We specialize in the nuts and bolts of running rivers, providing private permittees in Grand Canyon with an exceptional service experience. At PRO, our job is to make your job easy - so you can concentrate on having fun! Boats, food, shuttles - you name it, we supply it - from an entire Painless Private (the combination of all our services, customized for you) to the rental of a single throw bag, and anything in between. Known worldwide for their excellent design and durability, all PRO Rigs are outfitted with aluminum rowing frames and dry boxes built in house. PRO's fleet ranges from one-man inflatable kayaks to 18' Sotar self-bailing rafts. You can rent an Aqua Partner water filter, Globalstar satellite phone, a Complete Kitchen or a single aluminum folding table...whitewater rafting on your own terms has never been easier.

Our warehouse is located on Route 66, just outside Flagstaff city limits to the West, and opposite Woody Mountain Road. From I-40: exit north at Flagstaff Ranch Road and turn east toward town on Route 66; our gray warehouse will be on the left in less than a mile. Click here for map

PRO's physical address is:2800 W. Rt. 66, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 In order to find us on google maps, our physical address is: 2800 West Historic Rt. 66 The mailing address is: P.O. Box 635, Flagstaff, AZ 86002 If you are shipping packages to PRO, the mailing address is: 2800 W. Rt. 66

Yes. Ask our customers; they'll tell you. Ask Flagstaff locals. Check out the competition for yourself. Call us to arrange a tour if you like; come see our clean and organized warehouse, our happy staff, and our top-notch equipment. Peek in PRO's food packing room, and at the vehicles in the lot. Web pages and brochures can't touch PRO's excellence; when you get up close, you'll know. We don't do facebook, we don't twitter, we don't have bumper stickers... we just have the best designed and maintained equipment along with the best systems available - from boats and gear to the lift gates on our trucks. If you want the best you've found it.

Most of our hiring is word of mouth within the Grand Canyon community. We hire in the late winter/early spring for each season.. If you're interested in working at PRO, visit and introduce yourself!

PRO can usually get the basics on four of our 18-foot rafts, though if you like beer and other luxuries, we recommend five. When you use smaller rafts or dories, or big boats with lesser frames, the number of boats needed increases. Even for fewer than 16 people, the capacity required is still large, as the equipment required by the Park stays the same.

Our fleet was built from customer requests over the last 30+ years. We have paddle rafts, row rigs, and inflatable kayaks. The brands are Sotar, Maravia, NRS, and Canyon Inflatables. Our row boats are 16 and 18 feet long. Sotars (16' and 18'), IK's and NRS paddle rafts (14') are self-bailing. The rest have traditional bucket floors. We also have Catarafts.

The PRO Rig includes an aluminum main frame with floorboard, rear frame, two drop bags, table, cooler, cooler cover, hatch or table cover, four oars, your choice of pins & clips, open oar locks or locks with rites, 34 straps rigged on the frames, bowline, low volume pump and repair kit.

Side boxes, a water jug, throwable cushion, throwbag, and high volume pump. All these items are available from PRO. Transport is NOT included in a boat rental.

Check out the raft rigging primer. If you're picking up the boat, we'll give you a copy of the primer with your paperwork and answer any questions you have. If we're doing your put-in shuttle, a driver will be there to help.

Either the Main Frame or the Rear Frame will be recessed so that when you drop the table in legs down it forms a flat deck. You get one table per raft unless you have 3 or more rafts - you don't really need all those tables and there are advantages to having hatches also.

Each of the two drop bags can hold up to six 20 mm rocket boxes, there's room on the floorboard for two aluminum side boxes or six more 20mm boxes, and the rower sits on a 205 quart cooler. Bruce designed the drop bags extra-sturdy to hold the heaviest items, keeping the boat's center of gravity low. You can also rig gear on top of the rear deck or table, preferably personal bags that are lighter and softer. The front hatch/table has a comfy cover for 2-3 people to sit on.

It depends on where you are going, and on your priorities. The majority of PRO's customers opt for self-bailing boats for Grand Canyon trips - most have bailed enough for one lifetime. Professional Grand Canyon boatmen prefer bucket boats because they are faster and track better, and they have customers on board to bail. We have just a few classic Zambezis left, and they are beloved for the smooth straight tracking that only a tub-floor boat can offer.

The Park Service has limits for each size raft; they say you can carry up to 6 people on an 18-foot raft. Four people per raft is comfortable.

You have your choice for each boat: open oarlocks, oarlocks with oar rights, or pins & clips. Here's the NRS comparison of rights vs pins in case you're curious.

