Whitewater Rafting in Arizona

The Grand Canyon is the reason most people first book a guided trip in Arizona, and the multi-day rafting expeditions on the Colorado River earn the reputation: days on the water between mile-high walls of exposed rock, camps on sandbars, rapids with names guides say with respect. But the canyon is only the opening act. Up on the Kaibab Plateau and through the Coconino National Forest, outfitters run hiking, mountain biking, and horseback trips through Ponderosa pine and canyon country, where the terrain slides from high desert to alpine in a single day's ride.

Southern Arizona is a different world. The Sonoran Desert around Tucson and Phoenix grows saguaro forests, actual forests of them, and the cooler months bring guided hiking, rock climbing, and desert mountain biking into their prime. Horseback rides through desert washes and along the mountain foothills are the classic Southwestern trip, still worth doing. Saguaro National Park and the Catalina Mountains host guided outings built around the desert's plants, animals, and light; many end deliberately at sunset, when the desert does its best work.

In the center of the state, Red Rock Country around Sedona trades subtlety for spectacle. Sandstone towers draw guided climbing and bouldering at every grade, while jeep tours rattle up rough tracks to views across the Verde Valley. The Mogollon Rim above offers a cooler escape, guided hiking and mountain biking under the pines. When flows allow, the Verde River adds guided kayaking and paddleboarding, a rare thing in a state this dry.

The specialty trips fill in the rest of the calendar: ziplines strung near the big scenic draws, OHV tours on backcountry routes. And Arizona has a genuine winter: the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff and the White Mountains in the east take on snow, and guides swap out for snowmobiles, snowshoes, and cross-country skis. Between the desert floor and the peaks, some region of the state is in season every month of the year.