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Does anyone have any experience with the difficulty of kayaking up stream from Lee's Ferry AZ on the Colorado river towards the Dam? How fast is the current? Is the boat traffic heavy and bothersome?

It's been done, but wouldn't be fun. I suggest you do the backhaul, pay the fee. Here's the info for that: ( dead link removed )

Another option I've considered, having spent many, many weekends at Lee's Ferry, would be to offer a fisherman some money for fuel to haul you and your boat upstream. It would probably be cheaper. However, arriving at the Ferry on any given day, you would not be able to count on it.

I have tried to row a dory upstream, and that current is very powerful. I have kayaked downstream, using the backhaul service, and...well...that current is very powerful.

Also be aware that if you fall in the water, you will instantly wish you were wearing a wetsuit. It is unbearably cold.

I took a raft trip last summer from the Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry with this company: raftthecanyon.com. They will tow small boats up river for a fee. This section of the Colorado is wider and calmer than when it enters GCNP and has no rapids. I haven't paddled it but would say it looks easier to paddle against current here than in GCNP. In addition to a few other rafts from the same company, we saw just a handful of small motor boats and kayaks.

edit: oops, Liz beat me to it.

Dave1 wrote:I took a raft trip last summer from the Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry with this company: raftthecanyon.com. They will tow small boats up river for a fee. This section of the Colorado is wider and calmer than when it enters GCNP and has no rapids. I haven't paddled it but would say it looks easier to paddle against current here than in GCNP. In addition to a few other rafts from the same company, we saw just a handful of small motor boats and kayaks.

Same info I just gave: Colorado River Discovery is raftthecanyon.

Edit: They don't tow the boats. Their rafts are huge. The kayaks go on board the rafts. They will drop you wherever you want but you may as well go all the way. It is only 15 miles. You can float down it in one day, or you can stretch out the fun and camp in the several campgrounds along the way. As Dave said, it is not very busy. I went in May a couple of years ago.

I have canoed that stretch a few times..... As one could imagine It totally depends on the dam release. Being so close to the dam (< 10 miles) the 'current' changes in a heartbeat. There are a couple of sticking points that, if the water was being released (6K cfs+) it would be pert-near impossible to paddle a canoe upstream (although a good kayaker should have no issue under 10K-ish). You could always line or hike-a-boat around the narrow spots if just day-trippin.
If you fish, be sure to have a license - AzGF loves to visit.
Boat traffic varies (season, weekday/weekend) - That fishery has been hurting and there are not nearly so many guide-boats as years past. I guess we saw a bout 8 boats a day pass us (each way) spring season/weekday. All/most of the boaters were cordial in wake mitigation.

I highly recommend the haul back option unless you like pain. Paddling against a current for 12 miles is not everyone's idea of fun. I drifted/paddled downstream from the dam for three days/two nights several years back. It is a beautiful place and loved the experience.