Depending on which type of river trip you’re doing with us, we’re going to recommend you stay at one of a handful of hotels before (and probably after) your rafting adventure. Do you absolutely have to stay at our recommended hotel? No … but it sure makes things a lot easier for you.
All of our river trips get started pretty early in the morning. If you’re coming in from Las Vegas, we’re going to pick you up at our partner hotel at 4:45 AM! So yeah, we think you’ll be happiest if you spend the night at that hotel, rather than someplace else and then have to worry about transporting yourself to our hotel really early in the morning. If you’re starting your rafting trip at the South Rim, and hiking down to the river with us, we’re going to meet you before 6 AM. The easiest place to stay is at one of the South Rim lodges — and not, say, an hour away from the trail head.
The easiest times to deviate, within reason, from our recommendations are when you’re starting your raft trip either in Flagstaff or near the launch point, in Marble Canyon, Ariz. If you’re staying in Flagstaff, our shuttle is going to pick you up at our partner hotel around 6 AM. Compared to some of our other pickup times, that’s a pretty late start! So you could, conceivably, stay at a hostel in Flagstaff, or at another hotel, or even at a campground — as long as you’re an early bird and don’t mind getting yourself over to our pickup point on time.
If you’re meeting us in Marble Canyon, you’ve got even more leeway — our guides don’t usually pick you up from the Marble Canyon Lodge until about 8 AM. However … you have far fewer options. The Marble Canyon Lodge is the only lodge in Marble Canyon. You could camp at nearby Lees Ferry Campground, or you could head a few miles farther down the road to another lodge, or a few miles beyond that to the final lodge in the region.
The important thing to remember is, we selected these partner hotels for a reason. We think they work best, and will make things easiest for you. We recommend staying at them because we think you will be happiest with your adventure if you stay there.
And, the other really important thing to remember is, if you miss our hotel shuttle … you miss your whole river trip. Our shuttles can’t and don’t wait for late passengers. So if you get caught in construction traffic, or if you don’t hear your alarm go off … you just missed your trip-of-a-lifetime.
We’ll provide all the information you need for booking your pre- and post-trip lodging well in advance of your trip. Our advice is that you book that lodging when you receive the relevant info from us.
Our shuttle bus waiting in front of our recommended Flagstaff hotel.
