Rio Grande Gorge Full Day in New Mexico booking from $145.00

Rio Grande Gorge Full Day

Overview

The Lower Gorge of the Rio Grande is a broad canyon with lush riparian habitat along the banks of the Rio. A fantastic full day adventure for families, first time rafters and groups. The first half of the day is beautiful float through the Orilla Verde section of the Rio Grande with incredible scenery, gorgeous riverside lunch stops and ample opportunity to work on your paddling in preparation for the exciting whitewater of the Racecourse to come in the afternoon. The Rio Grande Gorge full day trip meets at our headquarters at 8:30 a.m. daily and the minimum age during most of the year is 5 years old

City: New Mexico

Sun 22 Sep

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Starting at $145.00

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Sun 22 Sep

Starting at $145.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

World Class Guides

Safe, Secure Parking,

Full Service Headquarters

All rafting Equipment

Lunch

Signature, Hot Chicken Fajita Lunch

Additional Info

Wheelchair accessible
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons

What To Expect

Rio Grande Gorge

Starting Out We start at our headquarters where you’ll meet your guides for the day who will outfit you with all the gear necessary for the day on the river. At the headquarters, you will find safe secure parking, clean restrooms, changing rooms, shaded picnic tables on our patio rooms, and any last minute items you might have forgotten including sunscreen, water shoes, hats and much more. This is the perfect place to start your adventure. Craft choices are dependent on water levels. The large majority of our guests like to participate and paddle along with the guide in the back of the boat giving paddling commands, however, you may also choose to sit back and let the guide do the work on an oar boat. And for the adrenaline junkies, ask about an inflatable kayak at no extra charge. Floating the Rio Grande Gorge After the short drive to the starting point in our vans, your river trip begins with a placid morning float through one of the most scenic parts of the canyon with great opportunities to see a variety of wildlife including mule deer, river otter, beaver and many different birds of prey. This section also affords us time to practice paddling techniques, swimming and simply enjoying the Rio Grande. Somewhere in this stretch, we’ll stop on the side of the river for a nice lunch put together by your guides. After lunch, we run the Class III rapids of the “Racecourse.” The Lower Gorge of the Rio Grande is a broad canyon with lush riparian habitat along the banks of the Rio. As we enter the “Racecourse” section the geology radically changes as we pass onto the Rio Grande fault line, one of the largest intercontinental fault lines in North America. But let’s not forget the whitewater! The Racecourse is 6 miles of action-packed class 2-3 rapids. Perfect for everyone from beginners to intermediate/experts. There is something for everyone to enjoy on this section. With rapids like the Maze, Albert’s Falls, The Narrows, and The Thunderdome make sure you are braced in and ready to get wet! Listen to your guides as they negotiate these rapids and don’t forget to ask them to surf when the water levels are lower. Guides for the Rio Grande Gorge Full Day Our guides are the best in the business, focusing on safety and guest service as a top priority. All are extremely knowledgeable about the area’s geology, ecology and history and just love being on the river. Our Guides have experience on rivers all over the country and across the globe, I know you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do. They will certainly help to make your day on the river the best possible. Full Day Rio Grande rafting trips available EVERY DAY starting in March through September. Our minimum age at most water levels is 5, however, at the higher flows, that minimum age rises to 13. Book online or call us anytime, 1-800-983-7756, to reserve your space.

Cancellation Policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (175)

Inspire53489157804

Jul 2021

The guides we had were amazing (Justin, Emma, Pierce). They were extremely knowledgeable about the River and the Rio Grande area.

hoteljunky

Jul 2021

Half day rio grande trip was great, really impressed by the organization of the team here - from greeting in the parking lot to gear collection this was fun, clear and efficient, on the river was full of fun, Devon was a great guide and the kids had a blast!

