½ Day Afternoon Gorge River Rafting

Guests meet at 1p where their Trip Leader will check them in. Once all guests have arrived they will be given their personal gear for the day and walk a short distance to the put-in site (this does involve going down a steep-ish incline on an uneven path). The Trip Leader will give the group a safety talk before dividing guests into groups and assigning them to a guide. Your guide will make sure your pfd and helmet are properly fitted, and lead you to your boat for a quick paddle talk. There will be a little time to practice paddling in the put-in eddy, before diving into the first rapid of the day Current Divider (II) right away.

Once you snake your way through the boulder islands you’ll be back into calmer waters to continue practicing paddling as a team. After drifting through a series of calm pools, with some fast moving water between, you’ll come to Highway Rapid (II). This is a fairly shallow rapid that cascades over a small rocky drop. Next up is Swimmer’s Rapid (II) where guests can choose to swim a small wave train (it feels a lot bigger when you’re in it). Your guide will give you instructions on how to swim the rapid, if you choose to do so; please know that you will likely get a face full, if not a mouth full, of water during the process.

Swimmer’s Rapid flows into the long pool known as Turtle Pond. This is a great place to swim when the weather is warm and to scan the undergrowth for, you guessed it, turtles. The pond ends with a sharp turn to the right down a small rapid and into another long pool in an area called Long Beach on river right. The long sandy/pebbly beach is where we camp on our South Fork 2 Day Wilderness trip.

The next ½ mile or so consists of small calm pools and fast moving water over shallow rock beds. Chutes and Ladders (II) follows with your choice of going right or left around a rock island. Weave through boulder islands and over turbulent waves before Alligator Rock, the river bends left here and over shallow washboard rapids. The river turns to the right and you’ll see Gorilla Rock on the left standing sentinel over Gorilla Pond. This deep pond is dotted with boulder islands and is a great place to get out and swim. You’ll continue this trend of smaller pools, island weaving and small Class I and II rapids for the next 2 miles. During this time you’ll see Screaming Right Hand Turn (II), the Indian Grinding Rock, the Lollipop Tree, and Frankenstein rock. By this point you’ll notice that the river corridor has closed up a fair bit and your third sighting of the Lollipop Tree indicates that you have officially entered the Gorge.