon, featuring science alliance member Dr. Andrew Schwartz, who is the lead scientist and station manager at the University of California, Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory. Westwater Canyon rafting trips are the best way to get out on the river, without being in the backcountry for too long, making it the perfect option for all the weekend warriors, or those looking to dip their toes into a multi-day river trip. Spend time discovering the majesty of the Colorado River and learn about snowfall and physical processes in the snowpack, and how climate change impacts these processes.

Affinity-Based Trips

Join Holiday and The Venture Out Project as we navigate our 3rd year of LGBTQ+ trip offerings – inspired in collaboration with Mikah Meyer & Outside Safe Space. Or join Holiday for our second year running a BIPOC river trip!  Regardless of where your identity lands, you are most welcome to go with the flow alongside us!

If you have any questions regarding any of our affinity group trips don’t hesitate to call our administrative office & ask for Lauren!

Watercolor Painting Workshop

This fluid, lyrical art form is the perfect medium of expression for a workshop while floating through Lodore Canyon.  Treat yourself to 4 days of humbling canyon walls, playful rapids, delicate grottoes, and decidedly decent dining, all while digesting the canyon’s magic through art. We have enlisted the best when it comes to our artist in “river-dence-” Michal Onyon, who has married her stunning artwork with Holiday River Expeditions trips for over three decades.

Balance & Flow Wellness

Tap into the healing power of the natural world on a yoga wellness or women’s naturalist trip. In the rush of our day-to-day lives, it can be hard to find the time and space to pause and reconnect with our sense of peace. With this in mind, Holiday has created a series of wellness trips. We know better than most how to go with the flow of nature. Our river and bike trips will lead you into spectacular wilderness settings, far from the chaos of the modern world.

We’ve designed a broad selection of trips to nurture your mind, body, and soul. Take a 6-day trip that combines yoga, stand-up paddleboarding, and stargazing through Cataract Canyon. Join a professional yoga instructor and our very own astronomy expert for meditation and yoga in a serene desert canyon setting.

Enneagram River Retreat

Come and explore what motivates you and how you choose to live. By beginning to have self-awareness in who you are and how you see the world, you will ultimately find joy in embracing your authentic self.

It’s hard to learn about yourself when you’re sitting behind a desk. This retreat will be a chance to get out of the ordinary, to see what challenges you so the entire experience is an evaluation and a look into your responses to life. Where do you find yourself experiencing anger, joy, or sadness, and what precipitates those emotions? You will be offered a safe space to be vulnerable and brave.

This Enneagram River Retreat will be led by trip facilitator Lori Mueller. Lori is an adventure leader with 30 years of experience in the human service field. She was the Executive Director of the non-profit world for many years. She is passionate about supporting others to find joy in their life. She is a certified Enneagram teacher and a believer in creating self-awareness and personal growth outside the classroom.

Live Music on the River

In 2023, Holiday River Expeditions will host three specialty music trips! Join the Del Sol Quartet on the Yampa River and get swept away to another world through their ethereal string playing. If bluegrass is the soundtrack to your soul, then consider hopping on the Green River through Lodore Canyon with Salt Lake City-based band The Pickpockets to enjoy their expansive catalog of heartfelt originals and classic favorites. Or, float through the heart of Canyonlands National Park on the Colorado River and discover the passion and talent of Holiday’s very own Spencer Torman, joined by his bandmates of 15 years to share their melodic indie rock and folk tunes.

We’re so excited to welcome these professional musicians on the river this year, elevating what is already an amazing experience. We hope you join us for what promises to be a magical adventure!

Kayak Workshop

The Green River through Desolation Canyon is a perfect training ground for a whitewater kayaking workshop. The canyon offers plenty of slow-moving water where you can practice the basics, and more than 60 fun, low-consequence rapids where you can put your new skills to the test! Holiday has teamed up with Andy Thunell and his Rapid Progression Kayak School to put together a fully supported, six-day whitewater kayaking workshop.

If you’re looking for a more active vacation or want to get up close and personal with the Green River in one of the most spectacular wilderness canyons in the West, this is the trip for you. Professional kayaking instructors provide the instruction and all the kayaking equipment.

Stargazing