Colorado River: Ruby-Horsethief

Lynne Carpenter has a Ruby-Horsethief permit for up to 14 people (total) launching on Friday, April 26 and taking out on Sunday, April 28. Contact Lynne at  [email protected] to register for this trip.

This stretch is located on the Colorado River where it crosses the CO – UT border. River mileage has traditionally been measured from the Loma put-in, NOT the Robb State Park put-in that we will be using (which is about 3 miles upstream from Loma). So if you do your own research (which I highly encourage) you’ll see mile markers – those refer to miles downstream from Loma put-in.

Ready for Shuttle at the put-in: 2 pm April 26 (the shuttle takes at least 45 minutes each way)
Launch: 4pm on Friday, April 26
Put-in: The boat ramp at Robb State Park, Fruita Section (three miles upstream from the Loma launch). There are multiple parts of Robb State Park. Use this address:
James M. Robb – Colorado River State Park – Fruita Section, 595 595 Highway 340, Fruita, CO 81521.  The put-in is about 4 hours drive from the west side of Denver metro area (Golden area).  (It is safer to leave our shuttle vehicle at the state park than at the Loma put-in.)
Campsite Friday night, 4/26: Rattlesnake Canyon (~6-7 miles from the Robb State Park put-in, 3.2 river miles from the Loma put-in)
Campsite Saturday Night, 4/27: Mee Canyon (~15-16 miles from the Robb State Park put-in, 12.7 river miles from Loma put-in).
Take-out:  Westwater Ranger Station in Utah (26 miles from the Robb State Park put-in, ~23 miles from the Loma Put-in)

Description:

The Ruby-Horsethief section of the Colorado River runs through beautiful red rock canyons and has many hiking opportunities offering both solitude and exploration. This section of the canyon, from Fruita, Colorado, to Westwater, Utah, is a ~26-mile stretch of mostly flat water with sections of Class I and II rapids. The “Black Rocks” section is composed of rock known as Vishnu schist, which dates back about 1.7 billion years. This same rock is exposed in certain sections of the Grand Canyon. If the weather and water levels are reasonable (contact me if you have any questions) this float is appropriate for relatively inexperienced canoeists and boaters. There is one class II rapid in the Black Rocks section of the river, which we can scout if requested. It can be relatively-easily be sneaked on river right.

Ruby Horsethief Canyon is 25 miles through a spectacular river canyon, a desert environment, and very mild waters. There is an abundance of wildlife in the area including great blue herons, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, mule deer, and desert bighorn sheep. Look up in old cottonwoods trees and you are likely to spot nests and eagles.

After we shuttle our vehicles to the takeout at Westwater Ranger Station, we’ll put-in at Robb State Park and float about 6 miles down to Rattlesnake Canyon (campsite first evening). We hike and play in Rattlesnake Canyon Friday night and Saturday morning. Late Saturday morning, we’ll float down to our second campsite at Mee Canyon. We hike and play in Mee Canyon Saturday afternoon and Sunday early morning. We float the remaining ~13 miles out to the takeout (Westwater Ranger Station) Sunday morning, load up, and drive home.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad parallels the river from Salt Wash until Westwater on river right, so bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper. All boaters are required to abide by Bureau of Land Management river regulations (including the use of a groover, fire pan, etc).

Directions

Put-In
I-70 to Exit 19 at Fruita. South on HWY 340 for 1/2 a mile. Park entrance is on the west side of the highway.
Take-out
Travel back into Utah on I-70 for about 5 miles to the Westwater exit. (Exit 227). Travel south off the highway for about 9 miles to the ranger station, picnic area, and boat ramp.