The ultimate river trip: 226 river miles from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek through the heart of the Grand Canyon, past billion-year-old rock, world-class rapids, and hidden waterfalls only accessible by river.
“Row the Colorado from river mile 0 at Lees Ferry through the deepest gorge in North America on a permit most people wait years to draw.”
Plan your GC Rafting trip here, then enter the lottery.
Lottery permit
NPS assigns Grand Canyon noncommercial river trips by a weighted lottery on its own system. Apply online during the first three weeks of February for launches the next year. Cancelled and left-over trips go back out in follow-up lotteries, which "typically open around noon on a Tuesday and close at noon Mountain Standard Time on a Thursday".
Official permit pagePlanning another trip? See the permits we alert on.
Closed after the August 29 flash flood
Boat Beach at Phantom Ranch
“Boat Beach is closed to all activities except emergencies and brief scouting of the new rapid formed at the mouth of Bright Angel Creek.”
Grand Canyon National Park. Read the closure notice
Lees Ferry is river mile 0 and the permitted run ends at Pearce Ferry, mile 279. Diamond Creek is at mile 226.
Lees Ferry
River mile 0
River mile 0 and the launch point for every 12-to-25-day noncommercial trip. Ranger checkout and orientation is at 3:00pm MST the day before launch.
Source: nps.gov
As of September 2026, GC Rafting in Colorado Plateau Rivers, Arizona requires a permit issued via lottery. GC Rafting is one of the most competitive permits in the United States, rating 10/10 on PermitSnag's demand index. The GC Rafting lottery opens Applications are accepted online for the first three weeks of February, for launches the following year and closes Closes at noon MST on the announced date, which has moved between February 21 and February 25 across recent cycles. Check grcariverpermits.nps.gov, with results announced Results are emailed and posted online by the end of February. The permit season for GC Rafting runs January 1 through December 31. The GC Rafting route covers 279 miles, rated expert.
Sign up at Grand Canyon National Park if you don't have an account. Verify your email and add payment info ahead of time.
Submit your application between Applications are accepted online for the first three weeks of February, for launches the following year and Closes at noon MST on the announced date, which has moved between February 21 and February 25 across recent cycles. Check grcariverpermits.nps.gov. Apply for multiple dates to increase your odds.
Results are announced Results are emailed and posted online by the end of February. Check your email and your Grand Canyon National Park account.
More on GC Rafting: Live availability activityWhen GC Rafting permits open upColorado River (Grand Canyon) permit itineraryDo I need a Colorado River permit?GC Rafting lottery odds
~6%
The Grand Canyon noncommercial river permit weighted lottery is one of the toughest draws in the country: the 2025 Main Lottery had 8,043 valid applications competing for 482 available launch dates, about 6%. Your odds improve each year you apply and don't win.
Source: NPS — Grand Canyon Weighted Lottery · Grand Canyon Backcountry Information Center — 2024 Backcountry and River Use Statistics.
GC Rafting permit fee: $25 lottery application + $90 river permit per person + $20 entrance fee per person 16 and over.
Row the Colorado from river mile 0 at Lees Ferry through the deepest gorge in North America on a permit most people wait years to draw.
A noncommercial Grand Canyon river trip runs from Lees Ferry at river mile 0 down the Colorado, most often taking out at Diamond Creek. The permitted corridor extends to river mile 279 near Pearce Ferry.
Launch dates come from a weighted lottery, a system the park selected in 2006. The main lottery is held each February for trips launching the following year, and applications are accepted online for the first three weeks of February. The 2026 main lottery was drawn on February 28, 2025 and awarded 412 launch dates (336 standard-size and 76 small-size), spread across the whole of 2026. The National Park Service publishes per-date statistics for every lottery it runs: for 2026, individual dates were listed on anywhere from 8 to 257 applications, and the winning application for a given date held between 1 and 41 chances.
Shorter 2-to-5-day trips launching from Diamond Creek work completely differently. Those permits are released one year in advance and are first-come, first-served, with no lottery at all.
Private trips launch at Lees Ferry, river mile 0. The permitted corridor runs to river mile 279 near Pearce Ferry, though most noncommercial trips take out at Diamond Creek, where the Hualapai Tribe charges a separate per-person, per-boat and per-vehicle fee to use the access road.
How long you get depends on when you launch. A noncommercial oar trip to Diamond Creek can run 25 days in January, February, November and December, 21 days in March, April, late September and October, 18 days in the first half of September, and 16 days from May through August. Motors are only allowed April through September 15, and are capped at 12 days.
The day before you launch, the Lees Ferry Ranger runs a checkout and orientation at 3:00pm MST, and every trip member has to be there with photo identification. After that it is your group's problem: all human waste and charcoal ash comes down the river with you, gathering firewood is prohibited, and nobody on the trip may be paid to be there.
This is the hardest private river permit in the country to get, and the National Park Service has run it as a weighted lottery since 2006 precisely because demand never let up. The 2026 main lottery, drawn on February 28, 2025, put 412 launch dates in play for the whole calendar year. Individual dates drew anywhere from 8 to 257 applications.
You are a mile below the rim with no way out but downstream. The walls stack up in bands you can read like a calendar, and the oldest rock at the bottom is older than almost anything else you will ever touch. Between rapids the canyon goes quiet enough to hear the boats work. Then Lava Falls arrives and the quiet is gone. By the second week the world above the rim stops feeling real.
Best for: Boaters who have rowed big water and can commit two to three weeks to a trip with no exit.
Recommended experience: Substantial Class IV experience on your own oars plus multi-day self-support expedition skills. Someone on the trip needs to have run it before.
