Grand Canyon to Release More Launches

Officials at Grand Canyon National Park will conduct a phone call-in for nine noncommercial river permits. The call-in period will be the week of February 5 to February 9, 2007.

The permit dates are for 2/26/07, 3/6/07, 3/9/07, 3/16/07, 3/24/07, 4/11/07, 4/15/07, 5/5/07, and 6/11/07.

According to the National Park Service, the call-in is only open to individuals who have registered a profile at https://npspermits.us/grandcanyon/river/createUser.cfm before calling in. There is no fee to create a profile.

In the profile process, the National Park Service assigns everyone who registers a certain quantity of points for the number of years since their last Grand Canyon river trip. More points are assigned for a longer time since the last trip. The call-in system is based on those points, giving priority to individuals with the greatest number of points. According to the park's web site, this is "to give persons who have not been on the Colorado River for awhile a better chance of success than those who have been more recently." This is in stark contrast to how individuals gain access to the river through the park's river concessionaires. There is no profiling based on points, elapsed time or anything else for concessions river trip customers.

For noncommercial river runners, Grand Canyon National Park officials have arranged the call-in system as follows:

The Park will keep potential callers apprised of claimed permits by updating their answering machine (800-959-9164) at the end of business each day. Potential callers are encouraged to call in early, beginning at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, to claim a date.

Winners awarded a permit will have to pay an immediate non-refundable deposit of $400, and will be charged an additional $25 if they did not participate in the fall 2007 lotteries. According to park officials, all river travelers are restricted to participating in only one river trip per year. Any unclaimed launches after February 9th will remain available on a first-call, first served basis.

According to the park, the first noncommercial lottery for 2008 will be held in March of this year. This will occur after the 2008 river concessionaires launch scheduling is completed.

Additional information is available at the Grand Canyon National Park website at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/cancelled-dates.htm or by contacting the River Permits Office at:

Phone: 800-959-9164 or 928-638-7843, Fax: 928-638-7844, Email: grca_riv@nps.gov, or on the web at: http://www.nps.gov/grca  - click on River Permits

Address for Other Mailing Services: