Grand Canyon Groover Regulations for Self Support Kayak Trips

Matt Gerhardt

Updated 10/30/24

According to the Grand Canyon NPS, these are the current stipulations for a human waste management system for self-support kayak trips on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon: 

The park has approved modified groovers on case-by-case basis. The dimensions must fit the appropriate amount of uses for the trip length. The majority of self-support kayaks will be 9-12 days in length. If a 4” x 24” long modified groover is good for about 15 uses, then each Kayak would need to have 1 of these modified groovers per person/per kayak.  These groovers are very simple to make, take no real special tools build, take about 20 minutes to put together, and do not cost much.  I made one myself out of curiosity.  It is the Trip Leader's responsibility to do the math and figure it out based on the number of days on the river.  Most likely, for real obvious reasons, these folks will use some type of wag-bag in conjunction with the Schedule 40 PVC modified groover.  Any questions on a smaller one should be directed to the River District sub-district ranger.

Toilet System (all 3 elements are REQUIRED)

  • Approved hard sided container (most commonly PVC pipe.) 
  • Appropriate Durable Bag required when hiking away from camp.  
  • Enzyme/ chemicals that render human waste nonhazardous.   
  • Commercial products are recommended as they provide multiple layers of leak protection, odor resistant bags, burst strength and puncture resistance. The restop2 system is designed for multiple uses.  
  • PVC poop tube should be sealed on one end, with a threaded screw cap on the opposite end.   
  • On average, one needs 20 – 30 cu/in per day for self-support waste management. Wag bags can consume more space than expected. To save space, consider using each bag two times. Boaters new to bagged waste management should allocate extra space. For a 4” tube
  • plan on 2” (25 cu/in) to 3” (38 cu/in) per day. For a 6” tube plan on 1” (28 cu/in) to 1.5” (42 cu/in) per day.
  • Minimum requirement of 25 cu/in per day per person. 
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