troykleasner

Jul 2021

We had a great time, so don't let any of my negative comments fool you. We would go back! I planned this trip for 6 of us to do some wild rapids with an overnight stay and for the most part, it was awesome! The people were nice, the food was great, but there are many areas for improvement. The biggest thing that happened was that the water was too low, so the main reason we came, the Taos Box, was closed. That was a huge downer, but what can be done! We were told that the Box had a very slim chance of being available the next day, but to expect to do the same stretch of river that we were going to do today, but with kayaks. That works for me, but a few others in my party did not like the idea, but we drove here from Dallas, so that was the revised plan. The first day starts with getting together with your guide and getting all of your gear ready. You should also bring sunscreen, a hat and a quality insulated water jug, unless you like drinking really hot water. If you don't get out in the sun much, then I suggest long stretchy hiking pants and long sleeves. For overnighters, this also means you put any bags you want taken to the camping site into the office and they will take whatever you want, including: coolers full of beer and drinks, your luggage, your camping gear, whatever! They do provide a tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bag, so you don't need any camping gear really. The only problem here was that they had two people yelling out what we needed to know about our gear and the trip, but they were only about 20 yards from each other. I would suggest putting one guy in the middle of both groups and getting a bullhorn if necessarry? The first part of the rafting was horrible! My group was in a horrible mood since Taos Box was closed and the first half of the day was on the Orilla Verde Family Float section. Ryan, our guide, did his best to make it interesting, but we were not in the best of spirits. The float is slow and you start getting uncomfortable on the raft and finally we pulled over to eat. We went for a short walk to a small clearing surrounded by tall grass and they started to set up tables to cook on. The location sucks. There was nothing interesting, or at least we weren't told about anything interesting and there was nowhere to sit except for one picnic table. I went through the grass to the riverside, but it wasn't very accesible. The main point being that this did nothing for my group's morale and the other groups seemed to be just quiet and looking around for anything of interest! Which is the opposite of the gung ho groups that began the day. Thankfully, the food was good. I was expecting fajitas, but it's a burrito instead with chicken, peppers, beans, rice and plenty of condiments to choose from. These are definitely large burritos and there were leftovers that a few people took advantage of. Thank goodness for the Rio Grande Racecourse section. It has plenty of small rapids, enough to get you wet and put smiles on everyones faces. None of the rapids were even sort of dangerous feeling, but the water splashed and I stopped worrying about my party drowning me for talking them into going on this trip. It was at this time that I learned that there was only one place where they take photos and it is at the last set of rapids. You are given plenty of warning, but not really given any instruction. You might want to plan something ahead of time, like everyone having their oars up, because just about anything would be better than our out of time group. There are several pictures and none of them are with the whole group looking good at the same time. I think I will try my hand at photoshop to see if I can get a photo with everyone visible in the picture? This is where most people end their adventure and head back to the boathouse, but we did the overnight trip and headed to the camping ground. Since the Taos Box section was closed, we were offered to take the same sections of river again, but this time on inflatable kayaks. I think everyone in our group had a little kayaking experience and no weaklings in the group, so we were actually looking forward to it. The bad news is, you have been out of the water for a while and gotten dried off and now you have to paddle your kayak across the river from the dropoff point to the camping side of the river. It absolutely makes sense to do it this way, because otherwise they would drive you to the other side and you would have to walk your kayak a good ways to the riverbed. I just didn't like having to get wet again, but there was hope in the air. Clouds had been moving in and we had been hearing thunder, but now the wind was picking up and you could feel a little rain. Please let it rain enough to open Taos Box! At the camping area, the NMRA van is already there with all of the camping supplies, food and your bags. Since it was windy and starting to rain we were all in a mad rush to get our tents up, but by the time we did, the rain stopped and the wind died down. The guides start cooking dinner and there is plenty of time to clean up, get changed and relax or do a little hiking. Be warned, there is no cell service. As a matter of fact, there are only a couple of