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Westwater Books

Belknap's Waterproof River Guide Series

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Westwater Books Waterproof River Guides

Grand Canyon Waterproof River guide - spiral boundBelknap’s Waterproof River Guides
Celebrating 55 years 1969-2024

Our spiral bound Waterproof River Guides include Grand Canyon River Guide, Canyonlands River Guide & Dinosaur River Guide. Desolation River Guide will be spiral on our next printing. The four Guides have been companions to hundreds of thousands of river running adventurers through the years.

Belknap’s Waterproof Grand Canyon River Guide (now available on Avenza Maps) has a spiral binding and includes:

  • New Read-as-you-Run format
  • River maps from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead
  • 8 additional pages of natural history & geology
  • Photo geology labeling from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead

Annually updated with new information and photos, today’s full color editions feature shaded relief maps, accurate river mileage, campsites, GPS waypoints and informative text by noted archeologists, botanists and other Canyon experts.

Now Available on Avenza Maps!


This is a digital version of our best-selling Grand Canyon Waterproof River Guide and allows you to track your exact location on the river anytime. As in our print version, the river runs upwards so you can always watch as you head downriver and see all the features on the map. We also show a shaded topo map that extends outside the edges of our map. This map is a single download of the entire Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead.

Get a Westwater Books River Guide for your next trip or to help you remember your last one.

  • Grand Canyon Waterproof River Map Guidebook

    Grand Canyon River Guide

    $29.95
    Add to cart
  • Canyonlands Waterproof River Guide

    Canyonlands River Guide

    $24.95
    Add to cart
  • Desolation Canyon River Guide

    Desolation River Guide

    $24.95
    Add to cart
  • Dinosaur Waterproof River Guide

    Dinosaur River Guide

    $24.95
    Add to cart
Westwater Books

westwaterbooks

Belknap’s Waterproof River Guides, since 1969. Waterproof river maps of Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Desolation Canyon & Dinosaur National Monument.

Great project day at Westwater Books as we catalog Great project day at Westwater Books as we catalogued each version of our river guides going back to 1969 with the first Grand Canyon River Guide followed by the Canyonlands, Dinosaur and Desolation River Guides. With dozens of updated revisions to provide up-to-date detailed maps and lots of information and history, it’s fun to see how far the books have come from the bright retro covers to the beautiful covers of today. See first and most recent versions of each guidebook. 

#canyonlands
#canyonlandsnps
#coloradoriver
#desocanyon
#desolationcanyon
#dinosaurnationalmonument
#greenriver
#lodorecanyon
#riverguide
#riverguides
#rivermap
#rivermaps
#riverraftingtrip
#rivertrip
#waterproofriverguides
#waterproofrivermaps 
#whitewater
#whitewaterrafting 
#whitewaterriverrafting 
#yampariver
‼️🔔It’s time to start planning for your r ‼️🔔It’s time to start planning for your river trip!🔔‼️

There’s just a few days left to enter the lottery for a river permit this year. Go to recreation.gov to apply, or visit the link in bio. While you’re applying, grab your @westwaterbooks river guide to prep for your trip. 

Let us know where you're headed!

#canyonlands
#canyonlandsnps
#coloradoriver
#desocanyon
#desolationcanyon
#dinosaurnationalmonument
#greenriver
#lodorecanyon
#riverguide
#riverguides
#rivermap
#rivermaps
#riverraftingtrip
#rivertrip
#waterproofriverguides
#waterproofrivermaps 
#whitewater
#whitewaterrafting 
#whitewaterriverrafting 
#yampariver
For a fun read, check out the latest blog post fro For a fun read, check out the latest blog post from Holiday River Expeditions. Written by river guide, Matt Williams, it highlights the Belknap River Guide Books. Matt interviewed Loie Belknap Evans and Lynn Evans Peesel last fall, following a wonderful river trip with Holiday last summer in Desolation where the three met. 

His post explores the role of maps and how map use has evolved. To read the blog post, see link in bio or head to Bikeraft.com. Photos include scenery of Desolation Canyon, river guides, and 3 generations from Westwater Books: Loie, Lynn and Spencer (Lynn’s daughter).

📸 @noahwetzel @mpeesel 

Have you read the blogpost yet? 

