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)

463kellyd

Mar 2021

This a was a chilly a day and the guides did an amazing job with our large group. We kayaked on a beautiful part of the Salt Lick River and saw wild horses, and a beautiful scenery.

Robert_S

Sep 2019

During the season when the Salt River flows slowly, it was a pleasure to be with Eric and Matt for a leisurely morning on this picturesque river!

tmerriott

Sep 2019

Make sure you understand that you are only getting into a raft and floating for a little over an hr. We were more than a little disappointed. You float by all the locals laughing at you in your life jackets on a paid tour while they are swimming, fishing, floating and kayaking all around you. Lots of park access for you to enjoy the river without paying $100 plus each for a FLOAT with about 4 instances you had to paddle. You get to float by the trash on the river and even get to see graffiti along the way since a lot of it is accessible by parks along the river. The only reason it would be worth the $25 is for the great guides. They were really nice and knowledgeable. Other than that you should research and call to find out exactly what you are getting. We all felt scammed afterwards.

Response from Host

Sep 2019

I'm sorry to hear that you felt the tour you took was not what you expected. It is always our priority to explain to customers that rafting on the Lower Salt River is a very casual float tour, not a whitewater experience and we'll continue to make this clear to future customers. This time of year there are many recreators enjoying the river in different ways. We work hard to ensure that our customers walk away from their tour experience feeling that they've gained some knowledge about and appreciation of the river that they wouldn't get while out swimming on their own. Our guides are trained on the flora, fauna, geology and history of the area and education is an important element of these tours.