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A loaded white gear raft runs brown whitewater: an oarsman in a teal cap and black life jacket pulls on the oars 38.505669020378626°N 109.65918078734384°W October 3, 2026 · 6,570 CFS · 82°F
Trip September 30 – October 4, 2026
Flow 5,980–8,810 cfs
Weather Water 68°F avg (USGS)
Lake Powell 3518.08 ft
Boats 2
Photos 96
Trip Report

Cataract CanyonOctober 2026

Five days, Potash to North Wash, at 5,980–8,810 cfs: a first camp found in the dark, two side hikes lost to mud, and a seven-mile day spent stopping.

There is also no photo of the chili brats, which is for the best.

Crew 4 people 2 boats
Cutty
trip leader

Cutty

raft-maravia
Greg
oarsman

Greg

raft-rmr
Nick
crew

Nick

Brando
crew

Brando

A late Potash launch turns the first camp into a search; know the next beaches before you push off.

Day 1

Potash at Five, Sheep Bottom in the Dark

September 30, 2026

3,180 cfs at Potash (USGS daily mean, provisional) — Meander Canyon, above the Green

28.8 mi

The trip started the way most of them do: in Greg’s driveway at 9:30, looking for the keys. By 10:30 we had settled where they were and were on the road. By five we were at Potash with two rafts in the water, Cutty’s 18-foot Maravia and Greg’s 16-foot Rocky Mountain Raft, and a sun that was already thinking about leaving.

A five o’clock launch has one rule: the motor does the miles. Meander Canyon was running about 3,000 cfs at Potash, flat and brown and in no hurry, so we lashed the boats together and motored. The walls went red, then orange, then a color nobody bothered to name. We motored until we hit the wall, and a little past it, the spotlight sweeping the banks and catching a heron on a driftwood log that did not appreciate the attention.

Sheep Bottom turned up as a beach in the dark. We built a fire and fell asleep next to it.

Low view across rippled, silt-brown river toward a stacked red sandstone tower and ledged cliffs, late sun lighting the lower wall above a green riparian bank, blue sky with wispy cloud.
From under a raft's canopy, a man in a cap and sunglasses reclines on red bags holding a drink; ahead a gray raft with swivel seats and oars, and the sun bursts through a canyon notch over brown water.
Under a tan canopy on a raft, one man laughs at left while another in a pink shirt lounges barefoot on red bags and hollers ahead; a gray raft leads up a brown river between tall red walls.
Two men laugh under a raft's tan canopy, one in a sun hoodie and trucker cap, one in a pink shirt holding a can on red bags; a gray raft with oars rides ahead on a brown river between red cliffs.
A man in a plaid snap shirt, floral cap and sunglasses crouches on the white tube of a raft, grinning, as the boat motors up a wake on a brown river below willow-lined banks and red cliffs.
Calm, brown river curving past long red ledged cliffs in fading evening light, the walls reflected in the smooth water under a pale sky.
A barefoot man in a plaid shirt balances on a cooler across a loaded gray oar-rigged raft lashed ahead of the camera raft, on smooth brown water below tall red walls with a balanced rock on the rim.
Silhouetted canyon walls with a spire and a distant pointed peak against a blue evening sky; in the lower corner a man at the oars of a gray raft dips a blade into still, reflective water.
A smiling man in a plaid shirt and cap rows a loaded gray raft lashed ahead of the camera boat, oars spread over smooth brown water below tall red sandstone walls and a distant pointed peak.
Stepped sandstone buttes and a flat-topped mesa silhouetted at blue hour, a plume of pink-lit cirrus above them, all reflected in dark, gently rippled river water.
An oarsman silhouetted at the oars of a raft heads down a dark, still river between black canyon walls toward a flat-topped mesa, orange-lit clouds streaming up into a blue dusk sky.
Seen from behind, a man in a plaid shirt and floral cap pulls on a pair of oars from a raft's frame seat, an orange dry box beside him, red cliffs reflected in the dim river ahead.
Glassy brown river mirroring tiers of red ledged cliffs, a pointed peak and a flat-topped mesa in soft evening light, pink cloud in a pale sky and a green riparian strip at the waterline.
At night a spotlight picks out a heron standing on a pale driftwood log in a dark river, a bare branch beside it and a shadowy riparian bank behind, its reflection on the black water.

The boats go roughly four river miles around the Loop; the walk over the neck is under half a mile. Split the crew and get both.