We mean complete - everything you need to prepare, cook, consume, and clean up your meals. Two two-burner Partner stoves with hoses & repair kit 3 - 20 lb propane tanks 3 metal "chickie" pails for doing dishes firepan with grill, firepan blanket, shovel & grill brush pots, pans, griddle & dutch ovens mixing bowls, measuring cup, grater & cutting boards steamer, can openers, utensils (serving & eating), PRO cups (to keep), plates & bowls coffee pots, pitcher for mixing juice. dish-drying-hammock, dropper for bleach, along with ranger-satisfying strainer and ground tarps.

We figure 50 "deposits" per 20mm box. By using PRO's riser you elevate the toilet seat above the top of the box, and you can fill them to the top without fear. To calculate how many fill cans you need, use this formula and round up (everyone likes a fresh can): # of People X # of Days divided by 50 = # Fill Cans

The handwash system consists of a plastic hose - one end of which is placed in a bucket of clean river water the other end is connected to metal tubing, which acts as a spigot, attached to a second fill bucket. The water is pumped from the clean water bucket out the spigot into the fill bucket with a foot-pump. People wash their hands more with this system, and handwashing prevents much intestinal strife. Cool weather tip: Put some hot water in the handwash supply water, and people will gladly wash their hands, because the warm water feels good.

The Katadyn Expedition water filter is a barrel pump with a metal foot. Prop the unit on a bucket full of water, and pump. One hose takes river water from a bucket while you pump the handle, and the output hose squirts drinkable water into your jug. Use the clearest source water you can - let water settle in buckets and decant the clean water for filtering. When the water is brown you will need to clean the ceramic Katadyn filter core a lot more often. The Aqua Partner is a battery operated water filter. Connect the battery leads, place the pre-filter in the clearest source water available - using settled and decanted water is key. Place the output hose in the water jug, press the button and water flows. It's that simple.

If the river water is brown you can let it settle overnight or use Water Wizard to settle. Water Wizard is included in PRO foodpacks.

Check out the Food Pack Page for the forms, timelines, sample menus and the PRO Menu. Poll your group with the Food Preference Survey - use the info you receive to select your menu - use one of our sample menus as is, modify one, or build your own.

Try the Meat/Veggie Combo Sample Menu. The meals in this menu are basically vegetarian, with meats that can be cooked on the side. For example, on spaghetti night, the Italian sausage is in a pan instead of in the sauce. We set you up with a stash of beef jerky to satisfy the guy who hates hummus, and vice versa. If you want to select your own menu, choose the Build Your Own Menu from the Menu Details Form and choose a menu from our meal offerings.

It depends on the types of food, how often you open and drain the cooler, the quality of the ice and the temperatures outside. Even when it's hot, it is possible to have ice on day 16. During cooler times of year you may have ice for the entire trip. How your ice lasts is directly related to how you treat your coolers.

Eat it today! You can change your menu, you have control. Don't feel trapped by a piece of paper...be resourceful, ingenious, and make it work.

Not usually - PRO Ice is the longest lasting ice in Grand Canyon - with proper cooler maintenance there is no need for dry ice.

There will be plenty of food in any PRO foodpack. However if you're picky, or dependent on a certain type of comfort food, it's not a bad idea to take care of yourself.

Whatever you want to come with the food pack. The PRO foodpack allows you to customize your menu - pick one of our Sample Menus for a balanced plan for your trip, or pick your meals yourself. Either way you get to adjust your supplies to suit your trip. We provide an abundance of fresh foods for the first week or so on the river and then transition to durable and non-perishable foods for the rest of the expedition.

Larger coolers (120 quart or larger) are necessary for Grand Canyon foodpacks because they stay cold longer. It's physics; more cold mass in relation to surface area means it will warm more slowly.

Yes, if your cooler is being used for a PRO foodpack. We call it PRO Ice. It costs $60 per cooler (123 to 205 quart size) and takes about 2 weeks to freeze. We freeze it in layers so the top is flat, and the final temperature is minus 18 degrees Centigrade. It lasts up to a week longer than block ice because there are no air pockets.

It depends on a zillion variables. Where you are coming from? Are you driving or flying? Who is bringing the boats and food pack? You can have your group meet in Flagstaff and PRO will shuttle people and gear to the put-in, pick you up at the takeout and bring you back to Flagstaff. Or you can meet at Lee's Ferry and we'll pick you and your gear up at Diamond Creek and return you to your cars. Or you can have your cars shuttled from the put-in to Peach Springs and have the Hualapai Tribe pick you up at the takeout and run you to your cars. Let's talk it over.

