o.a.r.s. american river day rafting

If your looking for some excitement and adventure in your vacation or getaway you can't beat running the class IV Middle Fork of the American River with O.A.R.S. The flow on this river is controlled by water releases that guarantee excitement and thrills as you blast through the fearsome Tunnel Shute and innumerable other memorable rapids. The guides are terrific and know every rock and eddy on the river making you feel perfectly safe even though with rapids of this size there is a chance of flipping. The lunch is great and the price for this one-day bucket list experience is only $135!

I've been on 20 - 25 trips with OARS since 1980 and keep coming back. They are great professionals and we always have a great time. This trip I brought an old friend who had never been white water rafting before. He was a bit hesitant, but he ended up loving the trip. Our guide, Sarkan was technically excellent and had a great personality. My buddy is now planning a trip for his family. I have never been disappointed with OARS, and this was no exception. By the way, if you are concerned about water flow, this was actually a good run. They are releasing enough water to keep the river fun, and a bonus is that Folsom Lake is so low, you get about an extra mile or more of river.

I had never been rafting before, and was a little nervous. My fiancée had been before and assured me I'd have a great time. We got the overnight package with a platform tent. We had a great time. This was in June when we went, the weather was very hot, but our guide Natalie splashed us enough that we stayed cool. The food was awesome; we were served lunch on day one, appetizers and dinner on day one, breakfast and lunch on day two. The food was great and I was pleasantly surprised that there were bathrooms/outhouses where we stopped for lunch both days. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone. There were lots of children on the trip. We were put with a family of three, two kids and a mom. We all got along well and had a terrific trip. All the staff did a great job to make us feel welcome and comfortable. We would use this company again over any other one out there! Thanks for a great time.

This was my first OARS trip - they were recommended by REI - and I am so glad I went with OARS. Everything was perfect - well organized, the guides were absolutely amazing (my group had Marc B) - very knowledgeable about the area and the activities, entertaining, friendly, and cooked up the most delicious meals for us! The campsite was great - right by the river, and all the necessary amenities - bathrooms, showers, hot water, outlets, games, a store, and cafes right next door. I did the 2-day trip on the south fork of the American River and everything was great - I highly recommend!!

Jimbo is an incredible guide, and our whole experience rivering was so much more fun than I expected. We'll definitely so this again.

I have rafted with OARs more than 15 times in the past 30 years and I keep coming back to them. This year I organized a trip bringing 20 of my colleagues from work. OARs guides are the best. Many of the same guides are back year after year. The guides are well trained with safety as primary concern and they are fun to be around. I have been on day trips as well as overnight and week-long trips and the experience is consistent. Meals on the multi-day trips are always exceptional and the camping is easy with camping sites in some beautiful locations. The guides even help set up your tent if needed. Lots of choices of locations and difficulty. I always come home excited about booking a new trip for next year.

Great day on the American River! An incredibly exhilarating experience, I went on this trip with a group from work and I want to do this again with my grown kids. Our experienced guide Mark, expertly coached us through each stretch of rapids and I felt we were in good hands through-out the wild ride. The American river is incredibly beautiful and rich in gold rush history and Mark was very knowledgable and helpful with our many questions. The mid-trip tortilla wrap lunch was delicious and the OARS team is well-organized and thorough in their concern for safety. Super fun!

Yesterday our school took 170 juniors on the river rafting trip. I had 5 of my students in my boat; our guide was Shayne with the blue sparkling hat :-). He was absolutely fantastic. He was funny, was able to read our group's vibes very well, engaged in good conversation and most importantly kept us all safe. I realized how important it is to trust your guide if you want to make this a good experience. Shayne was able to build this trust from the beginning on. His commands were clear and firm without scaring us. He brought lightness whenever needed. We could not have asked for a better experience!

