New Wave No Wave - Rio Grande NM

Trip Meets At:

Quartzite site at 10:30 AM (unless otherwise directed). You are dropped off at your car around 1:30 PM. (See Map)

For those with young children (4 or 5 years of age), aged or timid family members or non-swimmers, this half-day Class 2 (“easy”) family rafting trip with lunch is just the ticket! And … because this trip accompanies the Rio Grande Gorge full day trip it provides an opportunity for families that have a mixture of younger and older to spend the morning and lunch time together, with the floaters getting off after lunch while the rest of the family gets to do the rapids. Those who get off can view the rest of the trip from overlooks along Hwy. 68. Funyaks may be used on this trip. Just ask!

What We Provide

A buffet-style lunch, life jacket, rain gear, helmet and paddle. We can also provide funyaks at no extra cost in low water conditions (for those in good physical condition).

You Provide:

Appropriate footwear for yourself (running shoes or sport sandals with extra strap or water shoes or dive booties), a change of clothes and drinking water.

Our New Wave No Wave half-day float trip traverses the Orilla Verde Recreation Area, which is included in the newly designated Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. We lunch in the vicinity of Pilar and end the trip at Quartzite site, on NM 68. The New Wave No Wave half-day trip is identical to the morning portion of the Rio Grande Gorge full-day trip, plus lunch, which it accompanies.

This stretch of the Rio Grande is ideal for children aged four and five, and for elderly or less-adventuresome persons.

Drive Time:

Driving time to Quartzite site is one hour and a half from Santa Fe and 30 minutes from Taos. Your car will be left at Quartzite site, where you get off after lunch.