Half-Day Lower Salt River Rafting Tour

Overview

Float down the Lower Salt River on a guided flatwater rafting trip and discover a scenic and relaxing desert oasis just outside Phoenix and Scottsdale. Swim, play, or just relax on the river and soak in the scenery. This is a family-friendly activity with options to please everyone. A little paddling is required, but your guide will steer the boat and provide fascinating information about the surrounding Sonoran Desert. A reliable source of water, the Salt River attracts a variety of wildlife, making it common for us to enjoy close encounters with animals in their natural habitat

Tours take about four hours including the drive to/from the river and the duration of the tour. Bottled water and snacks, raft/paddles, a life jacket, dry bags, round-trip transportation and National Forest entry fees are included in this trip. Tour is limited to a maximum of 12 travelers.

City: Phoenix

Tue 24 Dec

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $170.00

Make a reservation

Tue 24 Dec

Starting at $170.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Roundtrip Transportation from Meeting Location (Canal/Hawes PNR: 3055 N Power Rd. Mesa, AZ 85215)

PFD (life jacket), dry bags

Professional guide

Bottled water

Snacks

Fuel surcharge

Raft & paddles

Additional Info

Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Children must be accompanied by an adult
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
A minimum weight of 35 lbs is required
We require solo-travelers to pay the minimum of the 2-person price. If you are a solo traveler and would like to be added on to a pre-formed group for this tour, please mention this upon booking.

What To Expect

Salt River

Raft down a beginner‐friendly river with REI Co-op Experience's guided raft tours on the Lower Salt River just outside Phoenix and Scottsdale. This class I river (the easiest rating on the international river difficulty scale) provides some of the best opportunities for viewing wildlife and bird watching in the Southwest. We often see wild horses and bald eagles during our tour! Your guides are available to teach you the natural history of the area and give you expert paddling instruction. We select our launch locations based on the current water flow to provide you with the best experience so our start and end points vary throughout the year. Water temperatures may range from approx. 60 degrees F in the winter to low 80 degrees in the summer months. Swimming is possible year‐round but it can be a bit bracing in January!

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (31)

M3828AGdaveh

Oct 2021

Was a wonderful experience floating the Lower Salt river. The weather turned out great, our guide was very informative and fun. We saw the beautiful sights of the desert and I bet 75 - 100 horses eating and playing in the river and on the rive banks, awesome.

Michelle P

Aug 2021

We had a great time on our Salt River rafting trip. Noel was a terrific guide, as was Jake, who was in training that day. We saw many beautiful wild horses along the way, which greatly enhanced our experience. We stopped along the way so that my son could jump into the water from “the rock,” which he loved! Noel was very engaging with both of our kids, which helped make it more fun for them. Highly recommend!!! There wasn’t any real opportunity for swimming, but I think we probably could have gotten in the water at any time if we’d asked, but we didn’t and neither did anyone else from our raft. Not complaining, but I think my daughter probably would’ve enjoyed a dip if we had thought of it.

Harry_S

Aug 2021

We encountered several wild horses in the river...Very special sighting. This is a low keyed quiet tour into nature so expectations should be just that. We enjoyed the tour. It could have been improved in two ways, Our guide might have given more narrative about the flora and fauna along the river or the history of the area we were paddling through. The meeting place was recently changed and the instructions should be more explicit, There were two similar parking lots side by side and the van was just white with no identifying markings or signs.