I’ll admit it right up front – I’m a gearhead/car nut, whatever you want to call it. My father was a mechanical engineer whose favorite brag on me was that I did a complete brake job on the family ’65 Mustang when I was 12. All through school I supplemented my summer river income by rebuilding/restoring vehicles during the winter. During the summer when I wasn’t on the water, I could often be found under the hood of a shuttle vehicle making sure we got to the put-in or made it home from the take-out. For 15 years or so I observed first hand what worked and what did not in regards to shuttle vehicles. By the time I started PRO, I knew what I wanted - so it was just a matter of saving and waiting for the right vehicle to come along. Once owned, each vehicle is set up with tool kits, spares, and communication ability in order to deal with the “what ifs”. Each vehicle has a specific maintenance schedule which is carefully followed. Our drivers perform a safety check before each drive, and file a report after each shuttle with our shuttle manager - so that any issues or concerns are dealt with immediately. We have used the same mechanics for over 10 years – they know our vehicles and what we do with them. They do a safety check with each oil change. If they have any concerns they know my instructions will be "fix it now". Our longevity has allowed us another comfort factor – we have spares; if a problem does arise we can deal with it in a timely manner. Several of our office and warehouse staff also do shuttles, so we always have experienced drivers available. I am fully aware that the most dangerous aspect of your Grand Canyon trip is getting to and from the river. Your safety will always be our primary concern.

Probably. If your trip will have more than 8 row rigs, please call us for "big load" authorization. Our trucks have lift gates to make loading and unloading easier on everyone's backs.

You will either leave it at Lee's Ferry in the long term parking lot, leave it in storage or at a motel in Flagstaff. In any of these places, the risk is yours--neither car storage businesses nor the Park insures your vehicle.

If you are booking your trip through PRO, we can take care of your shuttle arrangements with River Runner's Shuttle Service and add it on to your PRO invoice. Greg & Becky's service is the most reliable, resourceful and trustworthy in the region. They also offer shuttles for Las Vegas.

PRO will pick the group up at your hotel, or sometimes in the parking area of a grocery store or shopping plaza.

There are many variables, but.. Flagstaff to Lee's Ferry - 2.5 hours. Diamond Creek to Flagstaff - 3 hours, and one of those hours is spent on the rough Diamond Creek Road. Pearce Ferry to Flagstaff - 4.5 hours These time estimates do not include loading/unloading or stops.

Read the Diamond Creek Information.

You can get a specific estimate by calling PRO at (800) 648-3236. We are happy to work though several versions to help you decide exactly what you need. Check out this sample estimate for a general idea of the costs.

PRO doesn't offer a package deal. The Painless Private, and its contents are flexible. You only pay for the items you need.

Yes, we take American Express, Discover, Visa, and Mastercard.

PRO offers three different discounts on rental gear and they can be combined for up to 30% off: Off-Season discount - Launch dates between November 1 and March 31 get 10% off Early Booking discount - 10% discount if you book your trip six or more months prior to your trip. Members of Grand Canyon River Guides and Grand Canyon Private Boater’s Association get a 10% discount. Book your trip a year or more before your trip, and get the previous season price hold: Lock the previous year prices, plus you get the Early Booking discount. Call us early and we can advise you on the best deal.

Every time you trim a PRO service, it means more labor for your group. If you have time on your hands, here are ways in which you can hold onto your dollars. Supply all the gear you can, and PRO will deduct the rental cost of equipment items that you don’t have to rent. Use the PRO pack. Fill your trip to 16 people. Choose the simplest shuttle. Ask for other cost saving tips along the way; we can help you minimize your costs.

A 10% deposit reserves equipment rentals and services; the remainder is due one month before your launch.

Yes, in the form of a personal check that we hold, cash, or a credit card. The bond for boats is $250 per boat.

Plans can change suddenly. PRO will refund your deposit and/or payments in full (less 5% if charged on a credit card) unless we've had to turn away business to honor your reservation or perishable items have already been purchased for your trip or services have already been rendered.

Tell us exactly what kind and size of raft you have. Send us the manufacturer's stats, but don't believe them. Blow up the boat and measure it yourself. Think about what you want to carry on the boat. Get us your frame design ideas, and we'll work from there.

After you have received your quote from our fabrication department for the frame or box setup that you want, place a 50% deposit and we'll build it. The final payment is due on pickup or before shipping.

Periodically we will hold a sale in our warehouse to sell used equipment - old rafts, kitchen stuff, lifejackets, and whatever is no longer new-looking enough to be a nice rental. If you would like to be notified of our used gear sale, send us your name and e-mail address or phone number, and we'll let you know (when we know) when it will be. This sale is in person only, no telephone or internet sales.

Each year in February the NPS holds a main lottery to assign launch dates for river trips occurring the next year. Lottery applications are accepted online for the first three weeks of February. Lottery results are emailed to applicants as well as available online by the end of February. Follow-up lotteries are then held as needed to reassign cancelled and/or left-over river trips. Follow-up lotteries typically open around noon on a Tuesday and close at noon Mountain Standard Time on a Thursday. Lottery results are emailed to applicants as well as available online, usually by Thursday evening.

