Whitewater Rafting in the Grand Canyon - taking off from Diamond Creek Beach
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Prepare to Get Wet
There are several tour groups that offer multi-day whitewater rafting trips in the Grand Canyon, but just two that I am aware of that have 1-day experiences. The limiting factor is the ability to access the Colorado River by vehicle. The Grand Canyon is a mile-deep gouge into earth’s surface – getting to the river at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is not an easy task.
The first rafting option launches near Page, Arizona, at the base of Glen Canyon Dam and ends at Lees Ferry - the official start of Grand Canyon National Park. This is the cheaper option, but there are no actual whitewater rapids. It’s just a floating trip. This section of the Colorado River includes Horseshoe Bend, and that would be the highlight of this rafting trip.
The second rafting option is what we picked, because it includes 8 whitewater rapids, a short hike out to Travertine Falls, and a helicopter ride out of the Grand Canyon. This tour is operated by Hualapai River Runners, and starts in Peach Springs, Arizona. There is a 90-minute bus ride out to Diamond Creek Beach, where the rafts depart. There is no hiking required to get to the river; the bus is able to get down to the beach. The rafts are motored, due to the exit point being 38 miles downstream. Along the river, we got out of the rafts twice – once for a short hike to a waterfall, and once to enjoy lunch. We were there on a day that lightly sprinkled, which kept the temperatures reasonable. On normal days, the guides mentioned temps can reach over 100 deg F. They stop a third time to let people get wet again and cool off. Following the helicopter ride, a 2-hour coach bus provides transportation back to Peach Springs. It was a great day to give our legs some much needed rest, while still providing some adrenaline. I’d love to try one of the multi-day trips someday, but this was a great option to squeeze into the middle of our summer hiking vacation.
Whitewater Rafting with Hualapai River Runners
Location and Lodging
The tour with Hualapai River Runners starts at the Hualapai Lodge, in Peach Springs, at 7am. The morning meeting time is a bit of a limiting factor as Peach Springs, AZ, is not near anywhere. The closest major cities with airports are Las Vegas (2.5 hours away) and Phoenix (almost 3.5 hours). Sedona is a 3-hour drive and Grand Canyon Village is just over 2 hours away. These cities are all too far to drive from in the morning to meet at Peach Springs by 7am. The only real option for lodging, beyond Hualapai Lodge, is Seligman, AZ, which is a little over a half hour away. Seligman has a handful of older motels. (Note: Seligman is a fun place to quickly explore - It’s the town that inspired Disney’s Cars.)
A trip to Peach Springs can easily be added into a road trip with Grand Canyon National Park, Havasu Falls, Sedona, Zion National Park, or any of the other Utah National Parks. But the night before whitewater rafting, the easiest place to be is Hualapai Lodge.
When I originally booked our whitewater rafting trip, a night at the Hualapai Lodge was several hundred dollars. I resigned myself to the early morning and picked one of the motels in Seligman. A few days before we left on our trip, I re-checked availability at Hualapai Lodge, and not only did they still have rooms, but the price had fallen back down to what I thought seemed reasonable. I happily switched our hotel reservations, and what a blessing that choice was. Out of our whole road trip, Hualapai Lodge was our favorite hotel.
We had spent 3 days backpacking at Havasu Falls, and due to extreme heat, we left our campsite at 5:15am to hike as far as we could while the trail was still in the canyon shadows. Consequently, we found ourselves back at the trailhead by noon. This was a really smart idea, but it left us hot, tired, stinky, and without anything to do in the middle of the desert. It’s a little over an hour to Peach Springs from the Havasu Falls trailhead, and on hope, we just drove straight to Hualapai Lodge and asked if we could pay to check in early to our room. Best $20 we spent on our vacation. This earned us showers, an afternoon playing in the pool and laying out on the lounge chairs, and I was able to do laundry!!! All blessings after a backpacking trip!
The Hualapai Lodge also has an attached restaurant with tasty and reasonably priced food. We ate pizza for lunch. Clean, happy, full, with plenty of time to reorganize the car and repack our backpacking gear at the bottom of the minivan. The lodge was nice, clean, seemed relatively modern, and everyone that worked there was friendly and talkative. They also served the best free peach drinks - not juice, not lemonade, but it was sweeter than just flavored water. This was a great hotel.
