Our response to COVID-19

Almost! We are scheduled to start running trips on June 1, 2020. This date is subject to change and could be slightly earlier or later. We will update this page as more information becomes available.

If you’d like to support our business, please consider booking a reservation or purchasing a gift card for future use! If you do come out rafting and your guide takes amazing care of you, let them know by leaving them a good tip. Your support is appreciated by all!

As always, and well before COVID-19, we have offered and will continue to offer our stress-free booking guarantee. This means that all reservations for groups of 10 or less are fully refundable, with absolutely no cancellation or rescheduling fees, up until 72 hours prior to your trip departure. For groups of 10 more: Cancellations made more than 1 week prior to the departure of the trip will receive a full refund with no cancellation or rescanyheduling fees.

A private guided tour means you get the boat and guide to yourself! You will not be combined with any other parties and your on-water experience will be catered exclusively to your group.

In order to meet state and local safety requirements, each guest will need to wear a face covering while on the short rides to and from the river as well as around the outpost. Face coverings do not have to be worn on the river. Please bring your own bandanna, buff, cloth, or non-medical face mask to wear around the outpost and on the transportation. If you do not have a face covering, one will be provided for you.

Please check https://www.buenavistacolorado.org/ for the most up to date information.

For the latest information on the Colorado State Park campgrounds, please visit https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/camping.aspx for the most up to date information.

For the latest information on the local campgrounds, please visit https://www.buenavistacolorado.org/places-to-stay/ for the latest information.

For years, our sanitation policies and procedures have met and exceeded industry standard best practices.  Now with COVID-19 we are taking additional steps to ensure the cleanliness and disinfection of our facilities, equipment, and vehicles.

We provide multiple opportunities to wash and sanitize hands both at our outpost and on the river.  We thoroughly clean and disinfect all personal gear (helmets, wetsuits, splash jackets, river shoes, & personal flotation devices) after each and every use.  Additional cleaning and disinfecting procedures will be in place for our outfitter/retail store and our entire facility, in general. Since we hold a restaurant license here in Chaffee County, our food handlers are trained and adhere to strict guidelines for proper food prep and clean up.  Also, all vehicles are cleaned and sanitized after each use and hand sanitizer will be available on the vehicle. 

Just by the nature of the activity, rafting is quite conducive to ‘social distancing’.  Our rafts can comfortably hold up to 6 adult guests + a guide and each boat will maintain an average distance of 10-20 ft from all other rafts.  These combined with the vastness of our tremendous Rocky Mountain surroundings create quite an enjoyable environment for practicing social distancing. Because of our private guided tours, you will not be sharing your raft with any other guests outside of your party.

We have zero contact check-in and check-out procedures in place. This means that you will never have to step foot inside of a building, should you choose. The required paperwork for check-in can be completed on your own device ahead of time. Upon arriving at our outpost, you’ll be greeting by a masked staff member who will check you in on an iPad and direct you on next steps. We have open air changing rooms for your use and all pre-trip procedures take place outside (pre-trip safety orientation, etc.) 

After your trip, you will return your gear to our outdoor cleaning and disinfection station.  You will receive an email and/or text message with a link to view your photos online as well as purchase souvenir items from our retail shop.

Again, never stepping foot in a building, should you choose. 

Yes! Each staff member will report symptoms and get a temperature reading each morning. Anyone who is symptomatic will immediately self-isolate and not return to work until they are symptom free and have received clearance from a medical professional.

All of our staff members are required to wear face coverings whenever they are inside a building or on any of our transportation. Additionally, staff members will wear face coverings around the outpost if they are having any contact with guests or each other. Guides will have the option to wear face coverings on the river at their personal discretion and in accordance with their personal risk tolerance.

As a licensed restaurant here in Chaffee County, all of our meals will be pre-packaged in accordance with current regulations. There will be no buffet-style lunches as each person will have their own individual meal. Dietary restrictions like vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free can absolutely be accommodated upon request.

Yes! What could be better than rafting through the Colorado wilderness with your very own group of family or friends? This will be an incredible opportunity to enjoy the exclusivity of a private trip and to enjoy the fresh mountain air. Even though we’ll be making some adjustments to provide a healthy environment for you and our staff members, we think you’ll have as good a time as ever enjoying some of the best rapids and most gorgeous scenery in the country!

There will be envelopes available for cash gratuities. If you prefer to tip by credit card, you can add gratuities to the credit card you used to pay for your trip – just let us our office staff know. You can also call in to our office at any point to tip a guide with a different card 719.395.2409 – just be sure to let us know who your guide was. Tips for hard-working staff are greatly appreciated!

You’ll have professional photos taken of you tackling one of the signature rapids of the Arkansas River. These photos will be available to view and/or purchase after your trip via a link from a text and/or email.

Of course! We’ll have a limited selection of merchandise available online to view or purchase after your trip.