Paddling Westwater Canyon on the Colorado River

Westwater Canyon on the Colorado River is the perfect fix when you want some true whitewater, stunning scenery, and a remote wilderness experience—but you don’t have much time. Just a few miles from Grand Junction, Colorado, this section is easily accessible from I-70.

Although I’ve run it more often as a day trip than as an overnight, I highly recommend spending a night in this picturesque section of the Canyonlands. The whitewater goes by fast, but with an overnight stay you can hike to some historical points of interest or just take in some scenery with the exhilarating roar of rapids as the backdrop.

Here’s a guide to planning a Westwater Canyon trip, including how to pull a permit, descriptions of the rapids, where to camp, and what to watch out for—including flat stretches.

Much of the talk about Westwater focuses on the notoriously tricky Skull Rapid, which sits just upstream of the Room of Doom, a mega-eddy on river right that is exceedingly difficult to exit at most water levels. Aside from this one spot, the rest of the whitewater section is a series of challenging but straightforward read-and-run rapids. The water is big and fast, so this isn’t a good pick for beginning paddlers. Anyone who ends up in the water needs to be an assertive self-rescuer to avoid long swims. But those who are comfortable with a few miles of quick-fire Class III and Class IV rapids will eat this up.

Major rapids in Westwater Canyon

Westwater Canyon has about a dozen Class II-IV rapids in the whole stretch, but aside from one Class II about 3.5 miles in, most of the action starts at Little Dolores Rapid, a Class III rapid about 7 miles from the put-in. Once you get past Dolores (where you might also camp, as four campsites are clustered in this area), you’ll encounter 9 more Class III or IV (Skull) rapids in less than 3 miles. Here’s a rundown of the notable rapids, most of which are big wave trains that can be run down the middle except in lower water, where you’ll need a left or right route to avoid emerging pour-overs.

1. Little Dolores is straight-ahead waves. After miles of relatively flat water, this will give everyone a heads-up of what’s to come.
2. Marble Canyon is a big wave train at high water; run right at lower water (we ran right at 3,500 cfs).
3. Staircase Rapid: At lower water, stay left to avoid right-side pour-over.
4. Big Hummer: Stay right at lower water (pour-over is mid-channel).
5. Funnel Falls: A narrow chute through some strong waves even at lower water.
6. Surprise: At lower water, stay left of center but watch the hole on the left.
7. Skull Rapid (Class IV): Because Westwater rapids are impossible to scout, we highly recommend you do some research on YouTube on the best route through Skull Rapid given your targeted water level. At 3,500 cfs, the best route (based on our video research beforehand followed by direct experience) was to cut sharply to river left just above Skull and skate past it on the left. Anyone who tried to run the slot to the right of Skull had a worse time of it. (Here’s the video that became our schoolbook.)
8. Bowling Alley: Stay right to avoid mid-river boulders in lower water.
9. Sock It To Me: Left run with a maneuver to the right after the lateral waves at the bottom.
10. Last Chance: Stay left and enjoy the last big waves!

Here’s a video clip of the view from the inflatable kayak paddled by Audrey Crockett and me through most of these rapids.

After Last Chance, it’s just 5+ miles of riffles to the Cisco take-out. Big Horn and Bald Eagle camps are in this stretch.

What to watch for in Westwater Canyon 

Westwater is a perfect weekend trip for anyone who loves some serious whitewater. But here are a few things to watch for.

1. Relatively flat stretches at the beginning and end of the trip. Even in the winter, Westwater Canyon runs at 2000+ cfs and there’s plenty of gradient. But if you’re trying to run the canyon in a day, make sure you get an early start so you won’t get stuck rowing against an upriver wind as the light fades. 

2. Rescues are difficult. All the whitewater in Westwater is condensed into about 3 miles, and scouting is essentially impossible. This section is best for paddlers who are comfortable reading and running and are adept at self-rescue. One of the most likely places for paddlers to get in trouble, the aforementioned Skull Rapid, also has the most serious consequences for swimmers or paddlers who end up in the Room of Doom eddy just downstream. At certain levels, the eddy line is nearly impossible to get across even for an oarsman. Another factor to consider: There aren’t many parties on the river at the same time, so you’ll encounter few other groups and likely never at the moment when you need an extra throw rope.

3. Few campsites. Campsites are designated at launch (more details on that below), so every group will have a place to camp. But the spots are clustered just above the rapids and just below the rapids. It’s best to plan to launch early in the day to give yourself the most flexibility if you get a campsite that’s downstream of the big rapids. The ideal spots are one of the sites near Little Dolores rapid: You will have already paddled several miles but then you can relax in camp and get psyched up for the next day’s rapids.
4. No dogs allowed. Honestly, this stretch is too much whitewater for most dogs anyway, but keep in mind you’ll need to make other arrangements for the hounds.

Best of Westwater Canyon 

Westwater is an ideal weekend whitewater trip that’s fairly easy from a logistics perspective but gets you into a remote area with some seriously respectable rapids.

