Colorado White Water Rafting With Kids

We knew we wanted to go white water rafting while we were on this trip, but there were a couple of challenges. The first challenge was fitting it into our schedule. The main mission of our trip was to visit and experience as many National Parks as possible. We had such limited time at each Park and we didn’t want to take anything away from that. Second, Dax just turned 5 and barely weighs 40 pounds. That seems to be a deal breaker for many of the rafting companies I looked into.

After much research, I found something that would work. We could fit a rafting trip into the schedule between our 12th and 13th National Parks. The company I found would allow Dax to raft, although they did weigh him when we arrived!

We went with Scenic River Tours in Gunnison, Colorado. As soon as we arrived, our guide Andrew came over and introduced himself and was there to answer any and all of our (Trent’s) million questions. He couldn’t have been nicer or more patient. Brian and I didn’t have proper “river shoes” but the company had a large selection of shoes to borrow. They seemed clean… enough. And better than losing my flip flops again like in Lava Hot Springs!

Once we were all fitted with life jackets, we loaded into the van, took a 10-minute ride and arrived at the river. Andrew went over safety instructions with us, answered more questions (Trent’s), and instructed us how to paddle in sync.

Brian and I appreciated how Andrew thoughtfully arranged all of us in the boat so we felt comfortable with where the boys were sitting in relation to where we were sitting. In our sight at all times and within easy arms’ reach… perfect.

The boys both decided they didn’t want to paddle, and that was absolutely fine with our guide. No pressure at all. Overall, it was a very mild trip with some fun rapids thrown in, but not as many as we would have liked. Although that’s probably to be expected when you have little ones on board. When they’re older, watch out!

Dax eventually decided that he DID want to paddle… definitely thought I was going to owe the rafting company a replacement!

We got to some extra-fun rapids towards the end of the trip. This one was called “Mr. Big”. Did anyone else just belt out “Hold on little girl, show me what he’s done to you, Stand up little girl…”? Anyone? Circa 1991?

Anyway, Mr. Big was exciting! Exhilarating! I grabbed ahold of my kids just in case!

The rafting trip was fun, but by the end, I was glad we were done. We chose the 3-hour trip and for most of it, the weather was absolutely gorgeous – warm and sunny. By the end however, we were a little wet, the clouds had moved in and it was starting to drizzle. But our timing was perfect and we got back just before the real rain began. We took the used shoes off our feet, changed into dry clothes and felt great!

I love that these boys are always up for whatever adventure we throw their way!

One last thing… Trent made me take a picture of this McDonald’s sign because it is so different! Just one arch! He’s actually never had McDonald’s (yes, I am that weird parent) but of course he knows what the sign is supposed to look like. Has anyone ever seen a McDonald’s sign like this? I wonder if this is the only one?