All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting offers 1-Day and Multi-Day overnight trips on 10 rivers in California, including the American River (South Fork, Middle Fork & North Fork), Merced River, Kaweah River, Goodwin Canyon, North Fork of the Stanislaus, Cal Salmon, Tuolumne River, and the most advanced commerical rafting trip available in the United States: Class V+ Cherry Creek.
In 1962, George Armstrong, the founder of All-Outdoors, started sharing his love of the rivers with his family, friends, and students. More than 60 years later, the Armstrong family continue that tradition by welcoming thousands of people every year on river rafting trips throughout California.
Fortunately, this rapid ends with a calm float through a tunnel built by gold miners in the 1850s to divert the water from a section of the river to make the mining process easier. More gold has been taken from the Middle Fork American than from any other river in California.
Yep! That calm at the end makes it a really good place to fall out of the raft, all things considered. You can also still see old mining equipment along the riverbank!
I did the Gorge Run with my friends and we had a blast. It was our first rafting trip and I think we just found a new hobby. I'm even enrolling in whitewater kayaking lessons now 😅 We're thinking of doing the Middle Fork for our next trip!
That's awesome!! Welcome to the river family, we're so stoked you're getting into it. Best of luck with kayaking, it's much different than rafting, but so much fun. We'll see you on the Middle Fork!!
Honestly there's no sort of consistency to it, as the rapid's class mostly deals with the river's features (rocks, holes, waves, etc.) rather than the speed of the water. There is some loose correlation though, as faster water typically correlates to a more difficult rapid.
I would also suggest that, in your criteria for rating a rapid, a third criterion is usually also considered: the potential consequences of a swim. For example, on Cherry Creek, Flat Rock Rapid is really not that technically difficult, but a swim there could be deadly due to a severe undercut, and that is why it is always walked around by the guests on commercial trips. Several lives have been lost in this rapid--as far as I know, all on private trips.
That's a great point, and this is actually a consideration when grading the difficulty of the rapids which we didn't cover much here. Flat Rock is a perfect example of this concept!
One of my favorite rivers. Gray's is my favorite rapid at higher spring flows. Always thought Clavey was pretty easy, though my wife was bow paddler on a gear raft that flipped there at about 7K and was under the raft. Myself and a couple buddies were running safety in kayaks. She finally popped out next to my buddy sitting there like Buddha and knew she was going to be OK. All the rafts snuck down grays on the left side to miss the big hole in the middle at those flows.
That's a crazy story! We agree with you though, Gray's at high flows is such a blast. Clavey is definitely a bit low-key for the rating, but it is a pretty high consequence rapid if things go wrong, which is why it's considered a Class 5. Ask your wife if you don't believe us!
First of all, congrats! That's a huge step, so props to your courage. The biggest thing we'd recommend is to listen to and trust your guide. They're out there each day running this river, and are looking out for you. Sometimes they might you to do things that don't make sense to you, but it's a good idea to listen to them anyways. The best way to successfully get through rapids is to work together as a team with your guide, so make sure you do your part. Have a blast out there, let us know what you think!
Great point, (usually)! For this particular rapid, however, ourselves and every other outfitter call a "get-down," as paddling won't actually do much after the initial setup. The rapid is so fast and narrow, that the whole rapid is made, or broken, in the setup at the top. It's called Tunnel Chute rapid if you want to look it up more!
Hey Josh! Ourselves, and lots of other outfitters across the country do, in fact, run Class V rapids. Feel free to take a look at all 10 of our California rivers, including this one, the Cal-Salmon. On each page, you can see the class of the river, from 1 to 5. Hope to see you out there sometime!
Great point, usually! For this particular rapid, ourselves and every other outfitter call a "get-down," as paddling won't do much after the initial setup. It's called Tunnel Chute rapid if you want to look it up more!
Personally, I would have put Mushroom at #1. The only rapid I have ever run that is tougher is No Name on the Upper Animas, in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Mushroom is no joke, and is definitely more challenging. Typically, our guests have more fun on Lewis' Leap though, which is why we ranked it higher. I mean, who doesn't love plunging off a 10 foot drop?!
