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Wide, wind-rippled river filling the lower third of the frame between dark shadowed sandstone benches 38.2083°N 109.8886°W October 8, 2025 · 4,490 CFS · 75°F
Trip Report

Cataract Canyon — October 2025

A two-person October 2025 run at 6,790 cfs with Lake Powell at 3,544 feet — low-water Cataract in the shoulder season, cold nights, five-day pace. The Big Drops ran technical and bony; the lower canyon exposed sediment shelves that didn't match any guidebook.

5 days 5,610 cfs 2 people raft
Season fall
Launch October 8, 2025
Flow 5,610 cfs
Water 62°F avg
(USGS)
Lake Powell 3544.13 ft
Conditions

6,790 CFS

5 days
5,610 cfs
16 ft/mi
1 boats
79 photos
Day 1 October 8, 2025

Day 1

4,290 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 62°F

Warm low-angle sunlight strikes only the top of a red sandstone butte above shadowed, stepped canyon benches, with a dark band of riverside trees across the foreground.
A tall banded red sandstone cliff rises above a rubble slope and a green scrub-lined riverbank, photographed from water level with slight motion blur under a clear blue sky.
A wide flat stretch of the Colorado River sits in shadow between dark canyon walls, with one sunlit orange patch of rock on the right-hand rim under a deep blue sky.
Warm low sunlight lights a distant butte and rim above a bend of the Colorado River while the near walls stand in shadow; the brown water carries a rippled reflection of the lit rock.
A thin band of warm sunlight burns along the highest cliffs and a butte cap above stepped red benches, with the still brown river reflecting the wall in the foreground.
Looking downstream on the Colorado between shadowed sandstone walls toward a warm-lit butte and rim, with rippled brown water filling the lower half of the frame.
A broad warm-lit sandstone wall and butte rise in layered ledges above a narrow green strip of riverside brush and the brown Colorado River.
A moonlit night on the river: a deep blue sky with lit clouds and a few stars over dark canyon walls, mirrored almost perfectly in glassy water.
A moonlit sandstone cliff face glows warm against a deep blue night sky with scattered clouds and stars; the handheld long exposure has smeared the whole frame.
A crew member sits silhouetted at the oars against a moonlit river; the moon burns through broken clouds overhead and lays a bright glitter path on the water, and a small green glow-stick shows on the rower's chest.
From the boat at night: a moonlit canyon wall glows warm on river left under a starry deep blue sky with streaked clouds, and the still water reflects the lit rock; a pale raft frame edges into the bottom of the frame.
A butte and canyon skyline stand as a flat black silhouette against a moonlit, cloud-streaked deep blue night sky; the entire foreground is dark.
Night view forward over a loaded raft deck — oars, a red dry bag, a white bucket and a coiled blue hose in the foreground — toward dark canyon walls under a moonlit cloudy sky.
A heavily motion-blurred night frame of a crew member in a ball cap at the oars, one arm raised, with moonlit clouds above the dark canyon rim and the river behind.
Night from the boat: a dark canyon wall with a pale seam of rock catching moonlight, a lit butte on the upper right under stars, and the raft's oar blade and frame silhouetted over ochre-lit water.
Day 2 October 9, 2025

Day 2

4,170 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 61°F

A white raft with an oar frame, bimini top and small outboard motor sits beached on a muddy bank below an undercut sandstone wall with a small alcove, a red dry bag and orange gear on the red sand terrace under flat overcast light.
Raindrops speckle the lens over a wide flat gray-brown river running below layered talus slopes and a flat-topped caprock butte, with a low green brush-covered bar along the left bank under heavy overcast.
A white metal sign with a red border reading "DANGER — CATARACT CANYON — HAZARDOUS RAPIDS 2 Mi — PERMIT REQUIRED FROM SUPERINTENDENT CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK FOR BOATING BELOW SPANISH BOTTOM" stands on two posts on a dry, broken rock slope with a small weathered register box beneath it and dry grass and brush all around.
Wide view downstream from a red sand bank: the brown river curves left between a tall red sandstone buttress on the right and a rubble-and-cliff slope on the left, with layered gray and red canyon walls closing the view under broken cumulus.
A hiker in a ball cap, dark T-shirt, camo shorts and sandals climbs a steep rocky trail carrying a white daypack with a yellow water bottle, banded sandstone spires visible at left and a juniper-topped ledge rising ahead under broken cloud.
Clusters of banded red-and-white sandstone spires rise above a pinyon-juniper bench, seen across a foreground of stacked, broken slickrock ledges under blue sky streaked with high cirrus.
Massive rounded sandstone boulders and banded, mushroom-capped columns crowd close overhead above a sandy floor, a juniper at right and thin cirrus in a deep blue sky.
A wide stand of red-and-white banded sandstone spires and domes rises above a pinyon-juniper bench and pale slickrock, with a tilted slab in the foreground under blue sky and streaked cloud.
A bearded hiker in a pink long-sleeve sun shirt, cap and sunglasses stands on pale slickrock among towering banded sandstone spires, a dead juniper and sagebrush in the foreground under broken cloud.
Long view across a deep layered canyon from a slickrock bench: pale rounded domes in the foreground, banded cliff terraces dropping away below, and a distant skyline of needle-like rock towers along the far rim under high thin cloud.
View from a juniper-dotted slickrock rim across a deep red-walled canyon to a hazy blue mountain range on the far horizon, with storm cloud spreading across the sky above it.
Camp on a sand bar at dusk: a blue roll-top table holding a camp stove and an insulated cup, dry bags and a black gear duffel on the sand, a fire burning in a metal fire pan on a ground cloth, a camp chair at right, and the bimini-framed raft tied off in the silty river below banded canyon walls.
A wide, wind-rippled sand bar runs down to a silty brown river with a riffle breaking along the far bank, cottonwoods and green brush lining the shore below banded gray and red canyon slopes under flat overcast.
Day 3 October 10, 2025

