Below the lazy meanderings of the Green River in the broad and open Uinta Basin lie Desolation and Gray canyons. Here the river carves deeply into the Tavaputs Plateau, creating two canyons of surprising beauty and diversity. This is the ancient home of the San Rafael Fremont, whose ruins and rock art can be found and explored at many places along the river. At Firewater and Flat canyons, ancient houses and grain storage bins stand quietly overlooking the river, holding tight to the secrets of their inhabitants. At Flat Canyon and Rock Creek, extensive petroglyph panels record what may be several hundred years of thoughts, dreams, stories and information in beautiful etchings of big horn sheep, deer and strange human-like forms with V-shaped bodies. They too carry their secrets in silence, mute figures carved into brown sandstone walls. The Fremont lived, farmed, hunted and gathered in this region from around 700 to 1200 A.D. before disappearing. While some ancient tribes can be traced to modern descendants living in the same region, the Fremont left no descendants that we know - their puzzling fate makes their carvings and pictures, baskets, pottery and odd clay figurines all the more precious and mysterious.
Despite the seamless transition between the two, Desolation and Gray canyons are as different as night and day. Desolation Canyon's high red cliffs and pinyon and juniper covered talus slopes are a distinct contrast to Gray Canyon's wide and sparsely vegetated gray and green shale slopes. In Desolation Canyon, fossils of ancient fish, crocodiles and turtles tell of a vast ancient lake that spread through the region, lying at the foot of the early Rocky Mountains. The soft shales of Gray Canyon are older - muds laid down in a long-ago sea that stretched across the interior of our continent just before the extinction of the dinosaurs. A few miles into Desolation Canyon, at Jack Creek, the river speeds up and runs fast and energetic. Even in the slow stretches there is little time for lazy drifting. The landscape has a wildness to it, an "old west" feel that perhaps just around the next corner outlaws or cowboys are waiting at river's edge. Entering Desolation and Gray canyons is like going back in time 100 years - old cabins and ranch houses, pieces of equipment, even old boats left along the river make it feel as if the old timers were just there. It's easy to believe that this landscape was once the haunt of Butch Cassidy and his "Wild Bunch".
For the boater in Desolation and Gray canyons, the hiking opportunities are virtually unparalleled. Almost every turn in the river introduces a new tributary canyon to hike: Firewater Canyon, Rock Creek, Chandler Canyon, Big Canyon, Florence Creek, Wire Fence Canyon, Range Creek and Rattlesnake Canyon. Some are home to Fremont ruins and rock art, others to arches and strange erosional land forms, still others are simply beautiful places to explore and merge with the landscape. The rapids along this stretch of river begin as easy and fun riffles and increase in difficulty as one moves downstream. Among the several challenging stretches of whitewater for the intermediate canoer are Range Creek, Coal Creek and Rattlesnake Rapids.
Boaters begin this 83-mile stretch of Class I to III river at the BLM station at the old historic ferry crossing of Sand Wash. Most trips take out at Swasey's Rapid, although some boaters do continue 12 miles further to the town of Green River. This will require portaging your equipment around the diversion dam at Tusher Wash. Allow at least 5 days to run this stretch of river, more if you want to hike and explore. For those who wish to spend a shorter time on this stretch of river, it is possible to run only the 8-mile section between Nefertiti Rapid and Swasey's in one day.
Due to the remote nature of this trip and the difficulty of the rapids, we recommend that you use raft support to lighten the loads required for a 5 or more day trip. Permits are required, and are issued by the Bureau of Land Management in Price, Utah. The phone number for permits and information is (435) 636-3600.
This 9 mile "daily" is also the last portion of Gray's Canyon. From the town of Green River, travel east and cross the Green River. Head North toward the Bookcliff Mountains on the first paved road. After approximately 10 miles you will come to Swasey's Rapid, the take-out for "The Daily". To get to the put-in, continue on for 9 miles upstream to Nefertiti Rapid. The Green River "Daily" has six class II rapids that are fun for open boaters.
Labyrinth Canyon is the first of the two canyons carved by the Green River into the canyon country of southeastern Utah. Only a few miles below the town of Green River, Utah, across the muted shales of the Mancos Desert, walls of slickrock sandstone begin to rise from the river and grow taller with every mile. This is a very special section of river, because you are there with the canyon as it begins and winds its way across the landscape, deepening around you as you travel. Within a few short miles, you are surrounded by the astonishing red rock canyon country that has made this landscape famous.
