Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

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MichaelWG
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Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by MichaelWG »

Hey gang,

My sister and her family are planning to visit the week of July 4th and I'm at work planning an itinerary for the trip. We had wanted to go whitewater rafting when her trip was originally planned for summer 2020, but it was postponed to this year due to covid and now she'll be 5 months pregnant. As an alternative, I'm wondering if there are any flat stretches of river that are good for a lazy float trip? I feel like I've passed a few good looking areas (e.g. the stretch of Hwy 50 between Salida and Gunnison looks pretty tame) but we'd need to rent tubes / a raft so it would need to be somewhere with an outfitter. Any recommendations?

Many thanks!
Michael
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Conor
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by Conor »

I rented from rancho del rio and went to the 2nd bridge last year. I was able to get my wife, 4 year old and 6 old down with no issues. I have very little experience in a raft. I believe you can hire guides out of there too....about as beginner as it gets if the flow rates aren't too high...
TomPierce
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by TomPierce »

Conor wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 6:01 am I rented from rancho del rio and went to the 2nd bridge last year. I was able to get my wife, 4 year old and 6 old down with no issues. I have very little experience in a raft. I believe you can hire guides out of there too....about as beginner as it gets if the flow rates aren't too high...
Flow won't be too high, quite the contrary. It was about 354cfs today for that stretch and that's super low, might get hung up on rocks. This is shaping up to be a pretty bad floating/paddling season in CO.

-Tom
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MUni Rider
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by MUni Rider »

!/2 Day? Full day? Overnight? Multi day?

Canon City is an easy 1/2 day. Pueblo can be 1/2 or Full day, depending on how far you want to go. Salida area has several sections that are 1/2 or Full day. CKS in Salida may still have rental equipment; been several years since I looked into that since I have all my own stuff.

Endless options on the Colorado river in Colorado. An excellent easy overnight or multi day float is the Ruby/Horse thief section starting in Loma, CO (Grand Junction) and ending at Cisco, UT. Pumphouse section (below Gore Canyon) of the Colorado river below Kremmling,CO is a good full day, complete with Radium Hot Springs stop along the way. Lots of sections floating into and below Glenwood as well.
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mountainrev
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by mountainrev »

I love floating the Colorado River down to Dotsero. Lots of put-in spots. I've always used our own tubes, but you can also book tubing tours through turtletubing.com.
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by Monte Meals »

^ "I feel like I've passed a few good looking areas (e.g. the stretch of Hwy 50 between Salida and Gunnison looks pretty tame)"

That stretch on the river is rather hard core right now.
You will probably need crampons, ice axes, climbing ropes, and sherpas.

But PLEASE file a trip report :mrgreen:
MichaelWG
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by MichaelWG »

MUni Rider wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 12:54 pm !/2 Day? Full day? Overnight? Multi day?

Canon City is an easy 1/2 day. Pueblo can be 1/2 or Full day, depending on how far you want to go. Salida area has several sections that are 1/2 or Full day. CKS in Salida may still have rental equipment; been several years since I looked into that since I have all my own stuff.

Endless options on the Colorado river in Colorado. An excellent easy overnight or multi day float is the Ruby/Horse thief section starting in Loma, CO (Grand Junction) and ending at Cisco, UT. Pumphouse section (below Gore Canyon) of the Colorado river below Kremmling,CO is a good full day, complete with Radium Hot Springs stop along the way. Lots of sections floating into and below Glenwood as well.
Thanks for the response. (And thanks to everyone else too - Dotsero looks promising).

To answer your question, probably a half day but open to full-day ideas as well. I've done whitewater trips in Canon City and Salida before - are you saying there are also stretches there that are gentle enough to float in just a tube, or at least a raft without a guide? If there are any good resources you know of for researching put in / take out spots, that would be super helpful.

Thanks!
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Re: Easy Float Trips / Tubing in Colorado

Post by TomPierce »

Michael: A couple of details since you asked:

-The Colorado River near Dotsero would be a good tubing idea. Pretty gentle section and relatively deep; that section is running pretty low, but around Dotsero you shouldn't be banging into too many rocks. You can put in above Dotsero, there's a road that parallels the river for several miles above it, or you can put in at Dotsero itself (big parking lot) and float just a couple of miles downstream to the beginning of Glenwood Canyon. There's a road-accessible take out there. You can't really go much below that as it turns into the holding lake for the dam, they don't want you to go there. I'd also be very careful below the dam in Glenwood Canyon, some sections are legit whitewater, e.g. the Shoshone section is solid class III. No permit required on the Dotsero section of the Colorado, at least not last time I checked (I've run it before but took out at Dotsero).

-The Ruby/Horsethief section of the Colorado is much farther out, just past Grand Junction, but IMO not a great place for tubing because the put ins/take outs are so far apart. You could do the put in at James M Robb State Park (paid entry, I did that in April), and take out at Loma, maybe 5 miles or so downstream? You could also check with River Runners to see if you can use their lot for an alternate put-in, I think you could rent gear from them as well. Very flat section, fwiw. But once in the canyon you really can't take out easily until Westwater, about 23 miles away. Note also that if you go into the canyon for an overnight trip (very beginner friendly) you'll need a permit and I suspect it'd be hard to get for the July 4th weekend. You can check on www.recreation.gov if interested in that.

-Tom
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