1. Nearly year-round river flows. You would certainly want to consider a dry suit for a winter run—as well as the consequences of a swim in cold winter water—but Westwater is almost always runnable. 
2. Challenging whitewater with a few miles of warm-up. All of the rapids come in fairly quick succession in the middle of the run, so you have a few miles to warm up, a few miles of zany whitewater, and a few more miles of calm water to the takeout. In the whitewater section, most of the rapids are straight-ahead Class III haystack waves that are just good clean fun for intermediate paddlers. Skull Rapid demands an extra level of concentration.
3. Classic canyon scenery and good hikes if you have time. Notable hikes are to Outlaw Cave, a likely prospector’s camp, just below Hades Bar camp. 

4. Easy permit system. Westwater permits are granted two months prior to the launch date, so you simply need to stake out a potential date and mark your calendar. Online reservations are available for booking starting at 8 am Mountain time. In low-demand times of the year, you can typically pick up an available permit on shorter notice: You can easily see available dates in the online calendar.
5. Uncrowded, wilderness experience. Because there are only 8 campsites in this stretch (a natural limitation of the remote terrain), you’ll encounter very few other parties on the river. This is an upside for the wilderness experience, but a downside if you run into trouble and could use some help from another party: That might be a long time coming.  

Planning a Westwater Canyon Trip

Here’s a play-by-play of logistics for putting together a Westwater trip. 

1. Choose your timing. Westwater Canyon is runnable from about 2,000 cfs to about 30,000 cfs. A super friendly water level is about 3,500 cfs: You can get across the eddy line at the Room of the Doom fairly easily, most of the rocks still have plenty of water coverage, and you can punch most of the holes. At this level, the best route on Skull is to run left—or at least in our most recent trip, everyone who stayed left of Skull stayed upright.

2. Assemble your group. You can have groups of up to 25 people, but we think 10 or fewer is ideal both because the campsites tend to be small and because it’s easier to safely manage a smaller crew in this remote canyon. Especially in the whitewater section, you’ll want to keep boats close together to more easily rescue swimmers.
3. Reserve your Westwater permit at Recreation.gov. Permits are required year-round, and booking opens at 8 am Mountain time two months before the targeted launch date. You’ll need to specify your group size to reserve a spot, but you can edit the number. 
4. Study the guides. Here are a few to check out:
   • Rivermaps Guide to the Colorado & Green Rivers in the Canyonlands of Utah & Colorado
   • Belknap’s Waterproof Canyonlands River Guide
   • Westwater Lost and Found by Mike Milligan, recommended to us by the BLM ranger who assigned our campsite (and grabbed a ride back from the take-out with us). He also recommended a stop at the Buzzard Belly General Store, which is just a few miles from the Cisco Boat Ramp.
5. Decide whether you’ll run it as a day trip or overnight trip. We highly recommend an overnight trip: This canyon is too spectacular to rush through, although we’ve certainly done that a time or two as circumstances dictated. If you run it as an overnight, the launch date will also be your camp night. 
6. If you tend to run late in launching (as we do), you’ll want to camp above the whitewater and run it in the morning. But be mentally prepared to run the rapids on either the first day or on the second day. The local ranger will assign you one of the 8 available campsites that morning, and it’s likely going to be right above the 3-mile stretch of rapids (near Little Dolores), or not far below the whitewater section. Pro tip: The earlier you are demonstrably ready to launch, the more influence you can exert on your campsite choice. Just having your stuff near the launch isn’t enough: Have your shuttle run, everything rigged, and lifejackets on as early as possible to get the spot of your dreams.

7. Reserve your Westwater campsite. Sure, you could roll in the morning of the launch. But it’s best to be on site when you wake up in the morning for the aforementioned campsite bestowment process. A note about camping at Westwater Boat Ramp: It’s fun, but loud. All the sites are tucked in fairly close to each other, and people tend to stay up late or roll in late, so don’t expect a long night of sleep. 
8. Map out the shuttle route. Westwater Canyon is easy-access: The Westwater Boat Ramp even has its own exit off I-70 (Westwater, exit 227, named for the now-defunct town). The take-out is at Cisco Boat Ramp 17 miles downstream. The shuttle is an easy DIY, about 40 minutes each way on hard-packed dirt roads. (You can also take a parallel, but longer, route on I-70.)  Watch for muddy roads in the rare instance of heavy recent rainfall. Whatever you do, don’t be sucked in by the Kokopelli trail, even if Google Maps tells you that’s a viable option for vehicles. It’s more of a mountain biking trail. If you want to hire a shuttle, here’s a BLM-provided list of shuttle companies for Westwater Canyon trips.

9. Be prepared for camps with long hours of shade or long hours of sun. As with any desert trip, the temperature can be uncomfortably cool or uncomfortably hot depending on when the sun drops behind the canyon walls. Bring some sun protection for midsummer trips, and pack some extra fleece for early fall trips. 
10. Note the BLM-required gear: Groover (toilet system—check out Picking the Best River Toilet for a buying guide) for overnight trips, firepan, first-aid kit, repair kits for every boat, and an extra oar/paddle/motor capable of moving the boat, throw bags, whistles. Check the BLM Westwater Canyon use stipulations for the full list of required gear and regulations. Also plan to bring your own water. 

Westwater Canyon is an unbeatable option nearly year-round as a whitewater stretch that’s easy to plan and serves up good, clean fun for intermediate to advanced paddlers. You simply need to think two months ahead to snag a permit. Grab your calendar.