Rafting in Arizona occurs mainly on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, which dominates the entire northern third of the state. If you’re interested in rafting Grand Canyon, please follow this link to that popular destination.
While Arizona is known as an arid land, the poster child for the Sonoran Desert (think saguaro cactus), there are several streams and rivers that drain the Superstition Mountains, White Mountains, and the Mogollon Rim north and east of the Phoenix metropolis. These perennial streams feed the Tonto National Forest which tumbles over the Mogollon Rim and downward where plant ecology gives way to forests of Saguaro cactus and Ocotillo. There, in the bottom of these gathering streams the Salt River pumps white water for enjoyable one-day to three-day rafting trips. Officially the Salt river begins where the White and Black rivers meet.
The Salt River is the largest tributary of the Gila River, which finishes its course through the flatter parts of Arizona before meeting up with the Colorado River and its intermittent fate with the Gulf of California and the Baja Peninsula.