@bikeraft 

#desolationcanyon #desocanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #greenriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #rivermaps #waterproofrivermaps  #riverguides #waterproofriverguide
Happy New Year! Wishing you peaceful moments and g Happy New Year! Wishing you peaceful moments and grand adventures in 2025.
With cold weather coming, remembering the warmth a With cold weather coming, remembering the warmth and fun of Deso. 

#desolationcanyon #greenriver #greenriverutah #rafting🚣 #rafting
Powell party patched boats where Powell Museum pic Powell party patched boats where Powell Museum picnicked on pancakes. 
John Wesley Powell Museum Hall of Fame Weekend – pancake breakfast and BLM beach cleanup morning at Swaseys Rapid on the Green River.
Check it out! We're launching new sections of Belk Check it out! We're launching new sections of Belknap's River Guides in a digital format now available for: Ruby-Horsethief and Westwater Canyons on the Colorado and Labyrinth & Stillwater Canyons on the Green. (Complete Canyonlands River Guide coming soon on Avenza).

With the digital format you can:
📍Plan and navigate with confidence using Read-as-you-Run format, updated USGS mileage, and clear markers for rapids, campsites, hikes, river access points, and other points of interest.
📍Track your exact location on the river in real-time (device permitting), drop pins to leave notes and photos.
📍Popular campsites accurately marked.
📍Accurate river mileage and highly detailed, shaded relief/topographic maps to plan your itinerary and enjoy a quality user experience.
📍Covers the Colorado River, from Loma, CO to the Westwater takeout in Cisco, UT.

Whether a commercial or private boater or researcher, this map provides the information for a safe and enjoyable adventure. Download it today and discover the many uses of this digital guide for navigation, notetaking and photo record of your trip.

Link in profile
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#avenza #avenzamaps #belknapmaps
#loiebelknapevans #neverstopexploring #outdooradventures #rafting #raftingguide #river #riverguide #rivermap #riverrafting #riverraftingtrip riverrunner #rivertrip #travel #utah #utahisrad #utahrafting #whitewater #whitewaterrafting #whitewaterriverrafting #rubyhorsethief #horsethiefruby #westwater #skullrapid #blackrocks]
Ready to track your progress down Grand Canyon dig Ready to track your progress down Grand Canyon digitally? At Westwater Books, we’ve been carefully adding @avenza digital river maps to the mix. Our digital river maps are designed to be a companion to our waterproof paper maps and offer some amazing additional functionality and are a must have on your next trip. 

Each of our digital river maps are built on our best-selling, beautiful, easy to read, shaded-relief topo maps that are even more beautiful on your phone or tablet. Each of our digital river maps are available in a single, affordable download and offer these great features:

• Track your progress and locate yourself on the river and know exactly where you are every minute and every bend in the river, using your device’s built-in GPS.
• Drop a pin in any location you want to highlight. Like rapids, campsites, natural features and more. 
• Add notes and geo-tagged photos to all your pins to remember all details of your trip and each location.
• Track changes in the same location trip after trip.
• Keep this digital map as a keepsake of your favorite river trip!

Currently available is our most popular Grand Canyon River Guide.

Coming soon is our Canyonlands River guide, including Ruby/Horsethief and Westwater, the Moab Daily, Labyrinth/Stillwater and Cataract Canyon.

Also coming soon is Desolation Canyon & The Yampa and Lodore through Dinosaur National Monument.

Learn more and find our maps at the link in our Bio.
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#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
3 generations of Westwater Books enjoying a mornin 3 generations of Westwater Books enjoying a morning of paddling and picnicking-Loie Belknap Evans, daughter Lynn, and granddaughters Zoe and Spencer.
We hope you are getting out on the river this summ We hope you are getting out on the river this summer! Don’t forget your river guide. Here’s one in action on a recent trip through Desolation Canyon.

#desolationcanyon #greenriver #rafting #rafting🌊 #whitewaterrafting
Westwater Books field testing it’s Waterproof Gr Westwater Books field testing it’s Waterproof Grand Canyon River Guide—then and now!

Photo #1 Fran Belknap with original “old blue” 1969 Guide.

Photo #2 Loie Belknap Evans testing current version of Grand Canyon Guide—Lees Ferry 2024.

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
Some fun and facts from 2024 Grand Canyon River Gu Some fun and facts from 2024 Grand Canyon River Guides GTS land session-Marble Canyon March 29-31

A full, informative, and enlightening agenda sums up GTS 2024: Saturday morning sessions focused on Indigenous perspectives and connections to the Grand Canyon with talks by members of Hopi, Hualapai, Southern Paiute tribes. 