Day 2

The Loop, the Confluence, Brown Betty

October 1, 2026

2,620 cfs at Potash above the Confluence; 6,810 cfs combined with the Green below it (USGS daily means, provisional)

22.9 mi

Not much sleep. The morning plunge off Sheep Bottom was about the only way to forget Greg’s snoring.

The river had news of its own. Between September 30 and October 1 the Colorado at Potash fell from 3,180 to 2,620 cfs. On the Loop that meant nothing: Nick, Brando and I hiked up and over the neck while Greg drove the rafts around the long way, and from the top the river runs below you on both sides of one thin ridge of rock.

At Salt and Elephant canyons it meant everything. The water that dropped overnight left the approach as a band of fresh mud, and fresh mud is not a landing. We tried, and we turned around.

The Confluence came in the afternoon. The Green comes in, the river more than doubles, and a mile or two on, a sign spells out what the rest of the canyon is about. We camped at Brown Betty under more stars than the camera could hold.

Three men in shorts on a wide sand beach load a beached gear raft under a tan bimini, red ledgy sandstone cliffs and a daytime moon in a clear blue sky behind.
A thin bright white band runs horizontally through a dark red layered sandstone wall above a talus slope, with green riparian shrubs and a footprinted sand beach in the foreground.
Two loaded gear rafts lashed side by side float on flat, muddy brown water as one person in a red shirt works the outboard under a tan bimini, below red ledgy cliffs and riparian brush.
A dusty trail climbs a sunlit desert slope of boulders, grass and shrubs beside a muddy river, with two small hikers ahead and red sandstone cliffs against a clear blue sky.
Close, low view of two hikers' legs in shorts and sandals walking a red dirt trail through dry grass and rocks, one carrying a steel water bottle and the other a cup.
From a slope high above, a muddy brown river curves between grassy banks and small vegetated bars, a tiny raft on the water, under tall red layered sandstone walls.
A loaded double rig of two rafts, one under a tan bimini, floats on muddy brown water beyond a grassy island, below pale and pink sandstone ledges and green riverside trees.
Telephoto view of a shaded red sandstone cliff edge beside a sunlit slope of broken red rock and boulders.
A sunlit red sandstone cliff of stacked, blocky ledges and darker thin beds rises against a pale blue sky, with broken boulders at its base.
Close-up of blue-green prickly pear cactus pads bristling with long pale spines, nestled among red and pink rocks.
A lone hiker in a cap and plaid shirt sits atop a pile of red sandstone boulders on a ridgeline under a wide, cloudless blue sky.
A smiling man in a tan trucker cap, dark sunglasses and a pink hooded sun shirt looks back over his shoulder on a sunny, rocky desert slope.
A red sandstone tower with twin pinnacles rises from a rocky ridge between two stretches of muddy river in deep canyons, under a broad clear blue sky.
A hiker in a cap and long-sleeve shirt stands on a red boulder with both arms raised, throwing shakas over a muddy river curving below layered canyon slopes.
Weathered tan sandstone slabs sit on a red dirt rim above a sage-covered bench and a sliver of muddy river, with layered red slopes behind.
A dense mound of many small spiny green cactus stems sits on pale sandstone in bright sun, the dirt slope behind softly blurred.
Two hikers seen from behind pick their way down a rough path through broken red rock and dry grass, one in a plaid shirt and one in a cap and pink hooded shirt.
From a slope above, two loaded gear rafts, one under a tan bimini, sit tied to a sandstone and sand shore on muddy brown water as one person in a red shirt stands beside them.
View from a gear raft's bow: one man wades knee-deep near a grassy mud flat while another holds an oar on the flat, and a man in a blue cap sits on the tube, between red and tan canyon walls.
A man in a plaid shirt and cap wades knee-deep in muddy brown water beside a flat of grass and tangled vegetation, an oar blade and loaded raft deck in the foreground, red cliffs above.
The sun bursts into a starburst over the top of a dark, backlit butte, with calm muddy brown water reflecting it in the foreground and canyon walls on either side.
Under a bimini on a lashed-together raft rig, a man in a pink tee and blue cap leans on a loaded gear raft and smiles, as two others sit and crouch in the foreground on muddy water.
From the back of a motor raft under a tan bimini, a man in a cap sits and another lies shirtless on a red pad, while a rower in a red shirt works the oars of the lashed raft ahead down a muddy river between canyon walls.
Calm muddy brown water reflects layered red and tan canyon walls, one side in shadow, that narrow toward a V-shaped gap under a deep blue sky.
A white sign with a red border reads "DANGER, CATARACT CANYON, HAZARDOUS RAPIDS 2 Mi, PERMIT REQUIRED FROM SUPERINTENDENT CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK FOR BOATING BELOW SPANISH BOTTOM" in front of brush and canyon slopes.
From the bow of a raft tied up on a wide sand beach, water jugs and gear sit on the sand as a few people gather at a camp under green trees at the foot of a talus slope and red cliff.
A gear raft with an oar frame and stowed oars sits beached on a sand shore in calm muddy water, as late sun lights the upper canyon walls downstream under a pale evening sky.
The Milky Way and a dense field of stars fill the sky above the black silhouette of canyon walls, with the foreground almost completely dark.

