{"id":34386,"date":"2021-05-27T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T06:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/river-guide-business-makes-grand-debut-memorial-day-weekend\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:18:12","slug":"river-guide-business-makes-grand-debut-memorial-day-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/river-guide-business-makes-grand-debut-memorial-day-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"River guide business makes grand debut Memorial Day weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Two
Two rafts float during a trip with the Desert River Guides. The business will have a grand opening Memorial Day weekend. (Courtesy of Desert River Guides)<\/span>Desert River Guides<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

FARMINGTON \u2013 As summer nears, the river is looking more and more appealing to those who enjoy water recreation, and that\u2019s good news for Desert River Guides, a new rafting company that plans its grand opening this weekend.<\/p>\n

Full-time fourth grade teacher and part-time river guide Ryan Dudgeon said she and her husband moved to Montana from Farmington, and while she got her master\u2019s degree in archaeology and her husband, Cody Dudgeon, got his degree in education, the pair fell in love with river rafting and guiding.<\/p>\n

When they decided to move back to Farmington to be closer to family, they realized there was nothing here like what they were leaving behind. But that sadness meant \u201copportunity\u201d to Ryan Dudgeon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we moved back here, we saw an opportunity that was really lacking in Farmington,\u201d Dudgeon said. \u201cPeople are missing out, you know? It\u2019s a really beautiful river.\u201d<\/p>\n

They decided to start the business in fall 2019. Then the pandemic hit. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, finding a permanent location was difficult. But the city saw the value in the business.<\/p>\n

\"A
A raft navigates bumpy waters during a trip with the Desert River Guides. The business will have a grand opening Memorial Day weekend. (Courtesy of Desert River Guides)<\/span>Desert River Guides<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to bolster the economy with recreation,\u201d Dudgeon said. \u201cThe city is awesome and they are renting us a recreation incubation idea location for three years to start to promote recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudgeon said the property is shared with a Jeep tour business to promote Jeep tours in Choke Cherry Canyon and the building is like a \u201cbase camp for adventure\u201d with Jeep and rafting tours.<\/p>\n

Desert River Guides travels both the Animas and the San Juan rivers, which Dudgeon said is perfect in the event of low waters or extended drought, because the San Juan is always flowing.<\/p>\n

The business offers multiple floating options and durations, each with its own special features. The half-day floats include snacks and the full-day floats include a pull-over stop for a picnic lunch.<\/p>\n

In the future, Dudgeon said they hope to expand into overnight trips. The main issue they face is finding good access points and speaking with landowners who are open to overnight camping with \u201cno trace policy, with minimal impact on their land.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for now, Dudgeon said they are focusing on getting their name out there and kick-starting the business.<\/p>\n

For that reason, the business is taking advantage of Memorial Day weekend and staging its grand opening. Floats in a raft on one of the smaller routes will be $20. Their location at 109 E. Pinon St. in Farmington will have music, food and drinks. Dudgeon said the Mac Wagon food truck will be there, and there might be an antique car show.<\/p>\n

\"Rafts
Rafts from Desert River Guides are strapped into this truck on Main Street in downtown Farmington. The business will have a grand opening Memorial Day weekend. (Courtesy of Desert River Guides)<\/span>Desert River Guides<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Dudgeon said her favorite thing about river guiding is seeing people\u2019s outlook change after a float down the river.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are scared to get on the river, and then they do it for their first time, and it just changes their perspective. \u2026 That is my ultimate favorite thing,\u201d Dudgeon said. \u201cJust watching people\u2019s life experience change, even if it\u2019s only a 45-minute trip, people come out of it with a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

mmitchell@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Desert
Desert River Guides business owner Ryan Dudgeon floats past Berg Park in Farmington. Desert River Guides will have a grand opening Memorial Day weekend. (Courtesy of Desert River Guides)<\/span>Desert River Guides<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Desert River Guides says rafting changes \u2018perspective\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,799,976,1799],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-34386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-farmington","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-rafting"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82592,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34386\/revisions\/82592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34386"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=34386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}