Ive rafted the south fork both guiding and passenger dozens, if not hundreds of times now. Were doing the middle fork this weekend with another guide buddy of mine. Looking forward to it! Call us crazy, but 3 of us will not be portaging ruck a chucky. Wish me and the boys luck!
I feel like you miss a whole lot, skipping over the "+" part of the system. There's such a huge step between Class 3 and Class 4, for instance, that skipping 3+ is like skipping its own separate class. I'd say there's even a considerable difference between Class 3 and Class 3+ rapids.
Raft guiding has changed my whole being and made me who I really am. It’s one of e greatest “ jobs” I have ever had . I plan on guiding for a long time . I live in Colorado now
Haha, the GoPro effect is real! If you want to see what some real action on this river, check out our recent video highlighting the best rapids here. There's a couple class V's in there!: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-j6WddDlobgg.html
Good eye! It's such an iconic spot, and is actually quite popular to film in after George of the Jungle came out. Come rafting and see it for yourself!
@@Paolo-qe7lc Definitely hit us up if you do! It's really fun, but not quite as intense as the movie made it seem. Plus, it's a bit nicer when you're in a raft, with a highly trained guide and industry leading safety gear!
Cherry Creek where? Below the dam? I saw nothing to indicate that this video was made on any Cherry Creek sections above the lake. Smells like bullshit. Prove me wrong.
Smells can be deceiving! This is indeed Cherry Creek, also known as the Upper Tuolumne River. We're one of only 2 outfitters who were given permits to properly run this section, and it's one of our favorites in all of California. We recently shot a video on the top 5 rapids of Cherry Creek, if you want to see more. It's an epic river! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-R-pjPJF76Pg.html
Nope! While it initially may seem like a good idea, being strapped in on a raft actually poses some major safety issues. It typically takes several minutes to get a raft un-flipped, and those are minutes that would be pretty rough if you were strapped in underwater!
Hey! Some lesser intense rivers don't require swimming. Since Cherry Creek is the most difficult commercially run river in America, it's necessary that all of our guests know how to swim, in addition to wearing a life vest. To raft with us, and any other company on this particular river, swimming is indeed required. If you don't know how to swim, you should check out the South Fork American river. It's awesome, and is non swimmer friendly!
It really is much better to have swimming skills on class 4 water or above. The jacket will float you but swimmers are a lot less likely to panic in the water and a lot more able to participate in their own rescue if they fall in. That can often mean just swimming a few strokes, but those few strokes can make the difference between a quick easy rescue and a long ugly swim.
It's on the Merced River, but is above the section that you can raft. It's right by the gas station in El Portal, if you're familiar with the area, and advanced kayakers are able to run that section!
That's awesome, we love Oars! We work with them and often trade guides back and forth if one of us needs extra hands on the water. Which rivers did you guide?
@@Hellbender21 Appreciate it! The two day trip is definitely the way to go. As the social media manager, I've personally had the opportunity to raft all of the trips that we offer, and while they're all fun, the 2 day Middle Fork trip is my personal favorite. Have a blast out there!
Just got back to Missouri from our trip. We rated July 2nd and 3rd. Wyatt was our guide and was great. All of the other guides seemed to be as well. Great cooks, very knowledgeable, positive and hard working. My kids and I are hooked for sure. Top notch company.
@@Hellbender21 Thanks so much, we're so glad you all made the trek and chose us to raft with. Wyatt is a class guide, as is the whole crew. We loved meeting you all, and hope to see you back out here soon!
Yea sounds like Sweets Falls, there were those who held on, and others like me who always had their steering wheel in the water. Except waterfalls, hold on, that didn’t look like no waterfall. Never guided in Cali, mostly Colorado/West Virginia.
@AOrafting Not yet. The Stanislaus runs behind my house here in Oakdale at the Burchill Hill neighborhood. Hairyist rapid I run depending on flows is Russian Rapids just downstream from Knights Ferry. 💦 🛶 💦✌️🇺🇸 😊
@@cjsoutdoors4412 Oh cool, that's a beautiful stretch of the river. We run Goodwin Canyon each fall, and take out at Knight's Ferry. The Stanislaus is such a neat river!
Close! It's actually Cherry Creek, which is the upper section of the Tuolumne River. If you've ever driven to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite, you will have driven right past it!