No. We do not run river trips or guide anybody. You provide the expertise and permit; we provide gear, shuttles and food. Once you're on the river, you're on your own!

Call us here at PRO--928-779-1512 - we can help with details about boats, life jackets, helicopter signal panels, etc.

That's where having experienced folks on your trip really pays off. The Park has some requirements--read the rules about sacred sites and other off limits areas. There are maps and books that can help. Some parts of the river flow faster than others, some camps offer sun in the morning, and some have great hikes. PRO can send you our sample itineraries, but when you're on the river, necessity will cause changes in any plan. Commercial boatmen know what's around the bend; politely pick their brains when you can. Remember - you are not part of their job description.

There is a payphone at Phantom Ranch. If you rent a Satellite Telephone you can call like a normal phone from most places in the canyon. There is also cell phone service at Lees Ferry.

There is a spigot beside the restroom at Lee's Ferry where you can top off every water bottle and jug that you have. There's another park water supply at Phantom Ranch. After that all your drinking water will be filtered or treated from the river. Conserve drinking water by making coffee and boiling noodles with river water-boiling kills the infectious critters.

Yes, it's required. At popular camps red ant populations are increasing because campers inadvertently feed them. It's worth your while to avoid leaving crumbs that attract pests. Ant bites are painful.

Until you launch, can use the dumpster at the Lee's Ferry launch ramp. Eliminate packaging and take as little trash with you as possible. Once you're headed downstream, every snippet of trash will be carried downstream with you to the end. Compact trash as small as possible, and contain it in the designated cans or bags. Burn what you can, when you have the firepan out. Cut the tops and bottoms out of rinsed steel cans and smash them flat with the ends tucked inside. For stinky trash, add a little bleach. PRO will recycle aluminum cans kept separate. Keep glass in a rigid container to keep it from slicing anything. Please don't put trash in coolers; it ruins them. If you are doing a Painless Private, PRO will take care of the trash and recycling after your takeout.

You can get there in 4 or 5 days, but usually people take 6 or 7 days.

Part of most river trips is the riverside party that happens at each camp. PRO does not have a liquor license, and so cannot purchase alcoholic beverages for your trip. We can, however, guide you to the best deal in Flagstaff, and offer a few tips. Beaver Street Liquors andGrand Canyon Spirits will deliver your alcohol order to PRO, just let them know that you want it delivered on a weekday at least two days prior to your launch. Here is a sampling of their selections at Beaver Street Liquors - contact them directly for current availability.

Because it takes a long time to rig boats for an expedition, and to make sure you're really ready. Don't skimp on this time-it's your setup for a successful trip. We call it rig day.

Just downstream of the boat ramp. You can also stay at Marble Canyon Lodge the night before your launch; it is 4 miles away, and they provide a van shuttle if you ask. (Marble Canyon Lodge 800-726-1789).

Not necessarily. Historically is has been a safe place, but you never know what unsafe person might show up. You are responsible for the gear until it gets back into the PRO warehouse.

Have your paperwork ready and be sure everyone has proper ID. Don't make coffee or eat breakfast on the ramp. Take up as little space as possible at the downstream end of the launch ramp. Obey parking regulations. Do a Painless Private --the rangers know our gear, and your advisor will facilitate the process.

The gear check out is done the day before you launch, generally while you are rigging.

A complete list can be found in the Regulations. The short list: One Major First Aid Kit, and a Minor First Aid kit for every other boat, including "unsupported" kayaks and canoes One type III or V PFD per person, plus 1 spare life jacket per 10 people One Throwable Cushion per 16' or larger boat Emergency signaling mirror, US air force type Two Helicopter signaling panels, each 3 x 10 feet and international orange Four oars (2 running, 2 spare) per rowboat Two Motors and 1 Fire Extinguisher (specific type) per Motorboat One spare paddle per 4 kayaks or canoes At least one large durable air pump (Bring more than one) One raft repair kit per trip (or several to cover different boat types) One guidebook or map per boat Dishwater strainer Kitchen ground tarps Liquid bleach Hand wash system Firewood, if you will have a non-charcoal fire during the wood-collecting ban March 1 to October 31 Regulation Fire Pan (there is an exception during the summer if you aren't going to burn anything or cook with charcoal) Firepan Blanket Stoves for cooking

Permit Copy of the Regulations Picture ID for every participant Complete participant list

The ranger will usually do the orientation for all private trips together at 9am. The time and place will be set the day before. This is when the ranger will check all trip participants' photo id against the trip roster.

Yes. There's a place to plug in at the ramp; you need a long extension cord to get the blower near the water. If you have a PRO put-in shuttle and a boat rental, we'll provide a blower and cord.

Yes, the spigot for filling water jugs is to the left of the bathroom (when looking from the ramp).