The short version
"A seven-day Colorado River rafting trip" is three different trips depending on which stretch of river somebody means, and they are not interchangeable.
- Cataract Canyon, Moab to Lake Powell through Canyonlands. About 110 river miles, and the one that actually lands on seven days.
- The Grand Canyon, which runs 7 to 18 days and is a different order of commitment.
- The upper Colorado near Glenwood Springs and Westwater, which is day trips and overnights, not a week.
Cataract Canyon, the seven-day answer
The National Park Service publishes float times for the sections, and the arithmetic is simple:
- Moab ramp to the Confluence: 63 miles, 3 to 4 days. This is flatwater, moving at the speed of the river through Meander Canyon.
- Potash ramp to the Confluence: 48 miles, 2 to 3 days. The shorter start.
- Confluence to North Wash: 47 miles, 2 to 3 days. This is Cataract itself.
Moab to North Wash is therefore roughly 110 miles and 5 to 7 days on oars. That is the trip people are searching for.
The whitewater is a fourteen-mile stretch of Class III to V below the Confluence, where the Green and the Colorado join and the combined river drops into the Cataract rapids. The Park Service is blunt about it: a particularly hazardous and isolated section, subject to extreme water level fluctuations, for experienced river runners only. In the June high water it is one of the biggest commercially run rapids sequences in North America.
The permit
An overnight river permit from Canyonlands National Park covers camping in the river corridor. It is a separate thing from the park's backcountry permit, which is for walking.
- Released in advance at 8:00 AM MST, and bookable up to 3 days before launch. No lottery.
- $36 non-refundable reservation fee plus $25 per person, on top of the park entrance fee.
- One group, maximum 40 people, up to 14 days in the corridor.
- Non-motorised flatwater boaters must book a commercial upriver shuttle before reserving the permit.
Going with an outfitter removes all of this: commercial companies hold their own allocation and you need no permit of your own.
The takeout nobody warns you about
Every Cataract trip has to cross part of Lake Powell to reach the takeout, and the point where the river stops and the lake begins moves through the year with the reservoir level. On a low year that can mean several miles of flat, windy, current-free water at the end of a week of rowing, which is why most trips arrange a motorised tow or take a jet boat out.
The Grand Canyon, if that is what you meant
Commercial Grand Canyon trips run 3 to 18 days. A seven-day commercial trip is usually a motorised upper or lower half rather than the full 277 miles. The private permit is a weighted lottery run years ahead, and it is one of the hardest permits in the United States to draw.
Which to book
If you have a week and you want the Colorado, Cataract Canyon is the trip. It gives you three days of desert flatwater through Canyonlands with nobody else on the river, then the rapids, then the lake. If you have two weeks and patience for a lottery, the Grand Canyon is the one people spend a life trying to draw.
7-Day Colorado River Rafting Trips: What Actually Exists FAQs
Moab to the North Wash takeout is about 110 river miles. The Park Service rates the Moab ramp to the Confluence at 63 miles and 3 to 4 days, and the Confluence through Cataract to North Wash at 47 miles and 2 to 3 days, so 5 to 7 days in total on oars.
Yes, an overnight river permit from Canyonlands National Park if you are camping in the river corridor. It costs $36 non-refundable plus $25 per person, covers one group of up to 40 people, and is bookable up to 3 days before launch. Commercial outfitters hold their own allocation, so a guided trip needs no permit from you.
The whitewater is a fourteen-mile stretch of Class III to V below the Confluence of the Green and Colorado. The Park Service describes it as a particularly hazardous and isolated section subject to extreme water level fluctuations, for experienced river runners only.
Potash and Moab on the Colorado, or Green River State Park and Mineral Bottom on the Green. All of them meet at the Confluence before dropping into Cataract.
The takeout is below the rapids, and the point where the river ends and the reservoir begins moves through the year with the water level. Most trips arrange a motorised tow or a jet boat for that final flat stretch.
No. Grand Canyon commercial trips run 3 to 18 days and a seven-day one is usually a motorised half-canyon rather than the full 277 miles. The private Grand Canyon permit is a weighted lottery drawn years in advance.
Yes. The worked day-by-day plan is Colorado River Kayaking Trips: A 3-Day Moab and Lake Powell Itinerary (3 Days), with the permits, the stays and the drive times already sorted. Tell us your dates and we will put it together for you and confirm what is genuinely open on those days. Asking is free: no card, no deposit, and nothing is held until you say yes.
