rapid expeditions

Went whitewater rafting this week with the fine folks at Rapid Expeditions. Captain Amelia was our guide and she was awesome. She had great real world knowledge of the river and the environment in general. She focused on safety of course, but it never distracted from the fun and the three kids with me, ages 16, 18 and 20, all agreed that this was the most exciting activity that they had ever done....and they've done a few activities to say the least!!Note - We did the Upper River tour with the class 3+ rapids. There is also a Lower River ride which is for small children and less ambitious sorts.

We really enjoyed our time on the river. The rapids are exciting, but at the same time we felt very safe. Prepare to be soaked, of course, but these are not the type of rapids where you are likely to fall out of the raft. There are about 15 rapids in all ranging from Class II-IV. There are also a couple calms sections where you can get out of the boat and swim along side the raft if you would like. The whole trip down the river lasted about an hour and 20 minutes.The service was great. Angel was very helpful and accommodating when we called to book a trip, and our guide Tony was very friendly and did a great job taking us down the river. I would definitely take another trip with these guys if we are in Gatlinburg again!

We had a group of 7, and it was our first time rafting ever. Had an awesome experience, our guide Robin was the best! When I got home I discovered that my picture disk was blank. Spoke with Dave at Rapid Expeditions. He was apologetic and sent another disk with all of the pictures from our adventure on it. We received the disk in about 3 days. Very fast turnaround! Very professional and great customer service! If you raft with Rapid Expeditions you will not be disappointed!

WOW! What a fantastic time that we had. Our guide,Amelia was amazing. She was humorous, informative comforting,and overall a wonderful guide for our first time rafting trip. There were other rafting companies out on the river at the same time as us, but they were not nearly having as much fun as us. Many of the other companies seemed to be paddling away from the rapids while our guide Amelia had us "surf" into the waves and swim in the river. The view of the Smokies was also beautiful from the raft. Overall, I cannot say enough about this experience and would highly recommend this company to anyone. The price was great too...$104 for a family of three. A must do when you afe in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area.

This was my family's first trip white water rafting. I was a little apprehensive about the whole deal, but after we met our guide, Zach , I started feeling better. He knew all our names after a few minutes and gave us a lot of team spirit while skillfully guiding us down the river. Other boats were hitting some rocks and bumping into each other and he managed to guide us through the maze and even manuevered some turns in our boat that got all of us laughing and screaming! My two teenage boys had a blast being able to swim in the river and my oldest teenager got dunked and enjoyed every minute of it.I picked this company because it had some great reviews and the experience was everything the other reviewers said. I highly recommend this company. Nina M.,Chantilly, VA

First time white water rafting and it was GREAT! We are from Florida and having Zack as a guide was WONDERFUL. He made jokes, very easy going and so much fun. Would definitely recommend and definitely do this again!! Zack is AWESOME!!

Third time down the river, this time was the best. Zach went out of his way to make sure my two girls and I had a great time.Loved the surfing experience and he was so funny and entertaining. Would definitley ask for him again. It is a smaller company but the bigger companies seemed to rush their rafters down the river.

My niece Amber and I had a great time on the upper portion. Zach was our guide. He made the trip enjoyable. I was mindful and watched other rafts and Zach did great at making the experience more action packed than what I observed from many of the other rafts. This is a smaller business which we liked. Support them:)thanks Matt.

Had never been white water rafting and hands down was the best time on our vacation. The whole staff was very friendly and our guide Robin even threw in some humor along our trip down the river. Would recommend this to anyone!

Amazing experience! Exhilarating ride and awesome opportunity to cross it off my bucket list. I would definitely go again and again!!

My family had a great time rafting. It was one of our favorite vacation highlights. Our guide was Zach!!! He made the trip so much fun. We loved it and would love to go back. Well worth the money.

Our family had a good time with this small company. Last year we choose the bigger company and was glad we choose this company this year. It's the same river. (Upper) We saved $$. The river ride overall is a good mid-point river (experience wise). The company is small which made the experience better. The bus ride wasn't over crowded and they weren't in a big hurry to rush you down the river. We swam in two different spots on the river. It was nice. Our guide (can't remember her name) was good but I was hoping for more action. She made the ride enjoyable and would have been great for a family that didn't already have rafting experience. If you choose this company ask for Zack. It was obvious he is the fun guide who goes way out of his way to make ride exciting. (We witnessed this from our raft) Zack "surfed" one of the small rapids and all the other guides didn't want to do it. I actually heard one of the other female guides tell our guide she didn't want it and complained about Zack doing it for his group. That is why I gave it 4 stars and not a full 5. But overall this company is good, save some $$, as you will get the same experience as the larger companies would provide.

This is very family orientated as my wife and 13,15 year old kids had a great time. This was our first rafting trip and our guide Dean made us comfortable as we navigated the Pigeon River. Worth the money and the 40 minute drive from Gatlinburg. Highly recommend this company for rafting in the smokies.

I picked this rafting company above all others because of their personal attention to every detail. They are experienced guides with lots of humor, knowledge and caring. Our group varied in age from 8-54 and we all enjoyed an exciting afternoon. Our guide, Tony was awesome! He knew the river's many details and made sure that the little ones were safe while the old ones got enough excitement! Thanks to everyone who helped make our white-water experience the best it could be.Family owned businesses have their reputation at stake and usually make less money than the bigger companies. They work harder, please better, and care so much more, yet make so much less. Please support them whenever possible

We had the pleasure of taking a rafting trip with this company. Our guide Amelia, was very well trained and knowledgeable. All the guides come across well trained and skilled. They are a smaller group and show attention to their guest. I would highly recommend Rapid Expeditions. We will return to take another rafting adventure with them.