River levels usually don’t allow a full trip in the winter months, but I believe you can still rent kayaks. YOu’ll wnat to contact Saguaro Guest Ranch directly to see what their plans are.

No idea about the fishing options. Plenty of people seem to fish from the banks, but few of them appear to know what they’re doing. Worse, the river is rather narrow, so it just creates conflicts. All of the surrounding lakes are stocked especially for fishing, so that seems like a far more appropriate destination.

It’s hard to guesstimate time on the river for people I’ve never met, as it’s highly dependent on water flow, how fast you paddle, how much time you actually spend paddling (as opposed to floating), how many stops you take and for how long, etc. Two groups could easily paddle the same stretch and one of them might take 3x as long as the other.

You could probably kayak from Phon D Sutton down to Granite Reef, or on any of the lakes around Phoenix or in central/northern Arizona.

I think a bike could work, especially if you can leave someone with the boats at the take-out. You’re looking at an 8.9 mile ride with about 260ft gain and 175ft loss. It’s not uncommon to see cyclists riding in groups, though there is a fair amount of traffic on the roadway.

As an update, I actually ordered a Lyft from the Phon D Sutton rec area a few weeks back well past midnight. Running the numbers on the Lyft app right now, it looks like it’d be $13 (plus tip) to get a ride from Granite Reef to Water Users.

Either way, you’ll definitely want to check the water levels for the Salt River before deciding—they may not be high enough to warrant an attempt. If you decide to paddle a lake instead, I recommend Saguaro or Apache over Roosevelt. Cheers!

Hi Scott. Thanks for the help. What do you think about taking a bike to the put-out (Granite Reef) locking it up and when we get to the put-out one of us rides a bike back to Water Users parking lot? The Uber option would be nice but how much would that cost? We may opt to just kayak at Roosevelt or Saguaro Lake since it appears that we may not be able to line up a ride.
~Karen

Hi Karen,

You have a few options. The easiest——but definitely most expensive——option is to book a self-guided kayaking trip through Saguaro Lake Ranch. That includes kayak rental (in case you’d rather leave yours at home), launch fees from the ranch, and a shuttle return when you’re done. That costs $75/person, launches at 7am four days a week, and requires a reservation. Another option is to time your trip with a meetup group and launch from wherever they’re starting and shuttle with them. If you contact one of the hosts ahead of time, you might be able to talk them into organizing the trip around your own itinerary. A third option is to post a message in the Lower Salt River Kayakers facebook group and see if someone will help you shuttle. The final option is to hire someone to shuttle you at the end. I’ve heard of some people actually getting an Uber out to Granite Reef, while others have talked their way into a shuttle ride from other kayakers, but I’m not sure if I’d count on either of those.

In terms of camping, your best bet for a developed campsite is Usery Mountain Regional Park, which is just a few miles south of the river off of Usery Pass/Ellsworth Rd. You can also find dispersed camping in the Tonto National Forest, though you can’t camp within the Salt River recreational zone itself. Also, you’d probably want high clearance at minimum to get to most of the decent dispersed campsites in the area. Hope that helps.