Trip Report: San Raphael River - Little Grand Canyon
LENGTH: 2 Days/1 Night
PADDLE: 18 miles
CLASS: Class I (II)
SEASON: May 2024
CFS: ~250cfs
WATER: Filter or BYOW
PERMITS: None
LINKS: American Whitewater Association
Put In: Fullers Bottom Draw (39.119565137974654,-110.8548802489916)
Take Out: San Raphael Bridge (39.0811992,-110.6689424)
Day 1: Fullers Bottom Draw to Virgin Spring Canyon
Setting shuttle for the Little Grand is thankfully much easier than Escalante! We met in the morning at San Raphael Bridge and headed down to Fullers Bottom. The road was easy, following a stunning canyon in the swelling, passing the Buckskin Panel, and eventually opening up to a large open desert. There was plenty of parking at Fullers Bottom, and a few places to camp. We packed up and launched, the water was swift, muddy, and full of sticks.
Floating was smooth and easy, after a couple miles the river finds its way back to the Swell, and the canyon walls start to creep up on either side of the river. We got a little bit of rain and thunder on the first day, so we pulled off a couple times for the downpours. There are several sidequests you can take on this portion of the river, but be ready to pull off and grab the reeds! There are very very eddys!
First Panel (3.8 miles)
Sorrel Mule Mine (4.6 miles)
Salt Wash (5.6 miles)
Virgin Spring Canyon (8.7 miles)
We stopped at the canyon just past the Virgin Spring Canyon and traversed the shelf over the river back to the spring. The spring was cool, and as we walked back to camp, we caught a
Day 2: Virgin Spring Canyon to San Raphael Bridge
Day 2 was hot and sunny! We got on the water and headed down to the bridge. The Little Grand Canyon started just a mile below camp and it did not disappoint. The Wedge is impressive to see from both sides.
We stopped at Cane Wash (Mile ***) to let the doggos run around a little and check out the last panel. The panel is easy to find, take the first trail you see on the left as you are looking up the wash (away from the river), and it will be in overhung cave.
Notes
Even though it’s a Class I - there are some quick corners with some shitty trees and rocks, so be aware of friends and beginners you bring on the river
You can definitely SUP if you take your fins off
You can do it in a day, but overnight is better at low flows
Bring your water, its a short trip and not worth filtering
Take ALL the sidequests!
The banks of the San Raph are MUDDY - wear shoes that firmly attach to your feet
