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Utah’s Rock Art and Rafting 

One of the best whitewater seasons in recent memory is running through September in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument. Rafting outfitter Adrift Adventures has space available on several late summer trips that blend river thrills with dinosaur digs and Indian rock art.  

 Adrift's August calendar leads off with "Jurassic Journey," a five-day fossil hunting and rafting expedition. Trip highlights include plunging through 2,000 ft. deep Lodore Canyon's fun rapids aboard large and safe oar-powered rafts, viewing spectacular Indian rock art, hiking outlaw trails, observing eagles, big horn sheep and river otter, and camping under the stars.

 "Jurassic Journey" begins at Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center in Dinosaur National Monument, the world's largest in-situ dinosaur fossil bone quarry, for a guided tour. Next, as fossil hunting is not permitted within the park, Adrift takes guests outside the park to secret fossil sites where "hunting" for marine invertebrate fossils is permitted.  

Pre- or post-trip, Adrift recommends an excursion to the newly enlarged Utah Field House of Natural History State Park in nearby Vernal. This spectacular storehouse of prehistory includes a giant Diplodocus skeleton, 90 feet from tip to tail; a simulated dig site; and interactive fossil and children's labs.

Registration in Adrift's "Jurassic Journey" is limited to families. Package includes local airport pickup, shuttles, meals, licensed professional guides and all necessary equipment and is priced for a family budget. Launch date is August 1; cost is $729 per person (adults), $638 per person (children age 6-12).

"Rock Art and Rafting" blends a Green River rafting expedition with expert interpretation of one of the richest collections of Native American rock art in the West. The trip is ideal for students of southwestern Indian rock art and culture and western U.S. history; of course, the classroom is a wilderness river canyon.

Following a day that includes tours of several world-renowned rock art panels, as well as rock art sites that few have ever seen, Adrift takes you to the river. The Green River trip encompasses exhilarating rapids, more rock art panels, Fremont and Ute Indian live/work sites, riverside wildlife, all in what is considered the birthplace of western river rafting.

The five-day "Rock Art and Rafting" expedition has a September 3 launch date. Cost is $729 per person; a 10% discount is offered to seniors 55 and older, who might also consider inviting their grandkids along at Adrift's reduced children's rates.

Each week, Adrift launches four-day "Green River/Lodore Canyon" rafting trips. Hidden in 2,500 ft. deep canyons, the Green River is home to rapids with names like Hell's Half Mile and Disaster Falls. This is a great trip for first time, or experienced, rafters looking for wilderness canyons and howling whitewater. Cost is $699 per person (adults); $599 per person (children, age 6-12).

Adrift Adventures, Inc. is a family-owned and operated Utah corporation that is celebrating 24 years of great rafting trips and learning adventures in 2004. Nominated for a Conde Nast Traveler Magazine Ecotourism Award, Adrift has rafting programs for all ages and abilities - with specific experience and expertise in family trips and environmental learning expeditions.

Adrift is a concessionaire of the National Park Service and holds special use permits with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Colorado Division of Parks. Additional information on all the trips offered by Adrift Adventures is available at www.adrift.com or by calling toll-free, (800) 824-0150.

Edited by Marilyn Miller

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