Colorado River Rafting

The Colorado River runs through Moab and provides some of the best river running in the American Southwest. Trips range from calm float trips suitable for families and non-swimmers to serious whitewater sections that require experience and a guide.

The most popular day trip is the Fisher Towers section — a calm float downstream with dramatic canyon scenery and the red towers of the Fisher formation rising from the canyon rim above. This is accessible to all abilities. The Westwater Canyon section, upriver from Moab near the Colorado border, is serious whitewater — Class IV rapids in a narrow canyon requiring an experienced guide and permits.

Cataract Canyon, accessible as part of multi-day Canyonlands trips, is the most intense whitewater in the area — Class IV-V in high water. Several outfitters in Moab (Sheri Griffith Expeditions, NAVTEC, Tag-A-Long) offer guided trips from half-day floats to five-day river expeditions. Self-guided permits are available for the calmer sections.

things to do sight
A story
The Colorado River through Moab has been a rafting destination since the 1950s, when the region was still largely known for uranium mining. The contrast between the booming atomic age industry and the river recreation that would eventually replace it as the economic base is one of the stranger chapters in Moab's history — some of the same roads built for uranium trucks now serve as trailheads.