thornton's rafting

I've been taking groups of high school students to Thornton's for the last 15 years in the summer. Exceptional top notch service and accommodations. Raft guides are all excellent with high school students. We go during the week when there is less traffic. It's an all around great place with great people.

Had a great time with first time White Water Rafters! Wanted to take them to a place that would provide the equipment, GUIDES, and a fund time. Thronton's came through on all accounts! It was a blast for my grandchildren, and for their grandfather. The river was fast and our guide, John, made sure we had the most fun, but remained safe! Thanks you Thornton's!! Yes, we are looking to go back with our second batch of never been White Water Rafting grandchildren & we will pick this place again.But remember at the meeting place, there are no showers, & blue pit toilets, only at their main site do they have the more modern conveniences.

We stayed at group camping site, a pretty nice site with clean potter party near by. They also had clean bathroom with coin operating shower near the bar (lobby). Nice staffs and owners, and even fire woods were very nice (long/good price/deliver to site with smile). Rafting was good also, but 50 min drive away, plus somewhat short trip for pricing but very nice. Problem is noise level. This is NOT family type location, mainly bunch of college/young kids, partying until 2 AM (quiet hour starts at 2AM). We didn't have any problem, but it was noisy, and beer/alcohol with laud music from big college kids type groups. good place, but I would NOT go as quiet family trip. More like bunch of guys to get drunk and have fun

Thornton's was top notch. Staff is very friendly and helpful. It is obvious they love their job. Our guide, Randy, made sure we experienced the class IV rapid with much excitement. Can't wait to take family next year.

I wish I could review our experience with the camping separately from the rafting. Our experience camping was terrible (1 star), but the rafting was great (5 stars) - hence the 3 stars. Camping: Unless you are into underage drinking, an endless amount of dynamite-inspired fireworks at all hours of the day and night, music blasting until dawn (literally), people fighting on your campsite and breaking furniture, you absolutely should avoid going during hog wrestling weekend. A neighboring establishment, Caldron Falls, hosts this blessed annual event, and it appears to have drawn representatives of every type of white trash imaginable to stay at this campground. The manager did let our group know that the campground would be busy because of the hog wrestling, and that might have been the understatement of the year. We could have dealt with busy, but it was absolutely nuts. Drunk people racing around on ATVs all night long, crazy loud music, fighting and no security presence at all. We were supposed to stay two nights, but after getting zero sleep due to the dance party on a neighboring campsite until the sun came up and also having to get a group of guys to move off our site at like 3am who were threatening to get into a fight right outside our tent (deep at the back of our site) we left after one.The manager, Kathy, was responsive and understanding when we voiced our concerns in the morning after the longest night of our lives, so that was good, however it didn't undo the fact that it was blatantly unsafe there during this event. On a quieter weekend it might be ok, but it really was worrisome that no one seemed interested in keeping things safe and they weren't proactive about preventing or being ready for any type of emergency during this craziness. How this isn't an insurance nightmare, I have no idea. Showers and bathrooms in main building were ok. Pretty clean and handy, but I paid for 6 minutes in the shower and the water didn't warm up until minute 5. I needed the wake up call after not sleeping all night, but that was annoying. Port-o-johns out near the sites were a little dusty and grimy, but I've experienced worse. The campsite was clean when we arrived and the wood they supplied was fine. The rafting: After our miserable night with zero sleep, the 7 of us almost left without rafting, which was the entire reason we drove the 5 hours to get there. Luckily, we summoned some energy and headed up. The rafting is a good 45 minute drive from the campground, so that wasn't ideal, but the rafting itself was really fun. They were friendly and organized and, in drastic contradiction to the campground, they seemed to take our safety very seriously. The port-o-johns were immaculate at the rafting site. Our rafting host/leader guy, Will, was knowledgeable, adorable and funny and kept us all in the raft. At the end of the white water, there is a still stretch where he encouraged us to jump in for a swim. We happily swam/drifted back to our pickup point and they didn't rush us at all. They also film video and take photos of the trip from the banks of the river and put it on to play immediately after we land back, so that was a lot of fun to watch while we waited to change clothes. The changing rooms were handy for getting out of wet gear afterward and they recommended a solid place for us to go to dinner afterward. Honestly, totally the polar opposite of our camping experience. To be fair, our rafting guide stays at the campground and he let us know that it usually isn't nearly that crazy, so I think we were mostly unlucky with the weekend we picked but I wouldn't be in a hurry to stay there again.

I'm a high school physical education and have been going to Thornton's for the past 5 years with my groups. This company has provided our group with an outstanding experience each and every year.Kathy is a wonderful host and is always very accommodating and flexible. We always go in the spring to ensure an exciting high water experience and we have had some major water.Safety is my #1 concern when taking a group of 20 - 25 high school students on this trip and I have been especially pleased with the emphasis Thornton's places on this subject. Kathy, the guides and myself have had many conversations about what would be the safest way to get the group down the river and still get an exciting ride. Thornton's has always provided plenty of guides based on the number of participants in the group and the water level.Anyone looking for a wild but safe ride I would highly recommend Thornton's. Kathy has provided my groups with some outstanding fun and many lasting memories.