Booking
We booked ahead of time, online through Rivers and Oceans. The other option is booking directly with the Hualapai River Runners at the Hualapai Lodge (assuming that there is availability remaining). I’m guessing you could probably call the Lodge and book over the phone as well.
What to Bring
Packing for this day was a little tricky. There’s a lot of time on buses. Having something to read helps the time pass quickly. There’s no internet, so download something to read ahead of time. Once you are on the water, it’s hot and you will get wet. Like all outdoor adventures, clothing layers is really helpful. Swimsuit, light layer (shorts / tank top or tee shirt), long shirt, light rain jacket.
Hiking up to Travertine Falls was rough. It’s not long, and the elevation is not too high, but you need to use ropes and ladders, and shoes that have a back (not flip flops or sandals) are a must. These are going to be the same shoes you wear on the rafts, so they are also going to get wet.
Hiking to Travertine Falls
It’s Arizona, so sunscreen is going to be a must for a full day in the sun, and don’t forget lip balm with SPF. Sunglasses and a hat might be helpful as well, but these things might fly off your head in one of the rapids, so straps are a smart idea too.
It’s Arizona, so bring a water bottle as well. There will be drinks on the raft, but after a day in the sun, you are going to want to keep drinking water on the bus as well. Even just one day in the Grand Canyon is no joke… It can be cool on the rim, and hot at the bottom along the river - elevation isn’t something we think of on a normal day. It matters a ton in the Grand Canyon.
We used the camera on our phones rather than bringing our larger cameras on the rafts, and we had waterproof, clear bags to store them in. We also had two Go Pros. One was on a chest harness, and one was on a stick. The camera on the chest harness resulted in a lot of videos of the raft flooring and the river - honestly not great videos. The videos from the stick turned out great, but it did mean during the rapids that we were only holding on with one hand while the other was holding the Go Pro. I’m not sure that was the smartest idea… This tour group does not provide the option of wearing helmets. So, if you have your own helmet, you could bring that with a camera mount. That would be the safest option for videos.
Lastly, at the end of the day on the river, you are going to want to be dry. A dry set of clothes to change into before the helicopter and bus ride back is a nice treat, as well as dry sandals. And to keep all of your stuff dry….? They have a couple of large dry bags on the rafts that you can use, but there isn’t really a way to get in and out of them easily during the rafting portion of the trip. We used two 35L Earth Pack dry packs for the 4 of us. We bought them on Amazon. If this is your only need for a dry bag, just use theirs. We also canyoneer, and these packs work really well for hiking, rappelling, and swimming through slot canyons. There are straps on the bags, and we just snapped them into the raft near where we were sitting. That way, we could get into them as we wanted throughout the day. Overall, not necessary, but convenient.
Dry Bag options for Whitewater Rafting - Ordered on Amazon
Check-in
The morning starts at 7am, and you will check-in at the desk in the lobby. We spent just one night here, so we needed to check out of our hotel room before leaving on the tour. I thought we would depart once all guests checked-in. We were flying around the hotel room, trying to get everyone up, ready for a day of being wet, and re-packing everything in our car, so we could check out of our room a couple of minutes before 7. We checked in to the tour at 7, signed the waivers and were ready to go. And we sat and waited in the lobby until 8am... The 7am check-in time allows people to get breakfast at the restaurant before leaving. Makes sense from a business-model - wish I knew that ahead of time. We had already eaten breakfast in our room. It’s a nice restaurant, but we’d spent enough money on this day already. Oatmeal and granola bars are easy to pack, and fast, cheap hotel breakfasts.
My advice - check-in to the tour, then go back and pack up your room. Plenty of time…. This misunderstanding was the only frustration of the day, and honestly it was my fault too. I had plenty of time to talk to them the day before when we checked in early. I didn’t think to ask when we would actually be leaving the hotel. The rest of the tour was great!
Bus Ride
Following breakfast, a 90-minute coaster bus ride takes guests down a bumpy road that directly accesses the Colorado River. I don’t quite remember when the road starts getting bumpy - it’s not the full 90-minute ride. Regardless, it made us laugh as we remembered our safari trip in Tanzania, riding in a similar style bus out to Ruaha National Park. Lots of bumps = deep massage. Some roads just aren’t meant to be flat… And who’s complaining when you don’t have to hike???
The bus stopped once for us to get out and take pictures, after we’d descended a descent way into the Grand Canyon. It doesn’t matter if I hike, ride the bus, take a boat or raft - I love every inch of this incredible canyon.
