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Colorado River Canoeing: History of Rivers in the West

Jun 29 - Jul 1, 2019

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Trip Fees

Adult

$394

Kids

$354

Discount*

Student

Deposit**

$100

** Deposits must be made per person.

Ken Neubecker will be the facilitator for this trip. Ken is the Colorado Projects Director for American Rivers, a national river conservation organization. He is also the Environmental Representative on the Colorado River Basin Roundtable, a member of the Hutchins Water Center at Colorado Mesa University Advisory Council and a past President of Colorado Trout Unlimited. He has been involved with western water and river issues for over 25 years. Ken also teaches a class in Watershed Science and Land Use Policy at Colorado Mountain College.

Ken first became seriously involved in river conservation with the Homestake II project and the Eagle Mine disaster in Eagle County, Colorado. He was one of the authors of the Eagle River Watershed Management Plan and a co-founder of the Eagle River Watershed Council. Ken has also served on the Eagle County Planning Commission and the Governor’s Forest Health Advisory Council.

Ken is a graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (BA, Geology) and the University of Colorado – Boulder (M.Ed., Experiential Education). Over the past 35 years Ken has worked as a professional land surveyor, naturalist, wilderness and river guide, writer, photographer, teacher and organizer. He lives in Garfield County, Colorado, with his wife, Paula Fothergill and their “river schnauzer” Gus.

See QUICK LINKS on the right sidebar for aditional information such as Itinerary, What to Bring, Map, What Makes it Fun, etc.

This spectacular canyon country of the Colorado Plateau, including Ruby and Horsethief Canyons, features majestic walls of red sandstone and offers some of the best canoeing in Colorado. The river is gentle with occasional small Class I+ rapids to add spice to the journey (Class I is easy and Class V is difficult). Roads do not bound this portion of the river and the steep-walled canyons are accessible only from the river, giving the area a true wilderness setting.

You’ll be amazed at stands of shiny granite sculpted by water through the ages while paddling or floating in your life jacket past the remnants of ancient metamorphic rock, called Black Rock. Camping along the river’s banks and exploring a deep box canyon will leave you awed by the immensity of geologic time and the silence of the wilderness. This is BIG COUNTRY and a geologist’s paradise. Many of our educational classes focus on this area. This stretch of river near Grand Junction, CO, is ideal for canoeing. The Colorado River canoe trip is 26 miles.