spots on the river where you do get any phone signal, so be prepared to be disconnected! Second warning, there are no showers! No biggee for one night, but I was expecting to have a shower for some reason. Mainly, it's time to relax in the provided chairs, which would have been nice at lunchtime and get to know your neighbors. Luckily the campground host had some wood for sale, so we were set for the evening. Dinner was steak, salmon, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, salad and we also had some snacks laid out before dinner. Be sure to bring your own drinks, because all they provide is water and no ice (if I remember correctly). We enjoyed dinner very much and the conversation around the fire afterwards put an end to an excellent day. The next day starts early, but you should get plenty of sleep. I was a little worried about sleeping on a little mat after the previous long day, but surprisingly, no one complained about their back in the morning and three of us are over 50. The guides are up earlier making coffee and breakfast, which consisted of fresh grilled breakfast sandwiches and they were very tasty. There was also yogurt, granola and fresh fruit. More than enough great food for everyone. One of our party turned up missing and that had everyone on a search only to find out he had gone off on a hike without bothering to tell anyone, which caused none of the rest of us to be able to go on a hike, since we were searching for him! Please don't do this to your party! We were all worried and ended up having to drown him repeatedly as he kept talking about the wonderful hike he went on!!! Time to get ready for the day. Taking down the tents is easy enough and everything gets thrown back in the van, to go back to the boathouse at the end of the day. You will be warned about watching out for cactuses, but watch out where you are stepping too. One of our party fell on the way to the kayaks and scared the crap out of us. He hit his head and scraped up his leg good. Thankfully, the guides were level headed and patched him up. I would suggest they get a bottle of iodine and some of that tacky gauze tape stuff for wrapping up a leg good, but they did the best they could and we were back on our way. I should also mention here that they kept checking on him during the day and rebandanged it during lunch. Thanks Ryan and Eric for looking out for us city boys! No Taos Box, but as I had hoped, the kayaks were much more fun on the lazy river. You can also sit in many different positions like you couldn't really do on the raft, which your butt and back are going to love. We stopped for lunch at a different spot and today we had sandwiches, since they actually bring lunch on the kayaks with us. It was also just the kayak group, so there was only like 10 of us and the camping site was nicer. This day was going great so far compared to the previous day and we all knew that some rapids were in our future! After lunch we had to stop again on the river to meet up with the rafting groups. This kind of sucks since now you have to deal with several rafts, other guides and lots of stops. Not a big deal, but it would be more fun if you didn't have to time the kayak group with the raft groups. Finally, rapids with the kayaks! Hold your horses, one of the rafts got stuck on a rock in the first or second set of rapids and they are had a rough time getting it off. I feel so bad for the raft guide, but she is tough and just kept trying and trying. I wouldn't have lasted a quarter of the time she spent trying to free that boat! They tried walking upstream to get a second guide to help, but he missed the boat swimming downstream. They finally got a rope to her and pulled her off the rock. Nobody was in danger, but it was a little exciting? Anyway, back to rapids in kayaks! A much different experience, because it is all you and the kayak. Be prepared to get a litlle wore out. I also discovered that when in the rapids, it is easier to control the kayak with short back paddling instead of furious forward paddling. I don't know if that holds true in more serious rapids, but it was easier and gave me complete control of my kayak in the rapids. Which I may have forgot to mention, is awesome! The rapids throw that little kayak around. I'm pretty sure I submerged 3 times and never once felt in danger, even though I screwed up a couple times and got yelled at. That Brian guy can be a jerk! ;) I warn you again. The last rapids is where they take the pictures and she is not using burst mode, so if you want a good picture you are going to have to try to pose for it. That's not an easy thing to do, especially when who the heck knows how to pose for a picture while rafting!?!? I plan on posting this in several places with a bunch of pictures and videos if they are acceptable, so please enjoy. Anyway, that's pretty much the end of the day with a quick ride back to the boathouse where you pick up your stuff, dry off, get changed and buy a shirt to commemorate the trip. Don't forget to tip your guide, especially if they deserve it like ours did. Thanks again Ryan!

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Rio Grande Gorge Full Day

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