The Best USA White Water Rafting Trips

USA White Water Rafting Trips
Photo courtesy Oars.com

USA White water Rafting Trips, especially in the west, are typically overnight camping trips where you can immerse yourself in the wilderness and in view of awesome scenery.

As with most wilderness activities, USA white water rafting has to concern itself with the conflicting issues between nature use and nature conservation. With this in mind, many rivers have regulations governing the use and operating times of rafting.

The best USA white water rafting rivers that fall into the Classes III - V having long periods of rapids, and great scenery.





The Best USA White Water Rafting River Trips

lsek -Tatshenshini, Alaska
Class III to IV
, June through September
Not the most difficult rafting trip in Alaska, (Six mile Creek is the most difficult) but for all round white water excitement and enjoyment of scenery and adventure it's the best. This is an out of the ordinary white water rafting trip on one of the most remote rivers in the world with very few sightings of other rafters and humans. This is more than you can expect from a white water rafting trip, it's adventure where you will experience glaciers, icebergs, Yukon moose, and grizzlies. One of many highlights on this adventure with fantastic scenery, wildlife, and rapids is the helicopter portage across the deadly Class VI Turnback Canyon. You will also do some hiking and exploring and camp below the ice capped 15,000 foot peak of Mt. Fairweather.
Check out Chilkat Guides

Stay at a Haines, AL Hotel
Haines Hotels reviews/bookings

Cherry Creek-Upper Tuolumne, California
Class IV-V Mid May - June (season runs to August)
This is a National Wild and Scenic River near the Yosemite border in Stanislaus National Forest and is one of the most difficult rafting trips in the United States. You will raft through a canyon and over rapids where the river drops more than 100 vertical feet per mile, down to the bottom at Cherry Creek. The 18-mile run between Meral's Pool to Ward's Ferry is a fascinating over night camping spot in isolation with a backdrop of wilderness and the rumbling Class IV white water.
Check out All Outlaws California White Water Rafting

Stay at a Groveland, CA hotel
Groveland, CA Hotels Reviews/bookings

Gauley River, West Virginia
Class III - V
It's a world class river with 26 miles, more than 100 rapids, and a vertical drop of 668 feet. The river is also noted for it's undercut ledges created by the swift movement of the river. For the best experience, get there in the fall Labor Day to Columbus day weekend when the Gauley dam releases the water at Summersville Lake during weekend intervals providing the most exciting and challenging white water rafting east of the Mississippi. During this period the river flows up to 2800 c.f.s.
Check out gauley.com

Stay at a hotel near Lansing, West Virginia
Lansing, WV hotels Reviews/bookings

Middle Fork of the Salmon, Idaho
Class III-IV May - September

Here you can experience the most remote white water rafting in the United States outside of Alaska. The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is the premier wilderness rafting trip in the US. It's gin clear water flows 100 miles of Wild and Scenic free-flowing river, through the largest roadless wilderness area in the US and in a canyon that is deeper than the Grand Canyon. It has half a dozen natural hot springs throughout the canyon, blue ribbon trout fishing, and more than 100+ rapids grade I-III (IV in June). The Middle Fork of the Salmon is an unspoiled, remote and pristine wilderness much as it was 100 years ago.
Check out Middle Fork River Expeditions

Stay at one of the Stanley, Idaho Hotels
Stanley, Idaho Hotel reviews/bookings

California Salmon, California
Class IV- V - April-June.
This relatively unknown rafting trip combines beautiful, lush coastal scenery, an intimate, marble-smooth, granite inner gorge, a seemingly endless number of waterfalls cascading in from above, emerald-green waters, tons of wildlife, a comfortable pop-up base camp, and unequaled class IV-V pool-drop whitewater. This is truly a world-class, high-adventure whitewater run. The trip combines the Salmon with the Class V Scott River and/or the spectacularly beautiful Clear Creak to become one of the ultimate class V adventures in the country.
Check out Momentum River Expeditions

Stay at a Hotel near Somes Bar, California
Somes Bar, CA Hotels reviews/booking

Cataract Canyon, Utah
Class IV-V April - October (April - June peak season)
Explore Cataract Canyon in the heart of Canyonlands National Park, deep within a 2000 ft. deep crevice and over 30-million-year-old rock formations!! Cataract Canyon rafting, near Moab, Utah, is the premier Utah rafting whitewater experience. This section of the Colorado River treats you to fun, rolling class III and IV rapids all season long. When the Rocky Mountain's snow melts, May-early July, filling the canyon, the rapids elevate to some of America's most exciting and challenging class IV and class V rapids! Whatever season you choose, your 120-mile Cataract Canyon rafting trip begins with relaxation as you get acquainted with the peace, serenity, and solitude of this canyon.

Stay at a hotel in Moab, Utah
Moab, Utah Hotel reviews/bookings

The Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona
The rapids in the Grand Canyon are rated on a 1-10 scale.  A 1 is roughly equivalent to a Class I rating while a 10 is roughly equivalent a Class V. Lava Falls or Crystal can be rated 10 at certain water levels or a Class V. There are 47 other rapids on the Colorado River rated 5 or higher. April - October (Best time to go is April, September & October)
A white water rafting trip in the Grand Canyon is a lifetime experience, not only because of the exciting white water rapids, but because of the awesome scenery accessible only by river.
Check out Western River Expeditions

Stay at a hotel in Marble Canyon, AZ
Marble Canyon, AZ Hotels reviews/booking



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