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Typically around this time of year, whitewater rafting companies are preparing to take adventurous souls on guided tours of the Salt River, which boasts the earliest river season in the U.S., winds through a 2,000-foot deep granite canyon, and offers dramatic views of remote Arizona wilderness, all just within an hour’s drive from Globe-Miami. The Salt River rafting season usually takes place in March and April.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of precipitation this winter, the odds of such tours being offered this year may be slim.
The touring company mild2wild has pushed Salt River rafting expeditions back from March 1 to the middle of March, according to Alex Mickel, founder of the company.
“It is possible we might not be able to open this season,” he says.
“We are hoping to see a change in the weather pattern in the last part of winter,” he adds. “Next month’s precipitation will be critical in determining what kind of season we have.”
Brian Ellis is the company president of Wilderness Aware, which has offered trips on the Salt River since 2002, when he first joined the company.
“With current snowpack, it’s looking pretty unlikely that there’s going to be enough moisture to have any kind of season at all there, this year,” Ellis said. “We haven’t made it official, but we’ve also sent word out that it’s probably not going to happen.”
He anticipates making a definitive decision by mid-February.
“There would have to be significant snowfall over the next week or two, in order for us to be able to have any kind of season at all,” he added.
Wilderness Aware has kept track of snowpack data since the company began offering tours of the Salt River. For this time of year, this year is the lowest snowpack-wise the company has seen in their 20-plus years of data. The only other year on record with such low snowpack was in 2006.
“Current flow on the Upper Salt is, I think we looked at it yesterday, and it’s like, 160 cubic feet per second, which is just kind of trickle,” Ellis says. “Last year, for example, peak season was over 10,000 cubic feet per second.”
“Most people think that 800 cubic feet per second is adequate flow,” he continues. “But that’s one of the challenges of the Salt, right? It’s this amazing river, but we’re 100 percent at the mercy of Mother Nature. That’s one of the cool things that makes the Salt so special, is that it is a wild river. There’s no dams. Everything comes right out of the White Mountains.”
“We are always thrilled when we get to operate there and appreciate everything the White Mountain Apache Tribe and The Tonto National Forest do to keep these amazing canyons open to the public,” Mickel says.
“February and March can be very wet in the mountains, fingers crossed,” he adds.
Bookings for whitewater rafting expeditions on the Salt River fill up incredibly fast. Both mild2wild and Wilderness Aware Rafting are now taking reservations for the 2026 season.
To learn more, check the companies’ websites:
Mild2wild: mild2wildrafting.com
Wilderness Aware, Inc dba Arizona Rafting: inaraftaz.com
Tours are also offered by Salt River Rafting: raftingsaltriver.com.
Jenn Walker began writing for Globe Miami Times in 2012 and has been a contributor ever since. Her work has also appeared in Submerge Magazine, Sacramento Press, Sacramento News & Review and California Health Report. She currently teaches Honors English at High Desert Middle School and mentors Globe School District’s robotics team.
