River Rafting

Utah's rapids are the classiest

If your last summer vacation involved losing your arm in a major war, then being sent by your government to uncharted territory to run death-defying whitewater through indifferent canyons in a wooden boat that didn’t exactly steer, then you and John Wesley Powell have a lot to talk about. But with all the advances and amenities involved in modern-day Utah river rafting, you can brave everything from stillwater to serious soapsuds with a Nalgene-may-care attitude. Read more...

And with all the family-friendly gigs out there, you can even pull it off without your troops staging a mutiny and leaving you to survive on your grit and remaining flour rations.

A little something to know before you go: Rapids are classified on a scale from 1-6, or, if you’d rather, from safest to most insane. We’ll break it down for you now so you don’t have to do the math at the edge of a fifteen-foot waterfall.

Class I Hey, wuss, over here! Gentle riffles, a little rocking.

Class II Waves, a little maneuvering and a splash. Canyon cred without going overboard.

Class III More intense than II’s, less intense than IV’s.

Class IV Iron your sash and polish your neckerchief slide. What’s the Boy Scout motto? “Be prepared, cuz things about to get nasty”?

Class V Congratulations! You’ve outlived the basic evolutionary impulse to preserve your own life!

Class VI Might as well go out doing something you love.