Grand Canyon Rafting and Camping FAQ

My parents talked about a family Grand Canyon rafting trip for years (sans the kids!). Making it happen was a pretty intimidating prospect. Not only do you need to find an outfitter and book well in advance, but you also have to mentally prepare and physically pack for camping at the bottom of the Canyon for multiple nights (up to two weeks). 

For me, the anxiety about a week living in the wilderness started several months before our trip. Hopefully this post will take some of the mystery out of the camping experience and quell fears about Grand Canyon rafting trips. The idea is to get over the associated mental hurdles and enjoy the experience!

Literally, number one…

The Park Service wants all urine from rafting trip guests to go in the river.  There are limited campsites for river trips to use, and the campsites would be really stinky if everyone used the beach as a urinal. 

During the day, women usually squat and urinate in the shallow water. It was also possible for us to pee off the back of the boat, which was very convenient. 

At night, the guides give everyone plastic buckets for using near their cots. People rinse out the buckets in the morning, and the guides pack them for the day. The buckets were really easy to use. The second night we were on the river, however, there were large gusts of wind. My sisters and I had a pretty funny conversation about how to weigh down the pee bucket, so it would not blow away (or blow over and get pee everywhere). One of my sisters proposed the “right” solution, which was to put some river water in the bucket to weigh it down before going to bed. 

If you have difficulty squatting to take care of business, there are devices that allow women to take a whiz while standing.  One member of our group found this to be very useful in the evening, because she has knee issues. I panicked and bought a Tinkle Belle at the meeting the night before we launched. It was used exactly one time before I decided I should have saved my money.

Literally, number two…

I was super happy to find out that we would not be digging holes to bury our poo. In fact, this part of the camping experience felt downright civilized to me.

The “bathroom” was the first thing set up at every campsite and taken down before departing in the morning. This port-a-potty was a steel box that the guides would set up in a private area of the campsite. A handwash station was set up at the potty entrance, and there was a plastic bag with toilet paper rolls left next to the handwash station. A person taking advantage of the facilities would bring the bag of toilet paper to the private area. This way, everyone would know that the restroom was occupied, and the user would not be disturbed. After the kids were dropped off at the pool, the user would put the plastic bag and toilet paper next to the handwash station and (hopefully!) wash their hands. 

The steel box only smelled like the toilets on the third day of a music festival every-other-day.  Once a steel box reached maximum poopacity, the guides would seal it up and stow it away, never to be seen again.  This usually resulted in a fresh box every other day.

What happens when nature calls during day? Don’t Worry! The guides have literally thought of everything.  They will give you a Toilet-To-Go, affectionately called a Wag Bag. This silver bag contains an interior, film bag for collecting the excrement, as well as a small roll of toilet paper and a hand sanitizing wipe. The toilet paper and wipe get rolled up in the film bag with the waste, you try to remove as much air as possible from the bag, and the top of the silver bag zips closed. Your guides will put the used Wag Bag wherever bathroom stuff goes for packing out, and everyone washes their hands. 

Hand Washing and Norovirus

Hand washing in general is a huge deal on these river trips. Norovirus outbreaks are not uncommon among guests of rafting trips and will leave people suffering from vomiting and diarrhea for seventy-two hours. The virus can live in water and sand for up to twenty-one days, so vomit and diarrhea cannot go in the river. Our guides told stories of occasionally having to set up the camp toilet on the deck of a raft (just the thought makes me want to vomit). This and other illnesses are bad news in such a remote location. The Park Service has, therefore, mandated that outfitters provide handwash stations with river water “sanitized” with bleach.

You will be instructed to wash your hands before every meal, as well as any time you go back for a second helping or dessert. Grand Canyon Expeditions has a specific process for handwashing at mealtime. You wash your hands with the bleach water and soap, then let them air dry (do not touch anything, including your clothes!). After this is done, you can feel free to load up your plate. 

Dry Skin

When you are preparing for a Grand Canyon rafting trip, you should expect your skin to get very dry from the constant hand washing and the overall dry, desert climate. I highly recommend tackling this issue from the outset. Don’t plan to rely on your regular moisturizer or lotion, which might be fine for your face, but will not keep the rest of your body comfortable. Pack plenty of thick moisturizing ointment, such as Aquaphor. The ointment I brought is made by Cerave and came in a tube that was small enough to take through airport security in a carry-on. 

Feet and hands tend to get particularly dry. It’s easy enough to use ointment on your hands and not attract all the sand on the beach where you are camping. Feet are a bit trickier.  I came up with a foot care routine that worked really well for me in the evenings. 

• The first step was to clean as much sand as possible off my feet. If the river was easily accessible, it was pretty easy to wash my feet off in the water and let them air dry. Baby wipes are handy when the river is not accessible.  
• The next step was to put a good amount of ointment on my feet, then cover them with clean socks.  The socks are key because they allow you to walk in the sand (to pee in your bucket, or whatever) without a ton of sand sticking to the ointment. I only made that mistake once! Sand shakes off the socks fairly easily before you lie down, and I just slept with them on. 

Sleeping

A couple of our neighbors went on a similar rafting trip with AZRA in May. They were not provided with cots (although I saw on AZRA’s website that they allow you to bring a cot, as long as it will fit in your dry bag). Grand Canyon Expeditions provided us with cots, sleeping bags, tarps, and sleeping pads. It took a couple of nights to get comfortable with setting up the cots. By the third night, it was second nature! Tents were available, but we heard that they are a hassle to use because they must be carefully weighed down. 

Amazingly, there are very few bugs in the Grand Canyon. A healthy bat population keeps them at bay.  Sleeping on our cots was very comfortable. There were no bugs buzzing in our ears at night, an experience seared into my memory from camping in Texas as a child. I usually started sleeping on top of my sleeping bag (on top of the cot), then woke up in the middle of the night and got in my sleeping bag. Temperatures are much higher in July and August. If you are rafting the Grand Canyon in mid to late summer, you might not be using your sleeping bag. 

Sleeping on the beach in the Grand Canyon was extremely comfortable. Part of that was the great weather, which had not yet heated up too much. However, I thought the cot was a major improvement over sleeping on the hard ground. 

It is hard to beat sleeping in the fresh air and seeing a spectacular night sky!

In Conclusion

This article tackles what I think are some of the most common questions about rafting and camping the Grand Canyon. There are probably other issues that freak you out when you think about multiple days of rafting and camping on the sandy beaches of the Colorado River. For example, I am sure many people are worried about whether there will be enough food options for their particular palate. 

My recommendation is to put your trust in your guides when it comes to these concerns. They really have seen and done it all when it comes to Grand Canyon rafting. If you have questions, ask! You can even call ahead of time to inquire about specific issues. It is pretty tough to surprise or freak out these people, and they will help make your packing and preparations as painless as possible.