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Holiday River Expeditions
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800-624-6323
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801-266-2087
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For 35 years Holiday Expeditions has been providing trips to the most spectacular landscapes. The experienced outfitter for whitewater rafting in Utah, Colorado and Idaho; or Utah mountain biking.
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Adventure Bound River Expeditions |
800-423-4668 |
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Adventure River Expeditions |
800-331-3324 |
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Don & Meg Hatch River Expeditions |
800-342-8243 |
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Moki Mac River Expeditions |
800-284-7280 |
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Sheri Griffith River Expeditions |
800-332-2439 |
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Tour West Whitewater Adventures |
800-453-9107 |
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Western River Expeditions |
800-453-7450 |
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World Wide River Expeditions |
800-231-2769 |
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NAVTEC Expeditions |
800-833-1278 |
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Tag-A-Long Expeditions |
800-453-3292 |
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Adrift Adventures |
800-874-4483 |
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| Section |
Cataract
Canyon |
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Location |
Garfield, Wayne, and San
Juan counties, Canyonlands National Park, southeast Utah |
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Driving Time |
Grand Junction—2 hours,
Salt Lake City 3—hours |
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Difficulty |
Class III-V |
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Trip Length |
96
miles (154 km) or less |
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Trip Options |
Paddle
raft, oar raft, motorized raft; three to six days |
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Season |
April-October |
The Colorado River's
Cataract Canyon, in spectacular Canyonlands National Park, offers a
combination of relaxed floating and awesome whitewater that has
changed little since it was first navigated and explored by John
Wesley Powell in 1869.
While
it is possible to reach Cataract through the scenic sandstone chasms
of Labyrinth and Stillwater canyons on the Green River, outfitters
put in for the Cataract trip on the middle Colorado, a few miles
downstream from Moab. The first two or three days of the Cataract
trip provide ample leisure time to enjoy the many cliff dwellings
and petroglyphs of the ancient Anasazi Indian culture. There also
are opportunities to hike, swim, fish, photograph, stare at the
impressive canyon walls, or just do nothing.
Cataract's
whitewater begins 4 miles (6.5 km) downstream from the confluence of
the Green and Colorado rivers, deep within Canyonlands National
Park. Hereafter, 26 major Class IV-V rapids, including Brown Betty,
Mile Long and The Big Drops—Little Niagara and Satan's Gut, will
excite rafters before they reach the quiet waters of Lake Powell
above Glen Canyon Dam. In the spring some of Cataract's rapids are
larger than those of the Grand Canyon.
Although
Canyonlands may not look hospitable to wildlife, flourishing in the
desert habitat are desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, golden eagles,
great horned owls, hawks, ravens, desert fox, coyotes, bobcats,
whiptail lizards, and kangaroo rats.
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