It was absolutely great the guides were very helpful and was a great time. They had many choices of what type of raft you want to use and they even tell you when the best time to go is.

we stayed at the Thorntons Saturday through Wednesday. The water rafting was great, lots of fun. The camping on site at the Thorntons was not so great, it is not a camping place for families with children, or if you like the quiet to enjoy nature. When we arrived on Saturday there were many parties going on all night, the bar was loud and could be heard through the entire campground well into the morning, and the parties continued every night we were there; loud noises, yelling, loud engines of ATVs, motorcycles, fireworks, etc. continually. The bathrooms were clean and new but you have to pay to take a shower. The beach across the street was under construction so we had limited use of it. The staff (owners) were not very pleasant at check in or when we asked that the fireworks be stopped since theire campground states no fireworks, they let them continue through the night. If you like the quiet to enjoy nature and get some sleep we would recommend that you stay at one of the state/county campgrounds around this area and not at the Thorntons.

After having our original company cancel on us due to an emergency. We called thorntons, and they arranged a trip for sooner than usual the next morning, so that we could go. Otherwise our 7 hour drive would have been for nothing!We went at 1130 on 8/8/12 The guides met us at a storage shed on the edge of niagara, wi along with about 10 other rafters.They got out their bus, and rafts. Got us organized, suited up, and on the bus.after about a 7 minute ride we got out while they unloaded the rafts and got us on.on the way down the peaceful part of the river they explained everything from safety, to tips for the best way to enjoy our experience, as well as some humrous stories.Our timing on the river was PERFECT, the damn was released right between our first and second run, which gave us two very different experiences. (part of the trip is called piers gorge, which they bring 2 rafts for, so that you can go over this section twice for more fun.)We felt very safe with John and the other guide, who were very up front and friendly about everything. But I can say, they allowed for a bit of learning on our part, so that we would 1. be better prepared 2. in my opinion, be a "bit" more anxious about the whole thing, which made it all that much better!This river is VERY safe, gives you some quick preview rapids to get you acquanted then one REALLY great run for the end.Listen to your guides, go with the flow, and to be honest, there is really very little danger to the whole thing. Just enough to make it exciting!Thanks John(hope we didnt get his name wrong) and of course kathy at the office for helping rescue our trip! We had a blast, and are glad the circumstance lead to us finding you guys instead!Only less than perfect thing I would say, is that the rafting companies should all jointly ask the operators of the damn for some sort of communication system, or schedule, this would allow for operators to maximize their timing on the river. Maybe theres alot i dont know about the whole operation, but i could tell the differences between slightly lower water, and higher water. Not more or less dangerous, or more or less exciting. Just less chance of getting hung up on rocks in higher water. Just a thought!Ted & Kim Mueller

We stayed at Thornton's for a weekend while we did a rafting trip through them. I stayed in the 2 bedroom cabin and while it wasn't a 4-star hotel, it was perfect for a weekend trip. It had 2 bedrooms and a pullout futon so it easily slept 3 people. It had a small kitchen, a big fridge, and a bathroom with shower. The bathrooms and showers at the resort are very nice and clean, we were all impressed. You had to pay for the showers, but they were very nice. i think $.50 for the first 2 minutes and $.25 for each minute. We did the rafting trip through them but I can't recommend that to anyone. It was basically 1 rapid and then you walk back 100 yards and do the same rapid again. There was a lot of time just paddlng down a river. Most of our group rafted in West Virginia before. We weren't expecting anything like that, but we were very disappointed in driving 5hrs for 1 rapid. I did enjoy the fishing at the resevoir and we golfed at de smidt's which was very nice.

As the other reviewer wrote, Kathy is a great hostess, and Thornton's provides a great full-service rafting experience. My boyfriend and I have been there at least a half dozen times, and have never failed to have a great time. You can camp there, get firewood for a good price, raft, swim, fish, and enjoy good dj music and dancing at the bar without ever moving your car. We always raft the Peshtigo, usually in one-man funyaks, and its the perfect rafting trip for my skill level. It's thrilling whitewater but not terrifying- most of the time. I did have a wipe out on the last trip that shook me up a bit, but as always the river guides provided by Thornton's were top notch and got me out of trouble almost faster than I could get into in.One of my favorite things about Thornton's is that the campground crowd is always so friendly and laid back. It's like a giant party that just goes on all Summer long and everyone is welcomed with open arms. Just call ahead or e-mail Kathy at their web site to make sure a camp space is available, because they have alot of "regulars" and some weekends they have special events that book the place up a year in advanced.

Kathy was a very accomodating host who helped us with all the details of our visit. She even called a locksmith for us when we locked our keys in the car which was a HUGE help as this place is in a very remote area in rural, rural Wisconsin,The cabins were clean and had everything we needed with a full kitchen set in one large room that also served as the living area and dining area. There were two small bedrooms.The separate bar/rec room area was a nice place to relax in the evening. Eddie entertained us with stories about the local area.No food is served on premises but there are a couple good restaurants nearby that Kathy directed us to. Across the street is a lake - well worth the short hike!In the morning we took a raft trip down the Menominee River. The meeting place is about 50 minutes from the campground. You drive your own car down there, board their bus and go to the actual landing. (There are several waterfalls on the way that are definate worth stopping at and checking out. Kathy will give you a map - my advice, get up super early and make the rounds)The raft trip was really fun though short and our guide was funny but also good with his instructions. We ran a couple small rapid areas and then one big one, got out, walked back along a trail where we could see the big rapid - which is pretty impressive to look at - and then ran the big one again !After that they let us jump out of the raft and float down that clean beautiful river. All in all a very fun time and I'd do it again!Also - they sell a video of the run for $25. Thought that was a little pricey but I bought one anyway and I'm glad I have it.