Day 3

4,950 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 61°F

A long, tilted bench of red sandstone ledges rises from a muddy riverbank to a fluted cliff and canyon rim under solid gray overcast, with the silty tan river curving along the lower right of the frame.
A stitched phone panorama shot from the rower's seat: the raft's gray bimini canopy and red and orange dry bags fill the bottom of the frame while the silty river runs downstream between green-fringed banks and pale red sandstone towers under a cloudy sky.
Two adult crew members in ball caps grin at a phone held at arm's length — one in a faded rose sun hoody with sunglasses pushed onto the brim, one in a black tee reading Brighton — with a gray talus slope, red canyon walls and the edge of the raft behind them.
Looking downstream from water level at a wide, silty river running between steep gray-brown talus slopes and stepped red cliff bands, with boulder-piled banks on both sides under a flat overcast sky.
A slender detached sandstone pinnacle stands beside buttressed towers on a tall layered canyon wall, above a brushy green bank and a band of calm olive-tan river that mirrors the rock.
A wide sand bench with wind-rippled sand and a cut bank sits below stepped red canyon walls and a squared tower, with calm silt-colored water reflecting the cliffs across the foreground.
Looking steeply up a tall, blocky pale-tan sandstone wall rising straight out of the water, its ledges and vertical joints stacked below a dark red capping butte against a hazy blue-gray sky.
Weathered red sandstone benches with rounded potholes and knobby caprock climb toward a fluted cliff line under heavy gray cloud, with green riparian brush and a small sand fan meeting the muddy river along the bottom of the frame.
A rigged gray raft is nosed into the bank at the edge of a broad, footprinted sand beach, with the silty river curving past and tall red sandstone walls and a green side-canyon mouth rising beyond under heavy overcast.
A rigged raft with a gray bimini canopy and a small outboard sits moored against a sand bar at camp, a blue towel and dark jackets hung to dry on driftwood posts, dry bags and life jackets set out on the sand and a blue camp table with pots at right, below ledgy red cliffs and a talus slope.
From a 360 camera mounted on the raft frame, the rower in a straw sun hat turns to the lens throwing hand signs while a second crew member on the bow raises a peace sign, blue oars trailing over glassy tan water between low canyon walls.
A fisheye frame from the boat: the rower in a straw hat and black top glances up at the lens from the oars, with orange dry boxes, coolers and rigging filling the deck and the silty river running out ahead between rocky banks.
Seen from behind, the rower in a straw hat leans into the oars as the raft drops toward a boulder-choked rapid, whitewater breaking across the channel between talus banks and steep canyon walls.
The raft slides past a house-sized tan boulder mid-rapid, brown water pillowing and breaking around the rock, with the rower in a straw hat working the oars and the canyon rim curving overhead in the fisheye frame.
A near-overhead 360 frame looking straight down onto the raft as it runs a rapid, both crew, oars, dry boxes and rigging visible on the deck with churned brown-and-white water and rocky banks curling around the edges of the distorted frame.
The rower stands at the oars in a straw hat and black drysuit top, grinning back at the boat-mounted camera, with the silty river opening ahead between rocky talus banks and red canyon walls.
The rower in a straw hat looks back at the boat camera while standing at the oars, a pyramid-shaped red butte rising straight ahead over the churned tan river and rocky canyon slopes.
From behind the rower's straw hat, the raft enters a long white wave train between boulder banks, with a crew member sitting forward on the bow tube and the canyon corridor running out ahead.
Deeper into the rapid, foaming brown-and-white water fills the channel ahead of the raft while the rower's straw hat and both extended oars frame the crew member crouched low on the bow.
A crew member on the bow throws one arm up as the raft punches a breaking wave, spray flying off the left tube, with a broad red butte standing at the head of the canyon ahead.
Water beads scatter across the lens as the raft drives through the wave, the bow crew member's arm still raised and whitewater curling along the left tube below the red butte.
The bow crew member throws both arms overhead as the raft rides through a foaming wave, the rower braced on the oars in a straw hat and spray streaking across the lens.
A wide, heavily distorted 360 frame of the raft running the rapid's white lane, the bow crew member's arm raised, gear strapped across the deck and the canyon walls bending around the edges of the shot.
Seen from behind the rower's straw hat, the bow crew member holds both arms overhead as a wave breaks under the raft and washes down the right side of the boat.
The rower leans toward the lens with a wide grin under a straw hat and dark sunglasses, one arm outstretched, the raft's red dry bag and orange boxes beside him and the silty river running along a talus slope beyond.
The rower in a straw hat and sunglasses smiles sideways at the boat camera, the raft's red dry bag and an oar filling the right of the frame and a gray talus slope below stepped red cliffs across the river.
The raft lines up beside a large pale boulder parked mid-channel with water wrapping around it, the rower on the oars and a crew member forward on the bow, below a broad talus fan and a stepped red wall.
From behind the rower's straw hat, the raft drops into a long, bony rapid — dark rocks scattered through churning white water between boulder-piled banks under a gray sky.
The raft runs a wide, boulder-strewn rapid with brown-and-white water breaking across the whole channel, the bow crew member low on the tube and distant spires standing on the skyline downstream.
Day 4 October 11, 2025

