River of Lost Souls: Rafting the Upper Animas River

The Needleton Section: Needleton Stop to the Tacoma Power Station
Average CFS – Silverton: 290 / Durango: 870
Saturday & Sunday, June 6-7, 2026

 

We saw the same signs as at the [Rio] de los Pinos of ruins of pueblos, burnt ore, adobes, and so forth. After examining everything, we departed from that campsite… until we arrived at a river so copious and large that it exceeded the Rio del Norte, which we named the Rio de las Ànimas.

Juan Antonio Maria de Rivera – July 4, 1765

 

Last November during their annual Black Friday sale, Jackson and I had booked a day trip for this Saturday on the Upper Piedra River near Pagosa Springs with Mild to Wild Rafting, but after the dismal winter we’ve had here in the San Juan Mountains there just wasn’t enough water for the trip this year, so last weekend we were contacted by the company to see about switching to the Upper Animas River which thankfully did have enough water, albeit for a brief season anyways. Since the Upper Animas is one of the trips we were planning to do eventually and they gave us such a great deal to switch, we couldn’t say no! As an added bonus, since the only way to reach the put-in at Needleton, other than hiking in, is by train, I would finally be able to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which is something I’ve wanted to do for over two decades but never really made a priority. So, despite all the last minute changes to our plans, we were both looking forward to our first rafting trip down the River of Lost Souls!

Since the Upper Animas River is considered to be one of the most difficult commercially run rivers in the U.S. and all participants must be in good physical shape, there was a required orientation on Saturday evening in Durango where we would need to meet up with the guide to practice paddling at the Santa Rita Whitewater Park on the Lower Animas River and then swim through a Class II+ to III+ rapid to make sure we were in good enough shape for the trip. Luckily, Jackson and I both took a Swiftwater Rescue Training class two years ago and had to swim through plenty of rapids then, not to mention my recent swim through the boat chute last weekend, so we were well prepared for that. After hiking a short segment of The Colorado Trail on Saturday morning, I met up with Jackson at the Mild To Wild offices in Durango and we all headed out to the Whitewater Park for our orientation. Although there was a third participant at the orientation on Saturday evening, he ended up cancelling, so it would only be the two of us and our guide in the raft on Sunday, which was a great size for the trip to me!

After meeting up at the Mild to Wild Office on Sunday morning we hopped into their van and drove over to the Rockwood Station to wait for the Durango & Silverton train to arrive.

Here’s a short video clip of the train arriving at the Rockwood Station.

We got on the train, found some seats in the first passenger car and enjoyed the ride into the Animas River Gorge.

Entering the San Juan National Forest.

There was a nice view high above the Animas River as we first entered the canyon.

Looking back at the trailing train as we entered the Animas River Gorge.

The following two video clips are of the train entering the Animas River Gorge high above the Animas River on a shelf cut into the canyon wall.

Eventually the tracks descended to the river’s level and we followed close to the river surrounded by the Weminuche Wilderess.

As we travelled along the river we got our first looks at what was in store for us in the rafts.

This little waterfall was right outside my window when the train stopped at Tank Creek to fill up on water.

When we reached the Needleton Flag Stop we grabbed our gear and got off the train.

When the train was gone we had to walk back along the tracks to the waiting rafts.

Since there were three other guys on an overnight trip that had arrived the previous day with their guide, the two boats were already inflated and waiting at the edge of the river.

The river was moving fast and had continuous rapids that required our attention and paddling the entire way, so I didn’t have an opportunity to pull out my camera for any photos while we were on the raft, but I did have a camera on my helmet and will share a few short video clips from that. This first video was taken right after we got on the river and shows what a majority of the trip was like.

The only rapid we stopped to scout was Broken Bridge Rapid. At this water level it is considered a Class IV rapid, but with Class V consequences if you end up out of the boat.

Broken Bridge Rapid

Here’s a video of our full run through Broken Bridge Rapid.

We stopped for lunch across from the mouth of Cascade Creek, which is at the bottom of the Purgatory Trail.

I went for a short walk across the bridge on the Purgatory Trail.

Animas River

Here’s a short video clip of us rafting through the Final Gorge and through a hole that our guide called Soda Pop. You’ll also see our Safety Kayaker featured in this video who was with the the entire way.

After stopping just before the Tacoma Power Station, we packed up our gear and waited for the train to return from Silverton to pick us up.

Here’s one final shot of the D&SNG No. 481 steam locomotive on its way to Durango after dropping us off at the Rockwood Station.

>> Upper Animas River Photo Gallery