You’ve won a Grand Canyon permit. Congratulations! Now you need to figure out the food buy, organize the equipment, knock out the shuttles, and well, a million other things. Or not…The Grand Canyon offers a service that is nearly unmatched on any other river, and that’s private outfitting. Private outfitting means the logistics are figured out for you, the menu is planned, the food buy and pack is complete, and the equipment is loaded up and good to go. All you need to do is get to Lee’s Ferry. And if you can’t do that, they’ll even drive you in as well.
Complete packages
The four Grand Canyon private outfitting companies all offer a complete package. In essence, this is everything you need to run a Grand Canyon trip minus your personal gear such as your own sleeping bag, tent, and clothing. They provide the rafts, the menu and meals (packed into coolers too), and groover set up.
Why not bring your own equipment?
This is a good question, and I would normally think the same thing for any other river, but the Grand is different.
- A longer trip is harder to plan a menu for. Grand Canyon trips are long, much longer than the typical multi-day in the United States. This means menu planning is more challenging and will be different than what you’re typically used to. Using an outfitter eliminates the planning, shopping and packing headache that you would have to figure out on your own.
- Your gear can get beat up on the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon has fine silt, and it’s everywhere. This silt gets in your equipment and can muck up everything that it touches unless you meticulously clean your equipment after you get back. And guess what you really don’t want to do after finishing a 21 day Grand Canyon rafting trip? Carefully clean your equipment.
- Private outfitters have 18 foot rafts. You might too, but odds are you don’t. 18 foot rafts are the Cadillacs of the Canyon. They’re hard to turn over and can carry plenty of food and equipment.
- They’ll take care of your crap. Literally. This is probably the best part, but they’ll handle your groovers post trip for you. Money well spent.
How much does it cost?
You won’t be able to get an estimate from any of the four companies unless you submit a request outlining your group specifics. This is because there are many variables such as the number of people, length of trip, menu, and shuttles. Generally speaking though, you should expect to pay between $65 – $85 per person per day for a full trip.
| Name | Website | Phone | Name of their full package |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon REO | https://www.canyonreo.com/ | 800-637-4604 | Deluxe Package |
| Ceiba | https://www.ceibaadventures.com/ | 928-527-0171 | Whole Shabang! |
| Moenkopi Riverworks | https://www.moenkopiriverworks.com/ | 928-526-6622 | Door to Door |
| P.R.O. (Professional River Outfitters) | https://www.proriver.com/ | 800-648-3236 | Painless Private |