08/19/2026
Reading by the river vs rafting on the river 📖🏞️
I saw something about whitewater rafting back when this trip was still just a plan, and with Colorado deep in drought, I knew we’d have to find it somewhere else. I didn’t expect that somewhere to be the Tara River Canyon, the deepest canyon in Europe, or that it would be my first time whitewater rafting ever.
The water was freezing. We jumped in anyway, more than once, because when else would we get the chance. The rafting company had a property right on the river, dorm-style rooms and wooden cabins you could rent. We stayed two nights in a tiny two-bed room with no AC. It felt like summer camp in the best way. Every meal was included, fish pulled straight from the river, all local and homemade. It was our only non-Airbnb stay of the trip and somehow the one that left the most lasting impression on me.
I couldn’t find much about rafting in this area online, so the whole thing felt like an exploratory run. That’s rare now, when everything can be researched down to the last detail before you ever arrive. Maybe that’s why it landed the way it did. One of the most underrated parts of our itinerary, and one I keep coming back to in my mind 🐟💭