Two rivers merge beneath a billion years of rock. Then the canyon gets serious.

Day 3

Seven Miles, All Day

October 2, 2026

7,130 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 67°F

7.4 mi

Day three was 7.4 miles. That is the real reason to bring a motor: it carries the long flat miles so the whitewater days can be spent stopping.

The morning went slow at Brown Betty: a walk upstream, a walk downstream, and water for the cottonwood seedlings planted at the back of the beach. Below Rapid 5 we caught the river-left eddies and walked up to the boulders on the left bank, formidable enough to make the rapid look polite.

At Rapid 10, Nick and I swapped the oars for the wave train and swam it top to bottom. At 7,130 cfs it was pure play, the right rapid on the right day. Then we climbed the scree above the Rapid 10 camps: an ancient cottonwood, fossils in the rock (look, don’t take; collecting is prohibited in the park), and good views. At Rapid 13 we explored a side canyon and made our way up to a point we eventually called the Pulpit. Mile Long lies below it, all of it, down to the Button.

Lower Rapid 15 Camp after that. Late-night bocci, a fire, and the Milky Way standing over the Button.

Before sunrise, silty river water laps a sand beach strewn with driftwood and boulders, between dark canyon walls under a pale lavender sky.
Wide view across a scrubby bench of boulders and dry grass down to a sand beach with camp gear and a white raft at the river's edge, the canyon rim catching first light.
Two loaded, oar-rigged white rafts sit pulled up on a muddy sand beach, an orange bow line run up the shore, beside brown river water under a red layered cliff.
Nick, a small figure, stands on a large boulder on a rocky shoreline above riffled brown water, below tall sunlit canyon cliffs in warm morning light.
A great blue heron stands on a large boulder in a jumble of rocks and driftwood, lit by warm low light.
Low view across smooth, boiling brown river water toward a rocky shore and talus slope below red-brown ledged cliffs.
A person sits atop a huge angular boulder at the edge of a churning brown rapid, red layered cliffs and a deep blue sky behind.
A person in a cap and life jacket sits on the top edge of a massive boulder in shadow, looking over a churning brown rapid toward sunlit red cliffs.
A man in a sun hat, sunglasses and mauve long-sleeve shirt throws a shaka on a rock beside a giant boulder, a churning brown rapid behind him.
A smiling man in a blue cap, sunglasses and green long-sleeve shirt stands on a rock beside a giant boulder, can in hand, a churning brown rapid behind.
A man in a straw hat, T-shirt and shorts stands on a rock beside a giant boulder, pointing down and calling out, with a churning brown rapid behind him.
Over the white bow tube of a raft, brown water breaks into a riffle of small waves heading toward steep tilted cliffs and a boulder on the right shore.
Brown water splashes up over the white bow tube of a raft as it pushes through a wave, steep layered cliffs along the right bank under a deep blue sky.
A man in a cap, sunglasses and orange life jacket pulls hard on the oars of a gear raft through churning brown waves beside a steep boulder slope.
A jagged pinnacle of steeply tilted, fractured rock rises above a talus slope and a green band of riverside brush, flat brown water in front under a deep blue sky.
A man in a sun hat and sunglasses crouches on a large striated boulder on a rocky slope, the river winding past green riparian trees between dark canyon walls behind him.
Two hikers climb a steep slope of loose scree below sandstone ledges, the lead one pointing upslope against a deep blue sky.
From a high slope, a starburst sun hangs over the brown river winding past green riparian trees below dark, backlit canyon slopes.
From a shaded boulder-strewn wash, dark canyon walls frame a gap onto sunlit ledged cliffs across the river corridor under a clear sky.
Seen from above, three men pick through a jumble of large pale boulders in a side canyon, one shirtless climbing ahead and one in a blue cap watching.
Telephoto view down onto two men standing in a sandy wash among large boulders and green shrubs, one holding a walking stick.
From high above, the river glints silver as it winds through a deep red-walled canyon, late sun and haze filling the gorge downstream.
From high above, six loaded oar rafts and one small single-paddler boat drift spread out across calm brown water beside a grassy, rocky bank.
Looking straight down from a height, two loaded white rafts sit tied to a muddy shore in low golden light, casting long shadows on rippled brown water.
Three men work around folding camp-kitchen tables on a sandy beach, a coffee pot and stove on one, water jugs and food bags on the other, low sun on the cliffs above.
A small campfire glows among rocks in near-total darkness, a few faint points of light off to the right.
The Milky Way rises through a star-filled sky between black canyon walls, a small rock pinnacle silhouetted in the notch, rafts barely visible in the dark foreground.
The Milky Way arcs between dark canyon walls over a small pinnacle in the notch, while warm light picks out a moored raft's tube, seats and oars in the foreground.