Day 4

6,750 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 62°F

Two sunlit walls of layered tan and red sandstone meet at a shadowed side-canyon notch threaded by a thin ribbon of falling water, above a green brushy bench, dark mud banks, and calm silt-brown river reflecting the cliffs under a deep blue sky.
A crew member in a black long-sleeve shirt sits on the bow tube of a rigged raft under a tan bimini canopy, looking off to the right, with a white water jug, a blue insulated mug and an orange life jacket on the deck and the silty river running ahead between red canyon walls and towers.
A close view of a blocky tan and pink sandstone wall crossed by joints, slabs and ledges, with a thin ribbon of falling water streaking down a dark-stained groove near the center and small shrubs at the base.
A white steel arch highway bridge spans the canyon downstream, seen from river level across calm tan water, with mud banks and green reeds in the foreground and rounded red rock domes standing on the skyline under a blue sky.
A long red cliff band topped by knobby rounded domes runs across the far bank above a green riparian bench and a low tan sandstone outcrop, with the wide silt-brown river filling the foreground under a blue sky and scattered cumulus.
A rounded tan sandstone bluff pitted with solution pockets and undercut by a shallow alcove rises above a sandy bank and a dark rock shelf fringed with brush, with distant red cliffs at right and the silty river running across the foreground.
A crushed and rusted car body lies wrecked on a red talus slope of broken rock and dry brush, with a thin cable strung across the hillside above it and green tamarisk filling the foreground.
A layered red sandstone wall banded with dark brown mudstone partings, with a bright white-streaked patch of rock and a mass of dried sticks perched on a mid-height ledge.
A tall red cliff face with a dark brown ledge band below the rim, where several protruding sandstone blocks are streaked bright white, standing above pale banded rock and a green brushy bank under a blue sky with cumulus.
Looking over the tan-covered load and red gear rolls on the bow of a raft across choppy green reservoir water toward a red mesa wall stained with a pale waterline band at right and a distant sandstone tower at left, under towering white cumulus.
Stepped red sandstone cliffs and rounded slickrock domes rise across blue-green reservoir water, with a pale bleached waterline band and rubble slopes along the shoreline under a blue sky streaked with thin cloud.
Seen from under the boat's tan bimini, a crew member in a patterned white hooded sun shirt sits facing forward past stowed oars, red gear rolls and an orange hard case, with glassy reservoir water and red canyon walls marked by a pale waterline ahead.
A long sheer red sandstone wall streaked top to bottom with dark desert varnish rises above a broad bleached white waterline band, with dark wind-rippled reservoir water across the foreground under a deep blue sky.
From under the boat's canopy, heavy gray clouds trailing rain hang over glassy reservoir water at dusk, with a rounded slickrock dome on the left and a long bleached waterline band along the far shore catching the last light.
A white and orange navigation buoy lettered FORGOTTEN CANYON floats on gray reservoir water with the boat's wake curling through the foreground, below red cliffs banded by a bleached waterline under a rain-streaked dusk sky.
A dark cave-like alcove is eroded into the bleached gray band at the base of a red slickrock slope and mirrored in still reservoir water, with loose cobbles scattered up the sandstone above under a blue sky.
Heavy rain pocks the gray-green water across the foreground while a red talus slope and the cliff wall behind it fade into storm haze.
A muddy, sediment-loaded waterfall pours off the rim past the lip of a sandstone overhang beside a rigged raft with a tan bimini, red gear rolls and an orange case, while heavy rain hammers the green water and a rubble slope fades into mist beyond.
The same muddy waterfall drops off the overhang lip beside the moored raft, with a second fainter fall streaking the misted wall to the right and rain dimpling the green water across the whole frame.
A thin fresh waterfall drops over the bleached band of a red slickrock slope into still water, below dark varnish drip streaks and two large shadowed alcoves cut into the wall above; the frame is slightly soft.
A dark night sky scattered with faint stars over the black silhouette of a canyon rim crossing the lower left corner of the frame.
A rising moon burns a starburst over a dark ridge and lays a silver path across glassy black water, with the pale tube of a moored raft on a wet rock shelf in the foreground and stars scattered overhead.
Day 5 October 12, 2025

