Colorado Rafting & Hiking Vacations

A Colorado rafting or hiking vacation with O.A.R.S. is the ultimate adventure vacation for families, couples, singles or small groups who seek a premium outdoor paddling or hiking experience with dramatic highlights including river canyon geology, native cultures and stunning scenery.

Yampa River rafting and Green River rafting trips are considered to be two of Colorado’s classic rafting trips. Our Colorado rafting journeys set an easy pace, complemented by an endless combination of exploratory side hikes in river canyons, quiet beach camps and moderate whitewater.

The waters of northwest Colorado can transport you back through time. The "mile high" Colorado Rocky Mountains are the source of Colorado whitewater rafting fun with spring run-offs from these towering peaks flowing through sandstone and granite canyons with rock formations rich in prehistory.

Spilling from these Rocky Mountain slopes, legendary for their winter snows, the surging spring rapids of the Yampa River and Green River flow 150 million years into the past, through the heart of Dinosaur National Monument. Fossils of more than half of all the different dinosaurs that lived in North America in the Jurassic Period are found in the Monument.

Beside fossils and paleontological riches, the riverbanks also protect Native American petroglyphs, pictographs and critical habitat for the endangered peregrine falcon, bald eagle, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback sucker.

O.A.R.S. also offers facinating Colorado hiking trips featuring the geologic majesty and ancient cultural sites at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Ute Mountain Tribal Park and National Bridges Monument. Explore the Dark Canyon Wilderness, Monument Valley or Hovenweep National Monument by foot, hike through history and learn about the Anasazi and Pueblo cultures.