Racecourse
The Racecourse – Morning Departure
This half-day trip features an action-packed 5 miles of moderate whitewater (Class 3/Moderate, Class 4/Difficult, in high water) perfect for beginners. This is our most popular trip. Minimum age is 6 (minimum age higher in high water). Meets at the Taos/Rio Arriba County line at 9 AM (See Map). We leave your car there and take you to where the trip begins. You are back at your car no later than noon. We provide a small snack, drink, rain gear, all necessary rafting equipment and funyaks in lower water. Bring a change of clothes with you.
Adults: $52 Child 6-11 years or Group of 10+: $42 Group of 36+ or active military: $37
AM Racecourse: 
The Racecourse – Afternoon Departure
This half-day trip features an action-packed 5 miles of moderate whitewater (Class 3/Moderate, Class 4/Difficult, in high water) perfect for beginners. This is our most popular trip. Minimum age is 6 (minimum age higher, in high water). Meets at the Taos/Rio Arriba line at 1 PM. We provide a snack (chips and salsa, fruit, cookies, drink), rain gear, all necessary rafting equipment and funyaks in lower water. Bring a change of clothes with you. There's no better way to spend an afternoon in northern New Mexico!
Adults: $52 Child 6-11 years or Group of 10+: $42 Group of 36+ or active military: $37
PM Racecourse: 
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New Mexico Rafting centers on the Racecourse Run of the Rio Grande River, in northcentral New Mexico. The Rio Grande river rises in the San Juan Mountains of southcentral Colorado. It flows eastward past Creede and enters the San Luis Valley. The valley is a vast flat lake-bed. With the aid of the Rio Grande, the valley is farmed intensively – large amounts of water are diverted from the river. At Alamosa the river turns south and heads for New Mexico. At the southern margin of the San Luis Valley, and 10 miles north of the New Mexico state line, the Rio Grande begins to cut the Rio Grande Gorge. Northern New Mexico rafting begins at Lobatos Bridge, at the start of the Gorge. The Rio Grande Gorge runs 68 miles through southern Colorado and New Mexico, ending as the Rio Grande enters the Espanola Valley, just north of Santa Fe.
Outfitter-served New Mexico Rafting starts further downstream, with the Taos Box Run, accessed at Dunn's Bridge. The Taos Box whitewater section ends at Taos Junction Bridge. Here the river enters the Orilla Verde (“Green Banks”) Recreation Area, administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Recreation Area ends at the Village of Pilar. Here the river runs smack into the Picuris Mountains and is directed to the west. Hemmed in by lava flows to the north and the quartzite cliffs of the Picuris Mountains to the south, the river enters the Racecourse whitewater section (Class 3 - “moderate”). This is the most popular whitewater rafting and kayaking stretch in the State, with continuous rapids for five miles. It ends with the legendary Souse Hole Rapid, which is Class 4 in higher water, and the spot where the photographers of Southern Exposure catch the whitewater action. The take-out for the Racecourse run is at the Taos/Rio Arriba County Line, on NM 68. The half-day Racecourse run is identical to the afternoon portion of the full-day Rio Grande Gorge run. The Racecourse run is offered twice a day, and is perfect for those new to whitewater rafting. In the low water conditions of late summer individual inflated kayaks, known as “funyaks” add to the excitement for those willing to maneuver their own craft.
For more information, call us today at 1 (800) 984-1444.
Other Facts about the Rio Grande:
The Rio Grande, the fifth longest river of North America and the 20th longest in the world, forms the entire border between the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico. In Mexico, the Rio Grande is called the “Rio Bravo”. It flows 1,760 miles from its sources in the southern Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. More than 2,000,000 acres of farmland are irrigated along the Rio Grande, with slightly more than half in Mexico.