Scouting Big Drops 2 and 3 from the boulders, then bocci at Kolb Camp

Day 4

The Rest of Mile Long, Then the Big Drops

October 3, 2026

6,700 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 69°F

18.6 mi

Morning at Lower Rapid 15 Camp is a front-row seat: Rapid 15 upstream, the Button downstream, and the rest of Mile Long between us and the Big Drops.

The canyon was running 6,700 cfs. We ran the rest of Mile Long, then did what the Big Drops are for: we landed and scouted. Big Drop 2 from the boulders, then Big Drop 3, then out onto the rocks below it to photograph each other being small. Greg took his raft down the right side of Big Drop 3 with Brando in the bow, and both came out grinning. Between scouts we played bocci at Kolb Camp, which is the correct use of a camp between Big Drop 2 and Big Drop 3.

Below the Big Drops the canyon lets go slowly. We ran on to Cove Canyon for the night, a mellow camp compared with the others, apart from a light, steady wind that dusted everyone and everything.

A sweat-stained palm-leaf sun hat rests on the black carpeted deck of a raft beside a white backpack, an open aluminum dry box and a lens cap, with muddy river water at the corner.
A low wide-angle view from a boulder shore across a muddy river riffling through rocks, with a driftwood snag in front and early sun lighting the tops of tall red canyon walls under a clear sky.
A fisheye view from a raft's rowing seat over an open aluminum dry box and oar handles to a wide muddy river, with a second raft tied alongside and morning sun on the right canyon wall.
Fisheye view straight down at bare, muddy feet on a raft's diamond-plate floor among a white cooler, teal seat boxes, a yellow hard case, a straw hat and a backpack.
Two small ultralight trike aircraft fly low past a towering sunlit sandstone wall, above a talus slope in shadow and a wide muddy river in the foreground.
An elevated view down onto a muddy river running through a boulder-strewn rapid, with two rafts tied at a small sandy camp, gear spread on the beach, and a sunlit rock face in the foreground.
From a talus slope high above, a muddy river winds through a deep canyon of stepped red sandstone cliffs, half in shadow and half lit by low morning sun.
A man in silhouette stands with his hands on his hips on shaded boulders, looking at a muddy rapid, with a sunlit talus slope and a driftwood pile across the river.
Seen from behind, a man in a backward floral cap and a pale gray hooded sun shirt stands with his hands on his hips, facing rippled muddy river water glowing gold in the sun.
A tangle of bleached driftwood sticks lodged on cracked boulders at the edge of a muddy river, with boulders in the current and sunlit canyon walls under a pale blue sky.
An oarsman rows a loaded white gear raft into a muddy rapid, a passenger seated up front, as a large brown wave rears to the right below a boulder-covered bank.
A muddy wave explodes over the bow of a raft in a rapid, nearly hiding the boat; only the oarsman's cap and shoulders and a long oar show above the brown spray.
A loaded white gear raft with an oarsman and a passenger works through a churning muddy rapid beside a big brown wave, below boulder banks and red canyon walls.
A huge cracked sandstone block with a dark water-stained base sits at the edge of a calm muddy river below a talus slope and cliff, with a small raft and its rower far off to the right.
A single raft floats far downstream on a broad, calm muddy river between towering red layered canyon walls under a deep blue cloudless sky.
Profile of a man in a teal ball cap, sunglasses on a retainer cord and a gray plaid shirt, looking upstream at out-of-focus churning muddy whitewater.
Profile of a man in a tan trucker cap with an orange patch, sunglasses and a maroon hooded sun shirt, standing in front of a wall of churning muddy whitewater.
A close telephoto view of a brown river wave breaking into a burst of muddy spray in a rapid, with dark rocks above it and sun glinting off the churned surface.
A sandy bench with grass tufts, shrubs and boulders in front of a wide muddy rapid, with a driftwood line and a boulder-covered talus slope on the far side; heavy film-grain edit.
Over the shoulder of a man in a teal cap and blue shirt, with a second person beside him, looking down on a muddy rapid scattered with rocks below a boulder bank.
Two men seen from behind on pale sandstone boulders watch a churning muddy rapid: one in a teal cap and plaid shirt with arms folded, one in a bucket hat and maroon hoodie with a foot propped up.
Muddy water pours over and between big sandstone boulders in a rapid, past a driftwood jam on the rocks, as three people in helmets and life jackets climb the boulder bank above.
Three smiling men sit on a sandstone boulder beside a muddy rapid, waving and holding cans, below towering red layered cliffs, a rock pinnacle and blue sky.
An oarsman in a teal cap and life jacket rows a loaded white raft through brown whitewater as a passenger in a bucket hat grips the bow line, past an out-of-focus boulder in front.
Side view of a loaded white gear raft among boulders: an oarsman in a plaid shirt and teal cap sits at the oars as a passenger in a red life jacket holds up a white bag and flashes a shaka.
A wet, grinning man in a bucket hat, sunglasses and a red life jacket flashes a shaka from a white raft, holding the bow line, with sunlit boulders blurred behind.

