Whitewater Raft Guides

Echo Canyon River Expeditions

Thanks for your interest in working with Echo Canyon! We've been training top-notch guides for over 44 years, and we are in search of outstanding individuals to join our 2023 raft guide training program. No rafting or guiding experience is necessary to train to become a full-time guide with us. Experienced guides are also welcome to apply to join our team.

Our Jobs
Raft Guides – Experienced or Inexperienced

Echo Canyon is seeking individuals with excellent guest service skills and a love for working and being outside. We’ll train you to be a guide if you have those traits. Echo Canyon is one of the largest family-owned outfitters in the state of Colorado, and we employ a large number of raft guides – around 50 full-time seasonal raft guides. 

Guide Trainees become a tight-knit group of friends who motivate and support each other throughout the program. Check out our video here!

Experienced guides can join a welcoming community of river guides that value professionalism on the river. That community is just as strong off the river; when we aren't rafting, mountain biking, and climbing, you will find the group preparing meals or hanging out around the campfire. 

How to Apply

Complete the online application and we’ll contact you for a short phone interview. The hiring of trainees from the training class will be based on training performance and growth, ability to perform essential job skills, work ethic, and ability to work in a team setting. We give you every opportunity to be the best you can and we believe that everyone we train will become a member of our team.

About Echo

We are committed to safety, conservation, and providing a fun working environment that will provide you with skills you can utilize long after your employment with us. Echo strives to exceed each guest’s expectations and provide a truly memorable rafting experience for them, and you will play a key role in that mission. We place an emphasis on guiding skills as well as general knowledge of the Arkansas River including local history, geology, plants and animals.

Your training at Echo Canyon will be comprehensive to say the least. We exceed the state minimum requirements by quite a stretch, and we train more extensively than any other raft company in the state of Colorado. This extensive training lasts four to five weeks. Our training is physically and mentally demanding which will require an unfaltering commitment from you. You will be training and guiding on various sections of the Arkansas River, located about an hour southwest of Colorado Springs, Colorado. 2023 Guide Training begins May 21st and lasts approximately four weeks.

Room and Board

Camping is available at no charge while you are training with Echo Canyon. Once hired as a full time member of the staff, you are welcome to continue camping at our on-site employee camping area at a cost of $350 per summer, plus a $50 camp deposit. We have employee bathrooms and showers which are included in the cost of camping with us. A docking station is available to charge up all of your electronic toys and our boosted WIFI gets everyone online for those times you just need to chill out. Echo also has an on-site restaurant for meals, or you can stock up on groceries in town. Food is not provided during training or employment. Some staff members prefer to rent rooms or apartments in Canon City, about 8 miles away. Although all of us at Echo love dogs, we do not allow them to live on-site due to a variety of factors – you will need to find other lodging if you must bring your dog to the area.

Employee Perks

Besides all of the after-hours rafting you can fit in with the free use of our rafting equipment, Echo Canyon River Expeditions is centrally located in one of the most beautiful regions of Colorado. There's so much to see and do – kayaking, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing and bouldering. The best part is you’ll find new friends who are more than willing to teach you these new skills!

As an employee of Echo Canyon you also have opportunities to take part in activities with our vendor partners for free or minimal fees – activities include ATV ride, zipline tour, Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, Royal Gorge Route Railroad, and biking down Pikes Peak. You will enjoy generous employee discounts, opt in employer-matched retirement, and numerous other perks.