Lava Falls, you can hear it thundering for miles upstream. One of the most well-known and biggest rapids in Grand Canyon. It bears a 10 rating on the rapid scale of 1-10. It contains a ledge hole the size of a school bus. It is a wild ride.

Many boatman like to stop and scout Lava Falls before running it — studying its waves, choosing and memorizing their line, burning the rapid’s image into their brain. To an untrained eye, this rapid may look just like total chaos. But here’s how a boatman sees a rapid like Lava Falls …

Crash course to rowing Lava Falls from GCRG’s Boatman’s Quarterly Review.  Photo by Dave Spillman

If this piques your fancy, check out Grand Canyon River Guides’ Crash Course to Rowing Lava Falls. It can be a lot of fun to get in the heads of river guides; hold on for a wild ride! (Please excuse the colorful language in the article!)