We are proud to belong to the small, but elite group of people who have operated in Hells Canyon for more than 30 years.

George Hauptman

Canyon Outfitters was founded by George Hauptman in 1980. George discovered after years of college that a career in Architecture wasn’t for him after his first float down the Rogue River. Since then he has fished and floated tens of thousands of river miles in the Pacific Northwest during his 30-plus year guiding career. A conservative estimate of 600 multi-day river trips in Hells Canyon makes George the most experienced guide and outfitter in Hells Canyon.

Lynette Hauptman

A year’s sabbatical and the impulse purchase of an ‘around-the-world’ plane ticket back in 1986 was what bought Lynette from her native homeland of Australia to the Pacific Northwest. A chance meeting with George on the Rogue River later that same year sealed the new Canyon Outfitters partnership….the rest is history. 

The couple maintain a connection to the land DownUnder through their tour company 'Hauptman's Australia'.

 During the long winter months in the northern hemisphere, the Hauptman's will be found in their other life; escorting tours throughout the continent of Australia. After forming an Australian tour company and purchasing a coach in the early '90's, the Hauptman's have escorted American guests over tens of thousands of miles of the Aussie landscape.