Coaster Bus Ride out to Diamond Creek Beach - our whitewater rafting launch site into the Grand Canyon
We read books the first part of the ride, and after stopping, we enjoyed just watching the canyon walls on rest of the way to the beach.
Grand Canyon - Hualapai Reservation
Whitewater Rafting
We were a little confused each time during the transitions of this trip. Each leg of the trip is run by a different company so there really isn’t a handoff of tourists.
When the bus stops, take everything with you. A much larger coach bus will take you back to Peach Springs at the end of the day.
Near where the bus stops, there is a small trail out to a pit toilet. This is the only bathroom stop along the river until the end, before boarding the helicopter (although there are toilet-trees at the lunch stop).
The first rapids are pretty much right away. Switch into your shoes that can get wet. Put your swimsuit on, if you aren’t wearing it yet, and put on a long sleeve shirt that can get wet (non-cotton) or a light rain jacket. Keep your water bottle out (if it has a strap that can snap over a rope) and put everything else into a dry bag. They will give you life jackets and sort you into rafts based on your party’s size.
Rafts used by the Hualapai River Runners on their 1-day Whitewater Rafting Tour
I didn’t understand the kind of raft we would be riding when I booked the trip. We have gone whitewater rafting once before, on the Green River, just outside of Dinosaur National Monument. There we just had inflatable rafts, and everyone had a paddle. These rafts have a motor, and no one needs to paddle. At first, I was so worried. I thought I had booked the wrong trip. I wanted rapids, and adrenaline, and an adventure, and this boat has a motor…. Turns out, the motor is necessary. I wanted a one-day trip. Our helicopter exit point is 38-miles downstream. That’s not a distance a raft can float in a day. The rapids were still crazy fun, and we didn’t need to paddle. This was an entirely relaxing whitewater rafting experience. This is exactly what I wanted, I just didn’t fully understand what I had booked.
Taking off from Diamond Creek Beach
The rapid section of the river starts right away. There is just enough time for the guide to explain how to hold on, and the raft is in the rapids.
Rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon
There are about 3 sections of rapids (and I say “about” as I’m not exactly sure how you define the length of a rapid) in the first 15 minutes of rafting.
Thoroughly enjoying being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon without needing to hike back out of it!
After about 15 minutes, the rafts will pull up on shore. There is the short hike to Travertine Falls, for anyone that wants to explore.
Stopping to hike Travertine Falls
This is a super short hike. You don’t need to bring water, just a camera. And make sure you have shoes that have a back on them. Water shoes work - that’s what we used. Water sandals would be an option as well. Just something to keep the bottom of your foot protected without being able to slip out of. The first challenge is to hike up this small but steep hill.
The hike to Travertine Falls is short, but it’s not an easy trail
Looking back towards the Colorado River from the trail to Travertine Falls
The first section of the hill, you sort of get your mountain goat on. Once up, there are ropes to hold on to as it gets quite steep. There are multiple river guides on the tour from each of the rafts. They space themselves out along the hike and help assist people as needed at the ropes and ladders.
The hike to Travertine Falls includes ropes and ladders
There are two ladders to climb next. The first is longer, but not very steep. You can take your life jacket off and leave it on the raft. I have no idea why people left them on. Looking at these pictures makes me laugh.
Climbing a rope ladder to get to Travertine Falls
The second ladder is short, but steep and through the water.
Climbing up the second rope ladder to Travertine Falls
Once you are past the ladders, you will wait in line to get a group picture in front of Tavertine Falls.
Guides help guests every step of the way to and from the falls
Waiting in line for our picture at Travertine Falls
Travertine Falls
It’s Arizona, it’s hot, the water isn’t that cold, you are probably already wet, just get in the water. We watched so many other people trying to stay out of the water. I think the group pictures turn out better when you just get in the water.
Family picture - June 2026
We spent about 45 minutes at the waterfall. It was a fun break and really cool to be exploring a different section of the Grand Canyon that we hadn’t seen yet.
Back in the rafts
The rest of the rapids are within about 30 minutes following the waterfall hike.
Getting ready for the next whitewater rapids
There will be an extra raft accompanying the trip. This extra raft is primarily there for emergency support, but when not needed, the people on this raft are taking pictures. When you get back to the Hualapai Lodge, scan the QR code for your trip. You can select all of your photos and purchase the digital downloads. There’s no pressure to buy right then. We purchased ours a couple of weeks after we returned home.
