Why Guided Whitewater Rafting Trips in Colorado aren’t Just for Beginners

White water rafting is an amazing, beautiful and sometimes dangerous activity. Rapid classifications can range from Class I (mild and family friendly) to Class IV (unrunnable). While most beginner rafters choose to do a guided river trip that’s not the case for everyone. Guided rafting trips are great for experienced rafters as well.

Colorado rivers are known for its always changing whitewater. Guides not only have river knowledge for years spent rafting, but the knowledge to safely take you down the river, all the while entertaining you with their outgoing personalities. These guided trips can also make it an enjoyable and relaxing vacation by these guides taking care of all planning issues that come with a river trip.

Colorado rivers are fed by snowmelt. This means that a big snow year can be a big water year. These ever-changing rivers can bring different challenges. While on a low water year on a river like clear creek can seem mild and uneventful, during a big water season this river changes to an extremely difficult and fast river. Having a river guide that runs these rivers everyday can help prepare you for these different obstacles you would encounter. These guides run these trips everyday and sometimes multiple times a day so they know where they are going like the back of their hand.

Safety is always a big concern while going on a whitewater rafting adventure. Going on a guided rafting adventure can ease your mind knowing your going with an experienced professional. While your river guide on any river trip will have basic first aid and cpr. Once you start getting into a harder level river trip your guides have more certifications from wilderness first aid to swift water rescue. Nobody wants to see anyone one hurt or injured and that’s what having a trained professional guiding you down the river can help prevent.

If you have ever been on a river trip you know that sometimes the biggest trouble is figuring out the logistics. It could be how we are breaking up into to rafts, to how we are getting pickup and dropped off, and how nice it is not to have to worry about bringing any extra gear on your trip. All of these logistical issues can take up much of your time just figuring out or taking the extra time to run shuttles to your designated take out. Shuttles in Colorado can run from just a few minutes to a few hours. You might also want to run an over night trip and not have all the gear. That’s where a guided tour could come into play. These trips will have all the gear and logistics covered. You will be sheltered and fed and picked up after your multiple days of rafting on the river. These over night trips are a great way for experienced rafters to see a different side of the river.

So if you plan that river trip whether your experienced or beginner we think having that river guide will make you have a much more memorable and enjoyable experience.