The river through Labyrinth Canyon meanders slowly and tranquilly - this is the perfect river for relaxation, contemplation and solitude. If you are on the river early in the morning or later in the afternoon, look for wildlife and listen for the cacophony of bird calls in the broad green band of vegetation that lines the river channel. The hikes up tributary side canyons are among the best in the region; river runners have opportunities to explore an ancient ruin and rock art left hundreds of years ago by the Fremont Indians, old mines from the days of prospectors and tiny side canyons of twisting sandstone.
|
Trin-Alcove Bend brings together three narrow, serpentine slickrock canyons; at Bowknot Bend hikers can walk to the top of a narrow neck of land within an eight-mile bend as the river loops back on itself. From this vantage, one can see both channels of the river flowing in opposite directions, only a few hundred feet apart.
Most river runners begin this 68 mile section at Green River State Park, ending at Mineral Bottom. Red River Canoe Company recommends that you take at least four days for this trip, longer if you want time to explore off the river. If you have limited time you may cut out one day by launching at Ruby Ranch, 23 miles downstream from the town of Green River. Ruby Ranch is a private working ranch, and there is a fee of $10.00 per boat and $2.00 per person to launch on their land. Permits are not required to paddle this section of river.
Red River Canoe Company offers guided canoe trips for groups of 6 or more as well as rentals for Labyrinth Canyon. This stretch of river has been popular with our clients seeking custom educational trips, family reunions and celebrations.
| Labyrinth Canyon |
| 3 day guided trip $435.00 plus tax |
| 4 day guided trip $575.00 plus tax |
| 5 day guided trip $675.00 plus tax |
"Of all the places on the Green River that have their own character, Stillwater Canyon is the one that remains in the back of my mind as a measure of the meaning of the river...the peace of the river." Run, River, Run - Ann Zwinger
Below Labyrinth Canyon the river continues its journey into the heart of red rock country in Stillwater Canyon. There is little road access to the river in this section - because of this it feels more like a true wilderness than almost any other stretch of river in the region. From your initial introduction to the river at Mineral Bottom, you are surrounded by high, wide canyon walls of sandstone and shale, stepped in tiers away from the river channel. Swooping lines etched into the sandstone walls tell of wind blowing ancient dunes across an unfamiliar landscape, the shales formed in ancient streams that flowed where dinosaurs walked. The river here meanders slowly past lush bottom-lands filled with tamarisk and deep green cottonwoods. These areas are rich in bird and other animal life, including mule deer, coyote and the occasional herd of desert bighorn sheep. This stretch of river is one to take slowly - the lazy pace and peaceful water don't encourage haste. Instead, there is an extraordinary array of hiking, photography, floating and just watching to be done. River runners often spend time hiking the trail from Upheaval Bottom to Upheaval Dome, a geologic feature of unusual and controversial origin. Fort Bottom and Turk's Head are two of the more prominent ancient pueblo Indian ruins, but if you are sharp-eyed on your float downstream, you will spot other ruins tucked into protected nooks high in the sandstone walls. You'll pass the Buttes of the Cross, named by Powell on his journey through the canyon 130 years ago. With the variety of things to do and see in this stretch of river, river runners often plan one or more lay-over days to hike or just relax.
 |
As the river carves ever deeper, below rocks from the Age of Dinosaurs and down into sediments laid down in an ancient seaway, the scenery slowly changes. The river forms a narrow and deep limestone gorge; her side canyons enter in sinuous and mysterious paths from the plateau lands above. Here is the place to look for fossils from the ancient ocean, and to imagine the world above you. One last corner and suddenly you are at the confluence of the two greatest rivers in the southwest. The rim and the intricate, exhilarating diversity of Canyonlands National Park lie 1,200 feet above you.
River runners begin their 52-mile Stillwater Canyon journey at Mineral Bottom. Only five miles downstream, the river enters Canyonlands National Park and you'll need a $10.00 backcountry permit for your time spent within the park. To return to Moab, you'll be met at or just below the Confluence by a chartered jet boat. From there you will travel back up the Colorado River to the Potash boat ramp, then transported by bus back to Moab.
We recommend that you take at least 4 days to complete this stretch of canyon - longer if you want to explore areas away from the river. For those who want to take a longer trip, we recommend combining this stretch with Labyrinth Canyon above - you will be able to experience 120 miles of the most beautiful wilderness flat water paddling available in the continental United States.
Red River Canoe Company offers canoe rentals and rental packages which include all transportation to and from the river for Stillwater Canyon.
Please call for availability and prices.
Red River Canoe Company
1371 North Highway 191
Moab, Utah 84532
800-753-8216
redriver@redrivercanoe.com