Having been to the Grand Canyon, American River, and Several spots in Maryland/DC/WV, I can definitely say that white water trips are my favorite vacation activity...O.A.R.S made my trip to the American River Aug 2014 (Middle/South Forks) easy. I had several changes (some very last minute) to my group trip, and I can sincerely say that O.A.R.S answered each of my questions and coordinated every change/update with ease - this included tents/sleeping kits, arrival/departure times, guys dropped/added to the trip, etc... each and every part of our trip was handled by the staff without a problem.Our rafting guide Marc B. was on point on each and every moment of the trip - very knowledgable and made safety his first priority. This being a Bachelor Party weekend, we wanted to have a great time while hitting the rapids - our guide definitely came through.Whether its family, friends, etc... rafting with O.A.R.S is a win win situation.

My advice to you that you are reading this comment before to decide to go on a OARS trip is to realize that life is short, we all work very hard to pay our bills and with what is left, we try to make ourself and the ones we love, simply happy. Well....10 days ago I came out of 2 weeks spent in the grand canyon with OARS and I'm still in a pure state of bliss. I traveled the world many times but I rarely experience such a long time of pure joy and fulfillment like I did with OARS on a rafting trip from Lees Ferry to Whitemore Wash.Everything was perfect and the guides are not only guides but friends, storytellers, chefs, musicians, gurus, artists, fitness trainer and so much more!On the river we crossed many other companies running the river and absolutely no one on those motorized boat looked like remotely happy like us!So my advice to you is to save up and trust OARS!

In a boat where only one person had rafted before, a team of six was transformed from weekend vacationers to river superheroes! All this thanks to our incredible guide, Shayne. We began the trip completely inexperienced and nervous about our abilities. By the end, he had us giving "paddle high fives," chanting, and looking around the bend for the next rapid. Not only did he keep us laughing while preparing us for each approaching rapid - he rocked a sparkling blue helmet. Flawless. I can't wait to go back for the 2-day trips - OARS showed us such a great time!

We had a fantastic time with OARS on their 1 day South Fork river rafting trip, which included some great white water rafting (catagory 3) which was perfect for our first time experience at white water rafting. Our guide Mark led the group of 4 boats, each with their own guide, and made all the family feel confident and comfortable during the whole trip. We spent a fairly relaxed morning getting used to the boat and river with a few 'small' rapids and gentle paddling down the river before lunch. The lunch stop was all ready set up for us when we arrived with plenty of food for everyone. Then we set off again for the more serious stuff! Great fun, even when I ended up in the river after a rock slide. Mark simply hauled me back on board and off we went again. We had clear instructions from Mark on when to paddle at each of the rapids and had an exhilarating afternoon. OARS were by far the best outfit on the river, we saw other boats which seemed to get into far more trouble than ours, which simply tells me they are the best.

My family and I recently took the South Fork American Gorge 1 Day trip with O.A.R.S. We had an absolute BLAST! Our guide, Natalie, did an exceptional job, and that was no easy task as our group of 5 included a nervous 7 year old first time rafter. Natalie really put my daughter at ease, let her sit in the back and help steer the boat, and really made the entire day a really fun and exciting family trip. The lunch that was provided was delicious, boats an equipment in great shape; we truly loved every moment we spent on the river!We also camped at the O.A.R.S. campsite, in one of the platform tents. The tent was already made up and ready for us when we returned. The campsite was clean and we'll maintained. We had just an amazing time!I should also mention that the O.A.R.S. customer service representatives are great. I had to reach out to them a few times with questions, and each time I was surprised and impressed by their desire to help with whatever I needed, and make sure our trip was everything we wanted/expected.If you are considering a rafting trip, O.A.R.S. is the company you want to use! Absolutely fabulous from customer service to guides and staff the day of your trip. You can't go wrong with choosing O.A.R.S.

We had a wonderful experience with my Girl Scout trip on the two day rafting trip. The staff at the camp site were extremely helpful and accomodating. When my air mattress malfunctioned, they let me use one of the cots at no cost. The food was outstanding. Our Guides Shayne and Natalie were wonderful with the girls, they offered great recommendations for food in the area, and gave us a wonderful adventure. We had a wonderful time and I highly recommend this trip.

We went with OARS. Great company. The guide, Jeremy 'durka', was amazing. He took us on some separate places on the river and really made it enjoyable for us. Also, he gave us a bit of folklore and history that filled in the very few chill portions of our trip. 110%: I would recommend this guide and this company.