A Watery Lottery

If you’ve ever dreamed seeing the Grand Canyon as John Wesley Powell did in 1869–by rafting through its mile-deep inner gorge rowing your own boat–you have until February 23 to get your application in to Grand Canyon National Park for the yearly lottery for noncommercial 12- to 25-day river trips. Among whitewater rafters, this is the Powerball of all river lotteries, with only 423 slots open. As of now, only 1888 applications have been submitted, but this number will grow exponentially as the Feb. 23 deadline nears. –Contributing Editor Charlie Kulander

Have a question about the National Parks? Send it to travel_talk@ngs.org and we’ll cover it in our “Ask A Park Ranger” column.

[Grand Canyon Rafting Lottery]
[Grand Canyon Travel Guide]
[NGM Grand Canyon Resources]
[Ask a Park Ranger]

Photo: Rick Knight/My Shot