7 to 23 days from $2499
View Dates & Prices
Overview
Highlights
- Follow in the footsteps of John Wesley Powell
- Discover the backstory of this remarkable journey with the help of our knowledgeable river guides
- Explore the remote and beautiful river canyons of Colorado & Utah
- Hike up side canyons and explore historic sites
- Experience the Green and Colorado Rivers by raft or dory
In 1869 John Wesley Powell set out with a crew of 10 to explore the uncharted Green and Colorado Rivers from Green River Station, WY to the “impassable” Grand Canyon. Our retrace trip follows a portion of Powell’s original exploration on the Green and Colorado Rivers through Flaming Gorge and Lodore, Desolation, Gray, Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons on the Green River and through Cataract Canyon below the confluence with the Colorado River to take-out at Hite Crossing on Lake Powell, just upstream from Grand Canyon.
While we offer this trip as a complete 23-day experience from Flaming Gorge through to Hite Crossing on Lake Powell, you can opt to partake in either the upper or lower sections as well. Thanks to our unique collection of permits on the Green and Colorado Rivers, OARS is the only commercial outfitter that can make this retrace trip a reality.
Photos & Video
Itinerary & Map
Itinerary & Map
- Meet the evening before your trip in Vernal, UT
- Shuttle to the put-in below the Flaming Gorge Dam
- Float through Browns Park and visit an old outlaw hangout
- Enter Dinosaur National Monument through the Gates of Lodore
- Charge rapids like Winnie’s, Disaster Falls, Triplet, and Hells Half Mile
- Float past Echo Park and the confluence with the Yampa River
- Run four major rapids through Split Mountain Canyon
- Return to Vernal for the conclusion of the upper section or transfer to Sand Wash and the beginning of the lower section
- See thousand-year-old structures & petroglyphs left by the Fremont-era people
- Hike to the abandoned ranch where Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch stayed
- Travel through Desolation and Gray Canyons
- Spend a night at Green River State Park
- Hike to the River Post Office or discover the secrets of Three Canyon, Bull Hollow, Anderson Bottom and Two Mile Canyon
- Travel through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons in Canyonlands amidst Ancestral Puebloan cultural sites
- Raft the legendary rapids of Cataract Canyon like Mile Long, Capsize and the Big Drops
- Reach Hite Crossing on Lake Powell
- Return flight to Vernal for the conclusion of your trip
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Destination River -
Meeting Parking
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Rapid
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Point of interest
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Camp
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Put-In
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Take Out
Dates & Prices
2023 Prices:
UPPER SECTION
FLAMING GORGE TO SPLIT MOUNTAIN
7 Days: $2499
LOWER SECTION
SAND WASH TO HITE
16 Days: $4699
FULL TRIP
FLAMING GORGE TO HITE
23 Days: $6699
Deposit: $800 to $1000
Additional Cost: $15 Dinosaur National Monument entrance fee (upper), $40 BLM fee (lower)
*Full 23-day trip based on double occupancy. Single supplement $50
2023 Departure Dates:
UPPER SECTION
FLAMING GORGE TO SPLIT MOUNTAIN
7 Days: May 30
LOWER SECTION
SAND WASH TO HITE
16 Days: June 6
FULL TRIP
FLAMING GORGE TO HITE
23 Days: May 30
O.A.R.S. Canyonlands, Inc.is an authorized concessioner of Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument.
Ancestral Lands Acknowledgement
We respect and recognize that many of the river canyons on state and federal lands where we operate are the ancestral homes of indigenous communities. Where we operate on the Green and Colorado Rivers between Flaming Gorge and Hite Crossing, we acknowledge the territories of the Eastern Shoshone, Ute, Pueblo of Canyonlands National Park, Southern Paiute, and the Navajo Nation.
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