Middle Fork American River 1-Day Trip

Our Middle Fork American river rafting adventure begins at 7:45 AM at our Auburn, CA meeting area, 10 minutes off I-80, where our guide staff will be there to check you in and answer any questions about the day’s activities. Once everyone is checked in we board our nice air conditioned vans and take a 45 minute very scenic drive to the launching area.

Once at the put in, our guide staff will help you with the river equipment necessary for the river rafting adventure.  Then we will have a river safety orientation, divide up into groups, assign the guides and get on the river.  The action starts right off the bat with “Good Morning Rapid”, if you are not awake you will be after this soaking rapid.  The river continues to build excitement until you get to the infamous “Tunnel Chute”, where gold miners back in the 1880’s blasted a diversion chute and tunnel into the rocks to divert the river around and into Horseshoe Bend.  They then were able to mine the river for many, many ounces of gold.

After completing the “Chute” we head down some more exhilarating rapids and finish the morning session with “Kanaka Falls”, a class IV steep drop that requires expert steering from everyone in the raft.

We now head into the Middle Fork American river’s quiet side, a 7 mile scenic float through one of the most beautiful river canyons in California.  We will stop half way into the 7 mile section for lunch at a primitive sandy beach right on the river.  Your guides will then pull the lunch coolers out of the rafts and begin to prepare a wonderful assortment of lunch items.

Once back in the rafts we slowly drift down and listen for the sound of “Ruck-A-Chucky Falls”, the beginning of our next set of challenging Class IV rapids. The first one is called “Chunder” an 8′ pour over that gets everyone’s heart pounding.  It’s then out of the rafts as the guides portage (line the rafts around) the 25′ falls (you might even witness some of them taking the rafts over the falls themselves)!  We then load up the rafts and head down 3 miles of super fun class IV rapids until we get to the heart pounding “Bambi Falls”, where you are welcome to cool off with a swim through a very easy slow class II rapid.

At the end of the day, our vans will be waiting for you with cold drinks and snacks for the 15 minute ride back to the meeting area, where again your guides will be there to thank you for coming and let you know how you can view and purchase professional photos of your trip (if you wish).

• Skilled, professional guide service
• A great deli lunch on the river
• High-quality inflatable rafts, paddles, helmets, personal floatation devices (wetsuits – if needed)
• Transportation from the meeting place to the river and back
• Drinks and snacks at river’s end

• River clothing is very casual and you should expect to get wet!  
• Bathing suit/trunks, lightweight, quick drying top (rash guard works well)
• Lightweight windbreaker for cool mornings, sweatshirt for cool evenings
• River sandals or old tennis shoes work great (No flip flops or bare feet allowed)
• Hat (optional under helmet)
• Sunglasses (suggest retaining device so they don’t end up in the river)
• Waterproof sunscreen and lip protection
• Bottle of water (drinks provided at lunch and end of the trip)
• Inexpensive waterproof camera (professional pictures are taken at one of the rapids)
• Dry clothes for trip home (to be left in your car).

Please do not bring

• Pets, fireworks, high pressure water guns or firearms

Middle Fork One Day Trip Information