Twisting and turning its way through southeastern Utah, the San Juan River is the perfect place to cool off during the hot summer months. Travel along this 383-mile long river to experience some of Utah’s most beautiful and unique land features, as the river runs from the mountain tops to the desert floor.

The San Juan River and its surrounding areas offer many great activities, including hiking, camping and sightseeing. One of the best ways to enjoy all that the river offers is through a guided river rafting tour. The San Juan River provides one of the country’s most unique desert river rafting trips because of the area’s scenery, geology and archeology.

Approximately 100 miles of the river is accessible to rafts, canoes and kayaks. This accessible area is split into two different sections: the upper and the lower. The upper section starts at Bluff and stretches for 27 miles to Mexican Hat, and the lower section starts at Mexican Hat and travels for 58 miles, ending at Clay Hills by Lake Powell.

Between these two sections, those floating on the river will experience sandstone bluffs, deep canyons and Lake Powell. Adventurers who float these parts will see a wide variety of amazing scenery, including the gorge of Goosenecks State Park, the ruins and petroglyphs of Bears Ears National Monument and the wide-open desert landscapes of the west.

Not only will a guided river rafting tour take adventurers to unique sites, but also assist with the permits required for some activities. Permits are needed to float along some parts of the San Juan River as well as to hike and camp in Navajo lands and some federal lands. Wild River Expeditions and Canyon Country Discovery Center are the perfect tour guides that will meet all of these permit and adventure needs.

Wild River Expeditions offers five different guided river rafting tours that range from day trips to multi-day excursions. The runnable area of the San Juan River is split into two different sectors, the upper and the lower, which the expedition guide bases its tours on. Wild River Expeditions offers three different river trips in the upper part and two in the lower.

The river guide company provides waterproof bags and boxes for personal items. Wild River Expeditions also supplies sleeping bags, pads and tents, but those items need to be reserved in advance. The company also provides and prepares all the meals for the multi-day expeditions and assists with all permit requirements. Wild River Expeditions offers river trips from March to October.

Canyon Country Discovery Center provides one single-day trip and three multi-day tours. The shorter tours are floated on the upper section of the San Juan River, whereas, one of the longer tours runs from the upper to the lower section and another tour is only on the lower. The company also offers five different types of river rafting signature trips for adults that runs for one specific week. These trips are held at different times from March to September.

To help with the travel, Canyon Country Discovery Center schedules all of its rafting trips to start late afternoon on the first day and end early on the last. A minimum number of participants are required in order to book a regular river rafting tour. Also, for the signature tours, be sure to book in advance because these tours have a limited number of seats and the spots fill up fast. The company also provides meals, snacks, dry backs and more for all river trips.Canyon Country Discovery Center offers river trips from April to October, conditions allowing.

With both of these river guide outfitters, you will receive more than just a river tour, but an entire adventure. So what are you waiting for? Let your river experience start today. To learn more about river rafting on the San Juan River and how to book a trip with Wild River Expeditions or Canyon Country Discovery Center, visit utahscanyoncountry.com