Followed by Science/climate change talks and a final section on “Sacredness, Respect, and Transformation of the River with a wonderful talk given by Ed Kabotie titled “A Mystic Journey.” Ed and “Yoties” entertained us Saturday night—more great talks on Sunday morning! Great meals throughout!

1. Lynn Peesel and Loie Evans - Easter morning on the bridge—saying hello to the condors.
2. Bego wearing new Westwater Books geology apron—ready for some grilling! Lisa looks happy too!
3. Becca, Q, Levi, and Loie lovin’ being at Hatchland!
4. From Fretwater Boatworks: Brad says, “Ahh, that’s a crazy little Tardigrade. We’ve built three of them, for Cricket and two other tiny gals. Emily has run that one through Westwater!”
5. Brad Udall talk: “Climate Change, and the Effects of Declining Flows on the Colorado River.”
6. Megan Flynn teamed up with Mike DeHoff and Peter Lefebvre for talk: “The Returning Rapids Project Research: How river management affects us all.”
7. Wayne Ranney talk: “Geology Update in Grand Canyon: The Frenchman Mountain Dolomites!

@songbirdoarshop
@FretwaterBoatworks
@hatchriverexpeditions
@americanrivers
@grandcanyonnps
@edkabotie
@returningrapids

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
At the San Juan River on the way to the Grand Cany At the San Juan River on the way to the Grand Canyon River Guide Training Seminar Bonus — enroute to Marble Canyon. Loie had unexpected reunion at Sand Island with Ancient Wayves crew: Louis Williams, Gregory Lameman and Krieg Benally (she had enjoyed their company on hiking and river trips).

See tourancientwayves.com for information about river and land tours with Indigenous Guides in Bears Ears area and San Juan River. 

https://www.tourancientwayves.com/

Photo 1: Sand Island launch, March 30, 2024. Loie and Ancient Wayves crew: Louis Williams, Gregory Lameman, Krieg Benally.

Photo 2: Ancient Wayves - tourancientwayves.com

Photo 3: Loie and friends enjoyed a San Juan river trip with Ancient Wayves in June, 2023. 

Photo 4: Crew member: Gregory Lameman

Photo 5: Crew member: Krieg Benally

Photo 6: Crew member: Darren Oliver

Photo 7: Lots of hiking and exploring

Photo 8: Loie and Lisa Kearsley (San Juan River Guide) toured Bears Ears with Louis Williams in 2022.

Photo 9: Louis Williams at House on Fire (Mule Canyon) in Bears Ears National Monument with Loie and Lisa.

@ancientwayves 
#sanjuanriver 
#petroglyphs 
@bearsearsnps 
#gts
#guidetrainingseminar
#marblecanyon 
@lkearsley61
Now available FREE on @avenzamaps For a limited ti Now available FREE on @avenzamaps
For a limited time, download your FREE Belknaps Grand Canyon Digital River Guide from Westwater Books.
• Locate yourself online and track your trip
• Pin campsites and other fun features
• Add geotagged photos, notes & memories
  to create your own trip log

Now FREE until April 15, then the price goes back to $15.99.

Scan the code or link in Bio.

This is a digital version of our best-selling Grand Canyon Waterproof River Guide and allows you to track your exact location on the river anytime. As in our print version, the river runs upwards so you can always watch as you head downriver and see all the features on the map. We also show a shaded topo map that extends outside the edges of our map. This map is a single download of the entire Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead.

Get a Westwater Books River Guide for your next trip or to help you remember your last one.

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver #travel #outdooradventures #keepexploring #neverstopexploring #avenza #avenzamaps
On our way to GTS24. See you at #MarbleCanyon #g On our way to GTS24.  See you at #MarbleCanyon

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
Friday Fun Feature - Geology of Grand Canyon! Hey Friday Fun Feature - Geology of Grand Canyon!

Hey DUDES!  Many know these handy tricks for remembering Grand Canyon Geology formation and layering:

DUDE: Grand Canyon Formation “Cliff notes":
Deposition
Uplift
Downcutting
Erosion

And how to remember those darn formations:

Know (Kaibab Limestone)
The (Toroweap),
Canyon’s (Coconino Sandstone)
History, (Hermit Shale)
Study (Super Group)
Rocks (Redwall Limestone)
Made (Mauv Lmestone)
By (Bright Angel Shale)
Time (Tapeats Sandstone)
Very Slowly (Vishnu Schist)

BUT — TO MAKE THINGS EASIER:  Check out the Geology section of Belknap’s Waterproof Grand Canyon River Guide with newly revised photo labeling pages — layers nicely labeled so you can learn as you float from Lees to Pearce Ferries.

