The biggest culprit for unneeded things in the Canyon is clothes.  A lot of people will pack for a whitewater rafting vacation much like they would for their holiday in Hawaii or Florida, one outfit per day (and maybe more).  The Grand Canyon is a great place to change that mindset and simplify.

Guests help at camp with the bag line, unloading everyone’s bags from the boat.

I’ve found it works well to have one set of river clothes (that you wear on the boat) and one set of camp clothes.  Even on a full canyon 7-Day trip, I’ll wear the same thing every day on the river and mostly the same goes for camp.  On top of that I might have one other set to swap out during the trip.  But for the most part, that’s it!

We’ve seen people bring solar showers, clothes lines, wetsuits, their own dry bags (we provide you with GCW dry bags) and even large beach towels.  These are all things that you just don’t need on our rafting trips.

Really, the best advise is to follow our extensive packing list we’ll send you when you book your trip.  It has been combed over and refined over the years and it is a pretty darn good barometer for what you’ll need on your trip.

Remember, pack light!