Summary

South Fork American - Whole River Trip

Prices From	USD$ $129.00
1st Departure	01.01.0001
Provider	Whitewater Excitement
Destination	South Fork American River
Duration	8 hours
Challenge	Intermediate
Avg Rating	Not Rated

The South Fork of the American River is one of the most popular rafting trips in the country—fun for the first-timer or veteran, and great for the whole family, too! With its origin high in the desolation wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the South Fork has over 50 major rapids in its 21-mile stretch from near Placerville to Folsom Lake. The WHOLE RIVER Trip covers the entire stretch of the South Fork, 21 miles, all in one day! Do you want to spend the whole day on the river? This trip is a good choice. It starts early in the morning at Chili Bar and ends late in the afternoon at Folsom Lake. Rapids like “Meatgrinder,” “Triple Threat,” “Troublemaker,” and the American River Gorge await you on this exciting trip. Lunch is provided on this trip as well as snacks and drinks at river’s end.

Itinerary

Itinerary

We will meet you at our WWE Camp Store the morning of your trip at 7:45 AM. After checking in with your release forms, we will get ready to board our bus to take you to the launching point of the river at Chili Bar. At Chili Bar your raft guides will be waiting with the river equipment ready to go. They will hand out life jackets and make sure they are snug and fit properly. The Trip Leader and guide staff will then give a river safety and orientation talk about what you can expect on the river and safety information about staying in the raft and what happens if you fall out. From then if off to the river and the Upper Chili Bar section of the river with rapids like Meatgrinder, Race Horse Bend, Maya, Triple Threat, and the famous Troublemaker rapids where commerical photographers will be taking your photo as you challenge this rapid. After Troublemaker, the river mellow and we float through the Coloma River Valley, where gold was discovered in 1848. During this stretch we arrive at our camp area where our riverside buffet lunch will be served. After lunch we again board the rafts and head down where we will encounter the Gorge. The river now narrows and begins dropping with rapid after rapid, separated by short pools. Rapids like Satan’s Cesspool, Bouncing Rock, Hospital Bar are only a few of the class 3 rapids we will tackle on our way through the Gorge. We end our trip on the upper reaches of Folsom Lake where our Jet Ski driver will hook up the rafts and tow you to the take out area for the bus ride back.

Gear List

What to Bring

River clothing is very casual and you should expect to get wet, please dress accordingly. Cotton gets wet and does not keep you warm.

List of items to bring:
Swim suit or shorts, tennis shoes or Teva Type Sandals (NO FLIP FLOPS OR BARE FEET ALLOWED), light wind breaker and pile or polypro sweater in case of cool weather, hat with tie, sunglasses with retaining device such as chums, lip balm, sunscreen, garbage bag for you wet clothes, some dry clothes for the trip home (to be left in your car), and a small amount of money for souvenirs, photos, and meals on the way home.

Cool Weather Pre-Cautions
In case of cool weather we recommend the following as a pre-caution for the months of April, May and anytime during the season when rain or cool weather is a possibility: In addition to the provided wet suits listed below, we recommend you having wet suit booties, wool or poly pro sweater, socks, and hat.
Wet Suits are required during the Spring (prior to Memorial Day) and during times of High Water. These are provided to you as a service of WWE. Our wet suits fit those under 6’4” and/or 260 pounds. If you or any member of your group is over this size, they will need to rent a custom suit at a local dive or surf shop. For your safety, those not having wet suits when required will not be able to participate in the trip.

Please do not bring any pets, fireworks, or firearms. Because of the great risk of injury, we do not allow any high-pressure water guns on our trips. We urge you to leave your valuables at home. If you wish to bring a camera, please make sure it is a water-proof disposable type. Professional photographers will be taking pictures at various rapids and are available for sale after the trip. These photographers are in no way associated with Whitewater Excitement.

Travel Information

Activity Location Whitewater Excitement Base Camp 6580 Highway 49 Coloma, CA 95613 USA