AND when you get home, why not get the latest Westwater Books Geology poster for your wall so you don’t have to rely on your memory to get those formations right!
Available in paper or laminated.

Geology 📷 @fretwaterboatworks
River 📷 @mpeesel

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
Dreaming of getting on the river this summer? Miss Dreaming of getting on the river this summer? Missed getting a permit in the auction or on permit release day? Check out the resources page on our website for information on private permits, commercial outfitters and tons of river related information. WestwaterBooks.com or link in bio.

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
📷 @mpeesel
More Deep Dives: Fun facts - We’ve come a long w More Deep Dives: Fun facts - We’ve come a long way: 55 years in print.

Original: “Old Blue”. Published in 1969 (Powell Centennial) Printed by A to Z Printing.

(Eben Dale and family) on heavy waterproof “Texoprint” : Binding: stitched by a tentmaker.

2024: Printed on printed on waterproof environmentally-friendly ViaStone™’ by Ram Offset Printing, owned and operated by Peter Dale (all in the family!) Coil binding: “Read-as-you-run format".

#grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver
June, 1950 trip with Dock Marston, Ed Hudson, Bill June, 1950 trip with Dock Marston, Ed Hudson, Bill Belkap, Willie Taylor, Jordan Rust, Guy Forcier, Joe Desloge and Ed Hudson Jr.
Hudsons forced to leave trip and abandon the Esmeralda.
52,900 c.f.s. on 6/19/50 (USGS). First trip for Dock’s @chriscraftboats
which exceeded all expectations.

From Bill Belknap’s diary - NAU Special Collections:
“19 June: We reach the big lava “plug” in the middle of the river which tells us we’re below Tuweep just at noon… Dock spends nearly an hour looking Lava Falls over… Dock hits his course right on the button and makes an exquisite run. I get a swell picture."

1st Picture - Original photo of Dock's Chris Craft going through Lava Falls.

2nd Picture - Bill with Buzz and Loie at head of Lake Mead—meeting the trip. (Looks like another Lake Mead low! (Notice the bathtub ring))

3rd Picture - Closeup of Grand Canyon Waterproof River Guide of Dock's Chris Craft going through Lava Falls.

#riverhistory #grandcanyon #rivertrip #riverraftingtrip #whitewaterriverrafting #whitewaterrafting #river #rafting #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #riverguide #rivermap #whitewater #grandcanyonnps #grandcanyontrust #grandcanyonriverguides #coloradoriver #lavafalls #nauflagstaff
Great article in @rollingstone by @_cassidyrandall Great article in @rollingstone by @_cassidyrandall (link in her bio) about a “miracle quietly surfacing in Cataract Canyon on the Colorado.” From a trip down #cataractcanyon with our friends at @returningrapids  Definitely worth a read. 
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#naturerocks #canyonlands #canyonlandsnationalpark #coloradoriver #lakepowell #whitewater #whitewaterkayaking #whitewaterrafting #riverrunners #wildandscenic #wilderness #redrockcountry
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GRAND CANYON
Table of Contents
River Maps
River Map Key
Geology Column
Geology Photos
Nat'l Hist - Reptiles
Nat'l Hist - Cactus
Whitewater Workshop
History
Photo Workshop
Archaeology
Crew Page

CANYONLANDS
Table of Contents

DESOLATION
Table of Contents

DINOSAUR
Table of Contents

NEW! Grand Canyon Geology Poster Grand Canyon Geology Poster
Newly Updated! Colorful rock sequence from rim to river combined with river-level photos clearly labeled with formation names for easy identification. A graphic slice of the earth’s history suitable for framing; promises to look great on office or study wall. Size: 18″ x 24″.
 

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Contact

Westwater Books
PO Box 2560
Evergreen, CO 80437-2560
phone: 303-674-5410 / 1-800-628-1326
email: orders@westwaterbooks.com
fax: 303-670-0586

More About the Guides

Reviews
Read reviews from Amazon readers to the Boatman's Quarterly Review

Sample Pages
View the incredible detail that went into our Guides

Then & Now
From 1969's "Old Blue" to 2015's Guides, read more about these remarkable books
 

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