Durango 3/4 Day Rafting Trip with Lunch - Lower Animas River
Overview
Available languages
6 hours
Mobile ticket
Choose Mild to Wild for your Lower Animas River Full Day rafting trip and experience our unique commitment to excellence. Our highly trained professional guides ensure your enjoyment and fun. Benefit from a low guide-to-guest ratio for a personalized experience. We streamline your adventure with free parking, changing rooms, and a storefront for essentials. Complimentary splash jackets and helmets are standard. Enjoy a riverside locally made deli-style lunch midway. Whether paddling or relaxing, your day is crafted for lasting memories. Enhance your trip with a kayak instructor or explore packages including Jeep tours. Mild to Wild prioritizes your satisfaction and an unforgettable journey.
Additional Info
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
What To Expect
This Full Day trip gives you around 4 hours of fun on the water, taking you through the heart of Durango and to the end of town. Life jacket, helmet, and other river getup if needed (wetsuits or splash jackets when the weather/water is chilly) are included. Your guides will provide a safety orientation before heading out on the beautiful Lower Animas River. We'll be on the river for about 4 hours, stopping for a delicious riverside lunch half-way through the trip. Along the way, you'll bound through plenty of Class II and one Class III rapid, usually soaking everyone in the raft head to toe. Keep in mind the size of rapids will vary throughout the season with water levels, with spring typically having higher flows and summer lower flows. Our experienced and entertaining river guides will get you downstream, and you're welcome to paddle with them or just sit back and relax.
Options
Durango 3/4 Day Rafting Trip with Lunch - Lower Animas River
What‘s Included
Riverside Deli-Style Lunch from our favorite local bakery
Highly experienced and in-house trained river guides
Safety orientation and paddle instruction
Custom self-bailing rafts and paddles
Helmets, Coastguard approved Personal Flotation Devices, and Splash Jackets
Gratuities
Wetsuits and boots (rentals available for $15)
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Reviews
20 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Couldn't have asked for anything more.
B8357GIbrandonr,May 27, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Skyler was amazing for our first family rafting guide. Informative, funny, friendly, and everything you'd want from an employee or guide. His skills on the water and as a person showed through. The experience with my kids (10 & 7) are memories I'm sure they'll hold forever. I know I will! As a business owner Skylers personality and work ethic is what I would look for, as a human he has even more shining characteristics to be engaging, caring, and respectful. This adventure surpassed my expectations and really checked all the boxes of a family outing done right. Thank you Skyler!!
Fun in the sun 💜
byvonnejrz,Aug 1, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Love the experience, our tour guide NINA exceed our expectations, we had lots of fun and felt safe on this adventorous endeavor!!
Animas Rafting Excellence
ryansC5394RK,Jul 31, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Fun and entertaining with some time to enjoy all the beautiful scenery and animals. Not to mention our guide, Nina, was the best she knew what she was doing, solved any problems (getting stuck on rocks, etc.) swiftly and was all around a great tour guide by conversing with us while giving some quiet time to truly take in the sights that we don’t get to see everyday as tourists to this beautiful place. Overall great experience with friendly people 10/10 recommend this service.
Raft Trip with Mild to Wild down the Lower Animas
josephj348,Jul 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Had a great time on the 3/4 day raft trip down the lower Animas with Mild to Wild. Very professional and entertaining. Our guide Corbin was great!
Beautiful and fun!
mouserinthehouse,Jul 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Noah was a great guide. He was super friendly and we happened to have a boat to ourselves (my husband and I) so we got to chat a lot and ask a lot of questions. The whole crew at mild to wild is outgoing, funny, and friendly. Great introductory rafting trip…nothing too crazy. We are ready to ramp it up next time!
Awesome trip!
Explore40878662423,Jul 22, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Great trip! Jaden was an outstanding river guide!!!! We would recommend Mild to Wild and plan on doing a trip with them on the Salt River.
It was great!
tbuell63,Jul 9, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00My wife and I went White Water Rafting for her 60th birthday. We had never been rafting before and signed up for the Upper Animas trip which has the class 4 and 5 rapids. (We went in July so the water level was not as high as it is in June.). We were a little nervous about the trip but our concerns were quickly dispelled. They gave us an orientation which taught us how to paddle and maneuver around in the boat to prepare us for possible mishaps. They also had us actually swim through some rapids for more practice. They took the orientation seriously and prepared us well. The actual trip went off without a single issue. The train took us through the breathtaking San Juan National forest and dropped us off at Needleton. We pulled the gear off the train and set float on the Animas. It was spectacular. Kip and Trey were the guides in the two boats. We were with Trey. Both boats in our party made it approximately 10 miles down the Animas without a single incident. Both guides handled the rafts with expert precision. We stopped on the journey and had a nice lunch and break where the Animas merges with Cascade creek. It was a beautiful setting. We finished up and caught the train back to Rockwood where our adventure began. We could not have been happier with our decision to spend our vacation with Mild to Wild.
Bucket list item checked
kimmW2289XC,Jul 4, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Kip, Nathaniel and Trey were amazing guides. They added just the right amount of seriousness for the trip but made it so enjoyable. The upper animas all day trip was a blast and the rapids were so fun. The boys guided us through every set with precision and mostly grace. We even had the opportunity to hike to a waterfall as a special treat. The train ride was stunning and gave us a peak at what the rapids were going to be like. The scenery is breathtaking, the rafting and our guides made this a life time memory
Completely worth it!!!
Paul M,Jul 3, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00The upper animas was on our bucket list and it didn’t disappoint. The entire experience and guides ( Kip, Nathan, and Trey) were professional, safe, and great people. The upper is wild and looks like a Bob Ross painting come to life. Throw in the train ride, hike to fisherman falls, history lesson, and good people…..it was well worth it and memory we will always have. Yay us! Already looking at multi day trips they offer.
Upper Animas Whitewater
Hwajeong,Jun 22, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I went on the one-day Upper Animas trip in June, and it was incredible. My previous whitewater rafting experiences have varied in difficulty, so I initially felt some trepidation, but it turns out I didn't need to worry -- I'm so glad I got to go on this experience! To prepare, we (my group and I) went through an orientation the day before the trip to make sure we would be safe (and to be fitted for our gear). Plus, our guide(s) always gave clear instructions before the trip and while on the water. Our guides for the day were Nathaniel, Trey, Riley, and Jason. They worked so hard to make sure that my group had a wonderful trip. (Learning they love their profession so much, that they buy all their own gear in order to be able to do their job just makes them more admirable. By the by: tip your guides! They truly earn it.)
Related Experiences
Operated by Mild to Wild Rafting and Jeep Tours