# New to Rafting (Utah)



## cprice (May 21, 2012)

How big is your raft?

Weber and Provo aren't really "raftable" except maybe in high spring runoff, which is mostly gone this year. You can get rafts on them sometimes but typically only small paddle rafts.

Top local floats to ease you in:

Green River - A, B, C Section
Colorado River Daily - Moab
Colorado River - Ruby/Horsethief Canyon
San Juan River 
Snake River - Swan Valley area


With a little more experience:

Desolation Canyon (Green River)
Lodore (Green River)
Yampa River
Westwater (Colorado below Ruby/Horsethief)
Cataract (Colorado below Moab

Are you on the Wasatch Front? You pretty much need to drive a few hours from here to get a good rafting river, but there are lots of amazing options. Even more if you head further into ID, WY, or CO


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## spiral (Jun 10, 2020)

Hum thats what I figured from what I saw .. I guess I saw people rafting in the past latter in the year and assumed it was good. 

.

Oh what about the Sevier River in Marysville, UT? That looks like a nice run?



I have the STAR Starlite 12 Standard Floor Raft, Its not large more of a medium. 



Yes I am on the Wasatch Front and figured I would need to drive a little bit to which I am cool with. 

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## UtahBrian (Mar 16, 2019)

You probably want to join up with more experienced people. There are some in the Wasatch Mountain Club and various outdoor groups at the local universities, if you have any affiliation with those.

This year they won't be doing much because of social distancing.


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## royal (May 6, 2016)

you didn't say if you are paddle rafting or running a frame and oars. Spanish fork is Kayak only and very short. not worth the effort. I would put the Green below flaming gorge as a good beginner run not something you need to work up too considering your experience. the Green daily(nephrititi to swasey) and a good beginner run too. Provo is a fun paddle raft run. you can also paddle raft the San Rafael (if/ when it flows) 



check out the American White water page for current and recomended flows.


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## smhoeher (Jun 14, 2015)

A drive to western Colorado but Ruby/Horsethief is a great, first time, multi-day trip.
Here in the Grand Valley there are 8 different public access points on the Colorado. Could easily be a multi-day with camping! Of course, there are plenty of hotels.


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## Senor D (May 22, 2018)

*Labyrinth*

Howdy Spiral,
Welcome to the Wasatch Front. I concur with the consensus above. Green ABC, Moab and GR dailies are good places to start. Ruby is a pretty flatwater section, too.
Another great option is the Green River through Labyrinth canyon. It's flat water the whole way, but the scenery is world class. You can start at either the town of Green River, or at Ruby Ranch. The take out is Mineral Bottom. It's a nice way to get a multi day trip under your belt. 
The San Juan is a good permitted section to aim for as a beginner, too.


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## paulster (May 27, 2011)

All good suggestions. The problem as a broad generalization with rafts on the small Utah rivers (San Rafael, Weber, Provo, Sevier, Bear, etc is that they don't have much room to maneuver, require high runoff or storm flow, and often have fence and wood problems. These rivers are overlooked or very seldom in play for local boaters for good reason - just because they are small doesn't mean they are easy. Popular rivers are popular for a reason. 

I suggest work on getting permits in January and for now look at unpermitted stretches on the Green, Snake, and Colorado. And seek out others to boat with.


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