Safety boat also takes pictures that can be purchased afterwards
Ready, Set, Go
The biggest rapids are the last ones. There’s no way to not get wet, this section the river was our favorite.
Yep, we’re going to get soaked
Riding into the waves
Holding on tight to that Go Pro camera…
Hualapai River Runners
I have two videos as well, for anyone still unsure if this is the right level of adventure that they are seeking. You can see the stick from our Go Pro in the pictures. These videos are from that Go Pro.
All of the rapids are within the first 10 miles of rafting, which makes for a relaxing float the rest of the day. The trip went by quickly with stories from our guides and getting a chance to talk with the other guests on board.
We lived!
Floating through some incredible scenery
It was really fun to get to spend a full day on the Colorado River and look up at the Grand Canyon walls without having to hike back up to the top. Have I mentioned that I really appreciated not having to hike out? Read my Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim guide to better understand why my legs hurt just looking up at these walls.
Floating down the Colorado River
Getting to view the Grand Canyon from the bottom is a special experience - traveling through the water that had the power and audacity to carve it.
The motors on the rafts are really nice in the calm sections. The scenery flies by and it’s all amazing!
The rafts pull up to a sandy shore for lunch.
This is our lunch spot
Quick stop for lunch
There are home-made sandwiches for everyone for lunch, as well as snacks, juice, and soda. The rest of the river trek is just floating, so they keep the coolers open. If you want any other snack or drink, you just need to ask. There’s plenty to keep teenager boys full for the remainder of the afternoon.
Our picnic lunch view
It was really hard to pick favorite photos. This was just a stunning way to spend our day.
Lazy floating on the Colorado River
Rafting on the Colorado River
Storm clouds are starting to roll in
Sorry, it’s hard to pick from my favorites - the Grand Canyon is just truly one of my favorite places
Exit point - near Grand Canyon West
When you depart from the rafts, your whitewater rafting guides will head back upstream. No one will ask for tips as you get off the rafts. Please remember to tip them as you say goodbye.
Docking - and so happy a helicopter will lift us out of the Grand Canyon (and we don’t have to hike out)
It’s just a short climb up to get to the helicopters. There is a vault toilet nearby. We let everyone else check-in ahead of us, and we used the extra time to change into dry clothes.
Up the steps there is a vault toilet and a place to check-in for the helicopter ride
Helicopter
At the helicopter, you are with a new company again. No tourist transition, and it takes a moment to get your bearings again. You will check-in at a table, let them know who is in your party and they will get everyone’s weight. Our family of 4 was separated into two groups, I think for weight balance. My husband flew with other guests, and the boys and I left on the last ride with a couple of people that worked there.
Getting ready to take off
Not lying, riding in a helicopter has been on my life’s bucket list, so this sort of sealed the deal that this was the tour I wanted. The ride was unlike what I expected. Incredibly smooth, I hardly knew I was in the air.
Flying out of the Grand Canyon
The purpose of the helicopter ride is to get you back to the bus without hiking. It’s not a tour of the Grand Canyon. It flies a short distance through the canyon, but pretty much it feels like just up and over.
Flying over the Colorad River
Honestly, a short ride was fine with me. There was a storm rolling through by the time we got into the helicopters.
Flying through the Grand Canyon
My legs were so happy we flew out of the canyon on this day!
Up and over the Grand Canyon walls, and almost disorienting, there is a highway, and then a helipad with coach buses waiting, and it’s back to society.
Flying out of the Grand Canyon
Helipad landing
Bucket list - check!
Coach Bus Back
The coach bus back was about 90 minutes with a short stop at a gas station about halfway for bathrooms and snacks. The way back is along highways and interstates, so this is a fast, smooth ride. Remember to check out the photos at the lodge before you leave.
We were on our way to Grand Canyon National Park next. This was the perfect day for us to rest our legs between two big hikes while experiencing the Grand Canyon from a completely different perspective.
Seligman, Arizona
Just a quick shoutout for a simple stop on your way to or from Peach Springs. Seligman was the inspiration for Disney’s Cars. I have no idea how many times our boys watched Mader’s Tall Tales… This was an unexpected highlight of our day, at no cost.
Tesla Cybertruck could not have been better placed - LOL!
Quick stop at Seligman, AZ
Lightning McQueen
“Dad-gum!” - Mader
There are several small shops
Fillmore - with a lot of stickers!
Route 66