Rafting the West!
The Top 23 Multi-day Whitewater Rafting Trips in the West
Rafting trips are the best way to see some amazing places. This site is all about those places, where they are, what they're like, and about taking whitewater rafting trips in general. Click the 'Google Earth' link for any river to explore that river canyon, including rapids and campsites, in 3D. Remember, all rafting trips, including those on rivers shown here on Rafting the West are serious logistical undertakings and involve an element of risk. So go with a respected commercial whitewater rafting guide service or outfitter or experienced private boater.
About Whitewater Rafting
Introduction to Rafting
Whitewater rafting allows you to experience remote wilderness environments, excitement and high adventure, and a rare level of self-sufficiency. On an overnight river rafting trip you camp out in comfort, in a deluxe spare-no-frills style (more...)
Clothing for Rafting Trips
It's all about staying comfortable in the wilderness and being ready for anything. If you're planning to take a whitewater rafting trip with a commercial guide service, expect them to provide the specialized clothing items such as neoprene wetsuit, neoprene boots and (more...)
Rafts and Other Whitewater Craft
Modern whitewater rafts come in two basic flavors: 'self bailing rafts' and 'cat-a-rafts'. Self bailing rafts or 'self bailers' have the traditional raft shape, while catarafts, known as 'cats' for short, are made of a pair of pontoons straddled (more...)
Reserving Camps
If you're lucky enough to win a permit to float either the Middle Fork or Main Salmon, one of your chores as trip leader is to obtain reservations for the campsites that you wish to stay at. Both these rivers have formal campsite reservation systems. Leaders of each rafting party must apply for (more...)
What Happens on the River...
In definance of the saying, 'what happens on the river stays on the river', here are a few intestesting situations to ponder (more...)
Leave No Trace
River canyons suitable for rafting are generally steep sided and thus, the places to camp within them are very limited. This is not a new situation. These campsites are often the same places that mankind has been camping for thousands (more...)
River Life - Going Tribal
Day to day living on a rafting trip takes you back to a simpler time. For one thing, human beings have been sitting around, staring into and being warmed by the heat of campfires for a very long time. Campfires are just plain therapeutic (more...)
(Hint: click any photo to enlarge it. When viewing the enlarged photo, you can scroll through the other pictures of that river using the left/right arrow keys or by clicking the left or right side of the photo.)
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