Late-night bocci at Lower Rapid 15 Camp, and the Milky Way over the Button

Day 5

Too Muddy for Dark Canyon, First at North Wash

October 4, 2026

5,980 cfs (USGS daily mean), water 69°F

17.1 mi

We wanted to hike Dark Canyon. Like Salt and Elephant, it was too muddy. So we motored, and made the North Wash take-out by noon.

We were the first group there, and the rafts came out easily, mostly because Nick can back a trailer like it’s his job. A group of packrafters we had met along the way helped us load in exchange for a ride to the Hite airport, which is about as fair as trades get out here.

We dropped them at Hite and pointed home, but not before a burger and a shake in Hanksville.

The best meal of the trip was Brando’s tacos. There is no photo of them, which I regret. There is also no photo of the chili brats, which is for the best. The camera’s batteries were done by day five anyway.

Decision Moments

Day 1, after dark in Meander Canyon

Keep motoring past dark

Outcome: Found Sheep Bottom beach, by luck as much as plan

Insight: A late Potash launch turns the first camp into a search; know the next beaches before you push off.

Day 2, the Loop

Three hiked the neck while Greg drove both rafts around

Outcome: The whole gooseneck from above, and boats waiting on the far side

Insight: The boats go roughly four river miles around the Loop; the walk over the neck is under half a mile. Split the crew and get both.

Day 2, Salt and Elephant canyons

Turn back at the muddy approach

Outcome: Skipped the hike and made the Confluence and Brown Betty

Insight: An overnight drop moves the landing, not just the number on the gauge.

Day 5, Dark Canyon

Skip it, too muddy again, and motor to the take-out

Outcome: First group at North Wash, by noon

Insight: On the last day, the ramp is worth more than one more stop.

Lessons
  • When the gauges drop overnight (Potash fell from 3,180 to 2,620 cfs between September 30 and October 1), the Salt and Elephant approaches turn to fresh mud. Plan those hikes off the morning's water, not last night's.
  • When you launch at Potash at 5 pm in late September, the first camp is found in the dark. Motor the Meander miles, carry a spotlight, and take the first good beach.
  • When a motor carries Meander and the miles below the Big Drops, keep the whitewater days short: 7.4 miles from Brown Betty to Lower Rapid 15 Camp left a full day for Rapid 5, Rapid 10, the scree climb and the Pulpit.
  • When the last day is the long run from lower Cataract to North Wash, plan it as a motor run and treat Dark Canyon as a bonus: on this trip, with Lake Powell near 3,518 feet, its landing was too muddy to use.
  • When you can reach North Wash before the other groups, do it: first at the ramp at noon, the rafts came out easily.

In Cataract, a motor isn't for speed. It's for stopping.

Gear

Two oar-rigged rafts, an outboard motor, and a bocci set.

Data

Colorado at Potash: 2,470–3,180 cfs (avg 2,706)

Green at Mineral Bottom: 3,510–5,630 cfs (avg 4,380)

Combined: 5,980–8,810 cfs (avg 7,086)

Lake Powell: 3518.08 ft at launch (3518.08–3518.95 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.

Hydrology

Field notes

  • field-note Desert Maritime — Cataract Canyon Trip Notes, September 30 – October 4, 2026 — Desert Maritime (2026)
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On this trip

River

Sections

Access Points

Rapids

Camps