Day 5 — Take Out

8,460 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 62°F

Scenes from the River

Moments the crew logged on this run.

  • Low Water in the Dory

    At the bottom of the runnable range, the Big Drops stop being a big-water problem and become a rock problem — and in a rigid dory, where hesitation costs a high side and even a clean line can end in a hull-cracking rock hit, low water turns out to be its own kind of hazard.

    • frustration
    • focus
    • commitment
    • grit
    • humor
Data

Colorado at Potash: 2,950–5,360 cfs (avg 3,732)

Green at Mineral Bottom: 1,390–2,560 cfs (avg 1,878)

Combined: 4,350–7,920 cfs (avg 5,610)

Lake Powell: 3544.13 ft at launch (3544.03–3544.46 ft during trip). USBR RISE API — Lake Powell at Glen Canyon Dam

Field Sources

Evidence behind the claims on this page — agency rules, maps, gauges, books, and field notes.

Permits

Hydrology

All 14 field sources

Access

Rapids

Management

Books

Safety

  • book-excerpt Cataract Canyon (Webb / Belnap / Weisheit) — Selected Pages — University of Utah Press (2007)
Explore
Cataract Canyon — June 2023
summer · 32,890cfs

Cataract Canyon — June 2023

4 days
Cataract Canyon — December 2016
winter · 5,827cfs

Cataract Canyon — December 2016

3 days
Gray Canyon — March 2020 (River Terrace)
spring · 5,720cfs

Gray Canyon — March 2020 (River Terrace)

3 days
Green River — May 2026 (Spillway Full Release, 9,800 CFS)
spring · 9,800cfs

Green River — May 2026 (Spillway Full Release, 9,800 CFS)

2 days
Desolation Canyon — March 2026
spring · 1,460cfs

Desolation Canyon — March 2026

5 days
Cataract Canyon — May 2022
spring · 26,226cfs

Cataract Canyon — May 2022

5 days
summer · 5,694cfs

Cataract Canyon — July 2024

5 days
spring · 12,000cfs

Moab Daily — May 2020 (Cinco de Mayo, Dropping Flows)

6 days
Recommended Gear
  • NRS Otter 140 Self-Bailing Raft NRS · rafts 14-foot self-bailing raft built for multi-day river expeditions. The Otter 140 is the workhorse of private permit trips on the Colorado Plateau — big enough for a full gear load, nimble enough for technical water.
  • NRS Stern Frame NRS · frames Standard stern frame for oar-powered rafts. Mounts behind the rower for gear platform rigging on multi-day river trips.
  • Cataract Oars SGG 11ft Cataract Oars · oars 11-foot composite oars for big water rafting. The SGG blade shape delivers power in heavy hydraulics without excess weight. Shop Cataract Oars (direct) →
  • Partner Steel 2-Burner Stove Partner Steel · kitchen Heavy-duty 2-burner propane stove designed for river trip kitchens. Wind-resistant burners and a removable drip tray built for camp cooking at scale. Shop Partner Steel (direct) →
  • Canyon Coolers Outfitter 75 Canyon Coolers · coolers 75-quart rotomolded cooler sized for raft bays. Built in Arizona for desert river conditions — keeps ice 5+ days in canyon heat. Shop Amazon →

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Gear Systems
  • Big Water Raft System Complete oar rig for Class III-V multi-day river expeditions. Raft, frame, oars, and rigging configured for big water on the Colorado Plateau. 3 products
  • River Kitchen System Camp kitchen setup for multi-day river trips. Stove, cooler, and dry storage configured to feed a crew from the back of a gear raft. 6 products
Service Providers
  • Tex's Riverways shuttle · Moab, UT Shuttle service for Green River and Colorado River trips in eastern Utah. Covers Desolation Canyon, Labyrinth Canyon, Stillwater, and Cataract Canyon put-ins and take-outs. Tex's Riverways