GCW’s Grand Canyon rafting season runs from April to October. The beginning and end of that time period is considered ‘shoulder-season’ and the amount of rafting trips offered is limited as we ramp up or down for the season. Because of the beautiful, cooler weather that April typically offers, Grand Canyon Whitewater chooses to run all our raft trips in April as Hiker’s Specials. What that means is we take our regularly scheduled trip lengths and extend them a bit so that we give guests ample time to explore the Canyon. We do longer hikes than we are able to do on our regular trips and we’ll make more stops for side canyon exploration than normal. Guests on these trips can expect to need their hiking boots and should train, pre-trip, so that they have the opportunity to take advantage of all the hiking options! A few other perks of April Hiker’s Special trips include the opportunity to be in the Grand Canyon with fewer other rafting groups and to see the beautiful, desert spring bloom! These trips often book well in advance, so check them out early!