Not recommended for: Anyone whose whitewater experience is commercial day trips, and anyone who cannot clear the calendar for the full permitted trip length.
Trailhead information
River mile 0 and the launch for all 12-to-25-day noncommercial trips.
All trip members must be present for the Lees Ferry Ranger checkout and orientation at 3:00pm MST the day before launch, and must show photo identification.
Reached from US 89A near Marble Canyon, Arizona.
Marble Canyon and Page, Arizona.
Trailhead information
The standard noncommercial take-out, and also the launch for 2-to-5-day trips.
Access is over the Hualapai Tribe's Diamond Creek Road. The Tribe charges a fee for each person, boat and vehicle, and permits must be arranged in advance.
Peach Springs, Arizona.
Spring and fall are the sweet spot for weather, and they also come with longer permitted trip lengths: 21 days in March, April, late September and October, against 16 days from May through August. Midwinter launches get the maximum 25 days and near-total solitude in exchange for cold. Summer trips are hot enough at river level that shade becomes a serious piece of equipment.
Mild air temperatures and the longest shoulder-season trip lengths: 21 days in March and April.
Crowd level · moderate
Extreme heat at river level and the shortest permitted trip length of the year, 16 days May through August.
Crowd level · high
The best all-round window. Trip lengths stretch to 18 days in the first half of September and 21 days from mid-September through October.
Crowd level · moderate
Cold, short days, and the maximum 25-day permitted trip length in January, February, November and December.
Crowd level · low
Trailhead (1,320 ft)
Today
72°
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53%
Wed
80°
62°
47%
Thu
87°
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Fri
90°
71°
Sat
91°
73°
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89°
73°
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84°
70°
Reflected light is what matters down here. The best inner-gorge light is bounced off a sunlit wall onto a shaded one, which happens for a few minutes near sunrise and sunset.
The inner gorge needs midday sun to reach the water at all. Side canyons are the opposite: they photograph best fully shaded, when nothing in frame is blown out.
The permit system does the work: launches are spaced and there is no way for the corridor to get busy. Winter launches get the longest trip lengths, 25 days in January, February, November and December, and the fewest other boats.
Emergency contacts, ranger station locations, and satellite communicator tips for GC Rafting.
Bear canister requirements, approved container lists, and rental locations for this permit.
Gear Checklist: Required and recommended gear for GC Rafting · Shuttle Services: Trailhead transportation options · Guide Services: Experienced wilderness guides
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The National Park Service selected a weighted lottery for the noncommercial river permit system in 2006. A main lottery is held each February to assign launch dates for trips occurring the next year, and applications are accepted online for the first three weeks of February. Applications carry chances that weight the draw, and applicants may list up to five launch date options.
The 2026 main lottery, run on February 28, 2025, awarded 412 launch dates (336 standard-size and 76 small-size), spread across the full 2026 calendar year.
The National Park Service's official lottery statistics report per-launch-date figures: for 2026, individual dates appeared on between 8 and 257 applications, and the application that won a given date held between 1 and 41 chances.
It is $25 to submit a lottery application, paid once per launch year. Winners pay a $200 small trip or $400 standard trip deposit that applies toward final costs, then $90 river permit cost per participant plus a $20 entrance fee per participant aged 16 and over. Participants added after the permit is issued cost an extra $100 each.
No more than 16 people for a standard group or 8 people for a small group at any point in the trip, counting the trip leader and all passengers.
It depends on your launch month. For noncommercial oar trips from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek the maximum is 25 days in January, February, November and December, 21 days in March, April, late September and October, 18 days September 1 to 15, and 16 days May through August. Motorized trips are only allowed April through September 15 and are capped at 12 days.
Yes, on the lower section. Permits for 2-to-5-day noncommercial trips launching from Diamond Creek are available one year in advance and are distributed first-come, first-served.
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The 2-to-5-day lower canyon run launching from Diamond Creek. These permits are released one year in advance and distributed first-come, first-served, with no lottery.
A far shorter trip that misses the upper canyon entirely, but it is the only way to run Grand Canyon whitewater without a lottery draw.
A multi-day Green River trip through Utah canyon country with a much less competitive permit.
Smaller water and a shorter trip, but the same self-support desert-canyon rhythm and a permit you can realistically get.
A friendlier southern Utah desert river that works as a training trip for a Grand Canyon launch you have not drawn yet.
Much easier whitewater and much easier permits, which is exactly the point while you wait out the lottery.
Build your full itinerary start to finish
Add your dates and get a day-by-day plan: what needs a permit, what gear to bring, and one link to share with your whole group to coordinate every step.
No permit needed to start
Two ways to land it
We remind you when the GC Rafting lottery opens, before the deadline, and when results post, so you never miss your window. This permit is awarded by lottery, so there are no cancellations to catch.
Set lottery remindersApply with a crew. Each person multiplies your combined odds. We coordinate invites, deadlines, and outcomes.
See plans to start a poolBest odds: run a pool and let us remind you before every deadline.
Better odds with a crew
GC Rafting permits are drawn by lottery. Every friend who applies adds another entry, so a crew gets more shots at the same permit than any one of you alone.
One of you runs the pool (Pro or a $19 alert). Everyone else joins free.
Auto win-detection tells you the moment your GC Rafting application wins, so you never have to check Grand Canyon National Park. It reads the result email you forward us, so it takes a one-time setup in your inbox (about two minutes, and we walk you through it). Auto win-detection is on Pro or a $19 permit alert.
Turn on auto win-detectionOpens the official lottery. You submit your entry. We never automate or store your Grand Canyon National Park login.
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