Holiday River Expeditions has announced a new lineup of trips for this year that highlight nighttime sky viewing and exploration of dramatic river canyons.
The company is introducing a Dark Sky Stargazing Trip Series in partnership with Salt Lake City’s Clark Planetarium. These excursions combine mountain biking and whitewater rafting with guided night programs designed to observe planets, galaxies and other celestial objects.
“Each evening on these bike-and-river trips we will locate and identify stars, constellations, planets, galaxies, nebulae, clusters and satellites. More importantly, we’ll use those sights to discuss the structure of our galaxy, the origin and future of the universe, and our place in the cosmos,” says Tom Beckett, board chair of Clark Planetarium and a part-time guide with Holiday River Expeditions. He notes that much of the planet is losing dark night skies to light pollution, and many people never see the Milky Way. The rivers and trails used on these trips travel through remote areas that offer some of the darkest skies available for stargazing.
The first group departs in early May and the series runs through early October, with trips centered in Canyonlands National Park.
Additional stargazing-focused offerings include a White Rim Trail mountain biking adventure in Canyonlands, a Green River trip through Lodore Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument, and a Colorado River journey through Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. All of these are offered in collaboration with the Clark Planetarium to provide expert night-sky interpretation alongside the outdoor experience.