Four Corners Guides Spring 2026 Moab Packraft Courses Selling Out Fast

The Colorado River outside Moab doesn't care how many laps you've logged on Slickrock. That's the implicit message behind the rapid sellout of Four Corners Guides' spring 2026 Level-1 Foundations packraft weekends, where several April dates are already gone and a handful of others are down to their last tickets.

The Level-1 course runs at $675, with a 50% deposit required to hold a spot. Sessions take place on Class II sections of the Colorado River and follow the American Canoe Association's accredited packraft curriculum, supplemented by elements drawn from Rescue 3 International and ACA swiftwater rescue programming adapted specifically for packrafting. Over two days, students cover basic equipment handling, river reading, paddling technique, and elementary swiftwater rescue drills: a package designed to take someone with zero river experience and give them a functional foundation before they attempt linking Plateau singletrack with moving water on a bikeraft expedition.

Thad Ferrell leads many of the Moab weekends. Ferrell holds a Level 4 American Canoe Association Packraft Instructor certification, carries advanced swiftwater safety training, and is a certified Wilderness First Responder, credentials that matter when the classroom is a river corridor with real current. Four Corners Guides provides open packrafts, PFDs, paddles, and helmets. Students are responsible for food, lodging, and transportation, along with a drysuit for whitewater drills; discount codes for drysuit rentals are noted on the course listing.

Sam Lewandowski, a past participant, described the experience in a testimonial on the course page: "I was thoroughly impressed with the amount I learned in a relatively short amount of time and how much fun I had. The courses are well run and take you to some of the most stunning areas of the Southwest. If you're willing, they will definitely help you push your boundaries to try new and scary-to-you things in a safe and controlled environment."

The Level-1 weekend serves as the entry point into a structured progression extending through Level-2, Level-3, and Level-4 instruction, with each tier adding more advanced rescue and expedition skills for paddlers building toward multi-day trips in the Dolores or Animas corridors.

Spring Moab already competes with itself, with Easter Jeep Safari, mountain bike festival season, and climbing crowds all converging in April. The Four Corners Guides course calendar was updated within the last several days, and the sellout pattern across multiple weekend dates signals that anyone planning to add river skills to a spring trip should check availability before locking in the rest of their logistics.