Thursday – Sunday, September 18-21, 2025 | High CFS: 622 – Low CFS: 524
Although I certainly enjoy the early season spring-runoff river trips of summer, I think my favorite time to get out onto a desert river is during low-water at the end of the season in September. I guess I just enjoy the cooler temperatures, relaxing pace, minimal bugs and sandy campsites that are common at this time of the year. So when I realized earlier in the year that I had not been back on the San Juan River since 2019, I knew I wanted to get back on it during September since all of our previous trips have been in May and June. Jackson was also interested in a late season trip and managed to get us a permit for three days on the stretch from Sand Island to Mexican Hat. We were all set to finally float the San Juan River in September and I was looking forward to my final river trip of 2025!
I left from work on Thursday afternoon, grabbed dinner in Moab and then continued on to the Sand Island Campground where I would meet up with the rest of our small group later in the evening. Before everyone else showed up I did a little hiking in the area and got to check out the newly constructed Bluff River Trail, which just opened up in April.
The new Bluff River Trail is a far cry from the bushwhacky animal trail that I first hiked here many years ago…
There was a nice view up the San Juan River from near the end of the trail.
I wandered up a short little side canyon to a ladder that takes you up onto the top of the mesa, and then returned the way I came.
It was a lovely evening along the San Juan River, although there were a few mosquitoes out.
I watched the sunset while revisiting the petroglyphs at the popular Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, which I hadn’t been back to for a long time.
I got my tent setup at dusk when the temperature started to cool down a bit and then waited for the rest of the group to arrive well after dark. We talked for a little while and then got to bed early.
On Friday morning we were up with the sunrise, packed up camp and headed over to the boat ramp to rig our boats for the trip. Then we drove the shuttle vehicles over to Valle’s in Mexican Hat and were on the river just before 10:00am.
It was mostly cloudy as we got on the river this morning.
We were happy that Steve was able to join us on this trip. Originally he was thinking about borrowing a ducky, but decided to bring his raft at the last minute.
The clouds started to clear and we would see more and more blue sky as we floated down the river.
All of us have been down this section of the San Juan River before, some of us many times, and we decided early on that we were just going to have a nice relaxing float down the river and skip all the popular side hikes that we’ve all been to before.
Chris and a striped ‘Tiger Wall’
It definitely got much warmer out when the clouds cleared and the sun came out.
Here’s the one photo I got of our entire group, minus me.
Jackson paddling toward Lime Ridge as we began looking for our first campsite.
After setting up camp at the Lime Ridge Campsite and resting for a while, I went on a hike back towards Comb Ridge to search for some handprints I had spotted from the river earlier in the day. It actually rained on me as I hiked back to camp, but not enough to get me wet in these warm temperatures.
When I returned to camp we were all treated to a rainbow over the river.
San Juan Rainbow
I was just taking a photo of the landscape in front of me when this Blue Heron photobombed my shot as it flew low across the river.
Although we had been hearing the burros across the river all afternoon while in camp, we didn’t see any until they came down to the river for a drink in the evening.
Shortly before sunset the sky got dark and we started seeing and hearing lighting and thunder all around us, mostly to the north. We watched the light show until after sunset and even though the storm looked like it might be coming our way at times, we stayed at the edge and the lighting never got very close to us.
We all got into our tents just as it started to rain and then I drifted off to sleep while listening to the rain hitting my tent.
I slept very well this night and was well rested when we got up shortly before sunrise on Saturday morning. We took our time eating breakfast and breaking down camp and were still on the river before 9:30am this morning. Although we were in no hurry to be anywhere, we were told by the Ranger that there were fifteen groups taking off the river on Sunday, so we were a little concerned about finding an available campsite today. We planned to float down past Eight Foot Rapids and then take the first available campsite we could find.
It was a lovely morning at the base of Lime Ridge.
Lime Ridge
Leaving our campsite at Lime Ridge and continuing down the river.
Floating around the southern end of Lime Ridge.
It wasn’t long until we entered San Juan Canyon.
Ken & Jackson
Floating through San Juan Canyon.
After we found and set up our camp below Eight Foot Rapid, I went for a short walk on the ledge above camp and took a few photos.
Looking down on our campsite from the ledge. Once our campsite was shaded by the canyon walls we played a few games of Kubb and then set up our tents after dinner.
This little butte on the canyon rim above camp caught the last sunlight of the day.
On Sunday morning we were up shortly before sunrise again and after completing our morning chores around camp and loading up our boats we were back on the river by 9:15am.
San Juan Canyon camp at Dawn
Just a photo of my IK rigged and ready to go.
It was another lovely morning to be on the river as we started our day by floating through The Narrows.
The color of the river was more reddish today, so we assumed that Chinle Wash was probably flash-flooding again from the recent storms.
Jackson & Amy
Floating through Soda Basin.
Jackson and Amy in Ledge Rapids.
Floating along the ledge below the rapid.
We saw many Great Blue Herons throughout the trip.
As we floating below Mexican Hat Rock we knew we were getting close to the end.
Paddling the final stretch to the boat ramp at Mexican Hat.
We made it to the boat ramp by 12:15pm and thankfully it wasn’t as busy as we were expecting it to be. After walking up the road to pick up our vehicles we were loaded up and ready to head out by about 1:30pm. After picking up Jackson’s vehicle at Sand Island we all stopped at the Twin Rocks Cafe in Bluff for a late lunch and then started the drive back home. It was a nice and relaxing late-season trip on the San Juan River!
Rock Art of the San Juan River
