Gunnison River: Rafting the Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Saturday, July 11, 2026 | Average CFS: 465
This year Jackson and I made it one of our top priorities to raft the Gunnison River through the Gunnison Gorge this summer, which is a local trip that has been on my to-do list for way too long! We figured with the low snowpack this past winter and lower flows coming out of the Crystal Dam upstream that this would be a good time to finally give it a shot. Initially, we were considering doing it in our packrafts since it would be easier for us to just pick a day, hike in, and go, but after having so much fun on the Upper Animas River last month we thought it might be fun to go in a paddle raft with a few friends, so we contacted Bob and Lisa who were also interested in giving it a try. At first we were planning to use Bob and Lisa’s raft, but after a little research we realized that it might be a little too big for the narrow chutes at these low flows, so Jackson rented us a smaller raft from Colorado Mesa University to use instead. He also called J & Ray Outfitters to reserve a packhorse which would get our raft and gear down the Chukar Trail to the river.
To save a little time in the morning, Jackson and I dropped off my 4Runner at Gunnison Forks after work on Friday evening so we were all able to drive straight to the Chukar Trailhead first thing on Saturday the morning. It was a bit smoky out as we made our way through Delta and Olathe to the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, though we could see that there was quite a lot more smoke further south near the Gold Mountain Fire. We made it to the trailhead a bit early which gave us plenty of time to get our gear organized for the horses. Although we had reserved two horses when we were planning to take the larger and heavier raft, we ended up only needing to use one horse this time, which saved us a little money. We left our gear waiting for the horses and started hiking down the Chukar Trail into the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness.
There was some smoke in the air when we arrived at the Chukar Trailhead, but the smoke would clear up throughout the rest of the day.
Once our gear was organized and waiting for the horses to arrive we started our descent down the Chukar Trail.
The trail was very dusty as we made our way down into the Gunnison Gorge.
When we reached the Gunnison River we scouted Chukar Rapid and then sat down in some shade to wait for the rest of our gear to arrive.
Looking upstream into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park from the bottom of the Chukar Trail.
The horses arrived shortly after 10:00am, which was just about the time we were expecting them to show up.
This is the horse that carried all of our gear down.
It didn’t take us very long to get the boat inflated and ready to go. The boat was a tight fit for all five of us with our gear, but we made it work.
We were on the water and floating through the Black Canyon shortly after 10:30am.
I’ve seen the Gunnison Gorge from many different angles and perspectives over the years as I’ve hiked almost all of the trails in the area, so it was really nice to finally experience the Gorge from the river!
Black Canyon Reflection
The first section of the canyon was a good warmup for what was to come later in the day as we practiced paddling together through about a half-dozen rapids that included Improvise, Upper Pucker, Lower Pucker and Buttermilk.
Shortly after making it through Buttermilk Rapid the river turned a corner and the gorge opened up into Ute Park. We stopped at a campsite on river-right to eat lunch and take a little break from paddling.
Ute Park View
We ate lunch in the shade and rested for a little bit before it was time to get back on the river to continue downstream.
Floating through Ute Park.
After floating a few more miles through Ute Park we entered the final narrow section of the Black Canyon which contains quite a few more rapids in a quicker succession.
Black Canyon Narrows
It was great to finally see the canyon from the river since I have been up on the rim many times over the past two decades.
Two of the trickiest rapids we would encounter in this section of the Gunnison Gorge were The Squeeze and Cable Rapid which are both rated as Class III / Class IV. At this low water level they were pretty technical with narrow passages and we stopped to scout both of them. Here are two short video clips of these two rapids.
The Squeeze
Cable Rapid
Calm water and clouds after the rapids.
After making it through the remainder of the rapids we stopped at the mouth of the Smith Fork to go on a short walk up the canyon and take a little break.
There were a number of nice little pools at the bottom of the Smith Fork and the water in them was very warm, especially compared to the temperature of the Gunnison River, which itself wasn’t very cold at this time.
Looking up at the pools and small waterfalls of the Smith Fork.
Jackson and Ken went for a float in the largest of the warm pools.
After leaving the Smith Fork it wasn’t long until the black rock disappeared and we exited from the Black Canyon.
The remainder of the river was flat and slow and we had to paddle to keep moving at a decent speed. We also had to try to avoid some very shallow spots, but weren’t aways successful…
Floating by the foot of Scenic Mesa on the right.
As we approached the confluence with the North Fork we could see the large cottonwood trees of Gunnison Forks (Pleasure Park) straight ahead, which is where we would be taking out and ending our trip today.
We made it to Gunnison Forks around 5:30pm, which was quite a bit later than I thought it would take us to run this stretch of the river, and we still had to go pick up Jackson’s car at the Chukar Trailhead which was going to take us about an hour each way! Initially, I thought that I might have time to go home to load up my camping gear and then drive down to the La Plata Mountains this evening, but now it was much too late for that and I was very exhausted from being out in the heat and sun all day, so after completing the shuttle I grabbed a quick dinner in Delta and headed home for the rest of the night. It had been a fun day on the river and I am now happy to have rafted all of the Gunnison River below the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park!
Great pics as always. Loved the videos too!
Always enjoy your postings! You have such awesome adventures.