Trip Information
FLOW

Most popular. 27 river miles, 1 or 2 nights on the river

Beginning in the vast river plain of Bluff, Utah, the Upper San Juan leads you through sandstone canyons sculpted into domes and rounded cliffs by millions of years of wind, past the remains of 1000-year-old ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings and petroglyphs, the abandoned mines and buildings of early colonizers, and otherworldly geologic formations. Trips meet on the FLC campus the afternoon before your launch date. If arranged ahead of time, you can camp at the boat launch the night before. 

Day 1

Drive 2.5 hours from Durango to the Sand Island boat ramp and campground. Depending on your arrival time, you can rig the boats and launch or camp at Sand Island the night before you launch. A short hike to the Sand Island petroglyph panel is available to your group while the crew rigs the boats. Once on the river, you will float past ancient sand dunes as the river winds its way to camp. 

Day 2

You’ll pass several ancestral Puebloan sites, including a large petroglyph panel at Butler Wash and a large cliff dwelling called River House. As you enter San Juan Canyon, you’ll pass the “perched meander,” a prehistoric riverbed high up the canyon walls, and navigate a few class II rapids to keep things spicy. Be on the lookout for desert bighorn!

Day 2 or 3

As the river digs deeper into the canyon, it descends into thick limestone beds. You’ll emerge from San Juan Canyon at Fossil Stop, a great place to search for fossils embedded in the limestone, and enter the Mexican Hat syncline, marked by a dramatically striated landscape and the deep red sandstone formation for which the town of Mexican Hat is named. After a few more rapids, we will reach the takeout by early afternoon, pack up, and start the three-hour drive back to Durango. We are usually back at Fort Lewis College by late afternoon.

57 river miles, 4 nights on the river

The Lower San Juan exchanges archaeological sites for dramatic geology and rigorous hiking opportunities. You’ll enter the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area as you float through goosenecks carved deep into the sandstone earth. Challenge yourself in the biggest rapid of the Upper or Lower San Juan near the end of your trip.Trips meet on the FLC campus the afternoon before or early in the morning of your launch date. 

Day 1

Drive three hours from Durango to Mexican Hat, Utah, in the morning. Your crew will rig the boats, and you’ll launch. Shortly, you enter the Goosenecks of the San Juan, a 14-mile series of entrenched meanders where the river, at the bottom of deep, almost vertical cliffs, nearly doubles back on itself.

Day 2

You can get out of your boats, hike to the canyon rim on the Honaker Trail, and look out over the landscape for a change in perspective. Get back in the boats and splash through a few small rapids.

Day 3

The highlight of Day 3 is another hiking opportunity. This hike takes you up John’s Canyon, a long canyon that runs into the San Juan. You’ll be challenged to ascend a dramatic pour-off as you enter this cut in the Cedar Mesa plateau. We will also encounter Government Rapid (class III), the largest one on the river. The day is spent floating toward Slickhorn Canyon, a beautiful side hike with fossils, wildlife, and freshwater pools.

Day 4

Your final full day floats out of Slickhorn Canyon past Grand Gulch and Oljeto Wash, which offer excellent camping and hiking. 

Day 5

After Oljeto Wash, the San Juan winds its way toward Lake Powell. As we approach the Clay Hills river access in the afternoon, the canyon walls gradually drop toward the river. The drive back from Clay Hills takes about 5 hours, so plan on arriving back in Durango around 9 pm.

31 river miles, 2 nights on the river

Featured in the Wild and Scenic Rivers program for its outstanding natural beauty, the Rio Chama flows through northwest New Mexico from the El Vado dam, past our take-out point at Big Eddy, to the Rio Grande. You’ll start your trip in 1500-foot canyons of multicolored sandstone, wind through the Ponderosa forest, and finish your trip under the expansive skies of the open desert. Trips meet early in the morning on the FLC campus before your launch.

Day 1

Start early with a three-hour drive from Durango to El Vado Ranch. You’ll rig the boats at the ranch and head down the river. You’ll pass old homesteads and hot springs as you wind your way through canyon country. A few small rapids keep things splashy and fun.

Day 2

Here, the canyon deepens, with sandstone walls rising as high as 1500 feet above the river. Large ponderosa pines offer welcome shade and opportunities to get out of the boat and explore the landscape. To give your paddling arms a break, hike to the canyon rim at Rio Cebolla or the dinosaur tracks in Dark Canyon.

Day 3

Late in the morning, you’ll emerge from the canyons into an open desert landscape, passing the iconic Monastery of Christ in the Desert landmark. Two take-out options exist on the lower part of the Rio Chama. We arrive at the Chavez Canyon river access around noon, allowing for a more leisurely morning and a late afternoon arrival back to Durango. Groups that continue have four more hours of river time, including the biggest rapids of the trip (class III), arriving at the Big Eddy river access in the late afternoon. This option generally has us back in Durango between 8 and 9 pm.

6-12 miles or 2-5 hours within Durango city limits

The Animas River through Durango offers flexibility for two to five-hour day trips from May through July. Contact the FLOW Coordinator to determine what options are best for your group!
Lunch or a snack is available upon request.