All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The 2009 California Whitewater Rafting season is NOW OPEN!

Information

Location:
Lotus, CA
Phone:
800-247-2387

All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting

 
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
After a couple “higher water” and certifiably high adventure Cherry Creek rafting trips, we are now officially in the standard ol’ class V action. And by “standard” of course I mean the most challenging and extreme commercialwhitewater trip in the United States...
Liz
Liz
Always wanted to raft Cherry Creek!
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Ihave some more details on the 3rd annual American River MusicFestival coming up this September. Of most interest to you, oh faithful whitewater enthusiast and reader of this here rafting blog, is the musical guest that will be serenading festival rafters on September 18th...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Click here to view the embedded video.Word on the street around here is that the Merced River is going to have a slightly extended season. It’s hot now, but the cool beginning to the summer means that the snowpack lasted a little longer than we’d usually expect...
Jodie
Jodie
Wow, I'm gonna miss the Merced this year, but I'll be rafting the Snake & Wanatchee Rivers instead. Oh well, you gotta pick your battles!
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
It was an early day, but a great day. I don’t know if this is a tall tale or what, but rumors are guides were up waaaaaaay before sunrise; all I know is for me, that is just one more great reason to continue not ever rafting Cherry Creek...
Dan
Dan
Awesome!
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The AO sweatshirt has now officially seen Knoxville, Tennessee. A proud moment for all. I hope Lynsey bought it a Shirley Temple to celebrate. If you treated your AO gear to a round this year, send the proof to Malina @aorafting.com! Bookmark This!
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
It’s not 100% yet, because we haven’t gotten an iron-clad guarantee from the guy with his hand on the dam controls, but we think we’ll be able to start rafting Cherry Creek this coming weekend...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
If you’re coming to Lotus at the end of June for a rafting trip with the family, check out the American River Conservancy’s guided hike June 27th...
Bev
Bev
This is the place Chad and Josh went for their training!! This would be a great trip for the adventurous!!!
Kathleen
Kathleen
I am soooo looking forward to my rafting trip with friends & family next month!!!
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Well, if there’s one thing we rely on here in the rafting business it’s that stuff changes all the time. The government and nature are more powerful than our powers to predict river conditions...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Here are AO guide Danny and AO office person Malina on spring break in lovely Meh-hico! And no, we didn’t bring home Swine Flu. Some tortillas, yes, a weird mutated flu virus, no...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
According the guys at the dams and our sources on the riverbank, Cherry Creek Raftingis officially open for business–flows areperfect, ranging from 1500 to 2000 CFS. This is down from yesterday’s “sporty” 2400 CFS...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Oh you know we love to toot our own horn. Just a wee bit. Especially those of us stuck in the office gazing wistfully out at the caravans of gear trucks and trailors leaving for the Tuolumne, or hearing stories from ’round the ol’ campfire. Good stories comin’ out of Camp Lotus already! Yowza...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Great news for extreme rafters! Cherry Creek is just about ready for business. We’ve gotten word from the Tuolumne River water authorities that flows will come down enough to raft Cherry Creek Click here to view the embedded video.by the end of June...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
It is as we expected–the 2009 rafting season on the Kaweah is over. We no longer have reliable, solid rafting flows so we’re packing up and heading north to our summer stalwart rivers, the South Fork and Middle Forks of the American, and the Tuolumne...
Jodie
Jodie
Sad, sad. It's gonna be a long, hot, dry summer in this valley. Guess I'll head north and raft the Merced River or American again.
Dan
Dan
I am really glad I got a Kaweah run in earlier last month.. it was fantastic - and great flows. I am just thankfull that we getting the season we are getting.. it was looking bleak there for a while!
Chris
Chris
The Eagle River in Colorado is running strong, but due to the economy we don't have many rafters yet. Hopefully river guides everywhere can make a living this summer!!
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
If you’re in town June 8th, don’t forget to stop by the American River Trailfest! The day starts with the Headwater seminar 9:30-4pm. Among the speakers are UC Davis water politics expert Jeff Mount, kayaker Scott Ligare, and a docent from the Gold Discovery State Park...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The roller coaster continues! We started out the 2009California river rafting season with a serious “sky-is-falling-drought-of-biblical-proportions” message from the California government...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Click here to view the embedded video.Based on the 2009 snowpack and current temperatures, we anticipate that this weekend, June 6-8, will be the last chance for rafting trips on the Kaweah River. After that, flows will likely be too low for good whitewater. HOWEVER...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
It’s curtains for another springtime California river. The snowmelt in the North Fork American River watershed is over for 2009 and flows are now too low for rafting trips. The North Fork isn’t dam-controlled so it always has a shorter season–but we’ll be back in 2010, ready to rumble...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
This is probably the highest altitude place the AO t-shirt has traveled. Hopefully it got to eat some tasty milk chocolate and maybe buy a cool watch, as well as tour the Swiss Alps……oh–and hope AO rafting guide Jared had fun, too...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
That’s it people! The North Fork of the Stan is ov-ah for the season. Water has dropped out; we’re packing up and re-deploying elsewhere...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Here’s a great (and free!) add-on to a South Fork American River rafting trip this coming weekend. The good folks down at the American River Conservancy are hosting a guided hike for kids in the Coloma Lotus Valley this Sat, May 30th...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
On Monday, June 8, the Headwaters Institute is hosting the American River Seminar, a day of watershed education and networking for river guides and the local community...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
AO web man Sammy and his wife got a day away from the family and headed out to play in the woods…..
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The good folks at the Boulder Adventure Film Festival ( and AO guide Mark) are bringing their awesome stable o’ films to our very own Cozmic Cafe in Placerville on Weds May 27th...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The 6th Annual American River Trailfest will be held on Monday, June 8 from 5-10pm at the Earthtrek riverside camp in Lotus. The $30 ticket ($15 for kids) includes an awesome dinner and 2 drinks, plus great live music...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Early days…one of the great things about rafting is that things haven’t changed all that much. were these overalls and tee-shirts passed down to current AO guides? Washing dishes Luckily, the equipment has changed quite a bit and we no longer have to use bucket-bail military rafts Bookmark Th
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The fabulous folks over at Sierra Rescue just announced two dates for Wilderness First Aid Classes taught on the South Fork American river this May and June. Here’s the flyer they sent us: Greetings from Sierra Rescue...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Good news for spring rafters! The strong snowpack from winter 2009, combined with this week’s warming trend, mean water levels are rising on springtime rafting trips. This might mean free-flowing rivers like the Merced will have slightly shorter seasons, but conditions are wonderful right now...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
The annual American River Music festival is back for another weekend of music and rafting. The festival will feature as always Americana, folk music, and a little rockin’ blues. The headliner for this year’s line-up is local possibly-legend-in-the-making Jackie Greene...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
More old photos…these are some amazing group shots that includes guides we still see out on the river today (or fixing busses, teaching advanced guide schools, driving shuttles). Some of these outfits are truly incredible. Bookmark This
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
Now that we’ve had a little more time to crunch the numbers I have an update for you about how the recent storms are affecting California rivers. As you know already, we had wild water on a number of rivers over the May 2nd weekend...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
AO guide Lynsey submitted this report from our trip last weekend on the Cal Salmon River: Who would have thought, pulling away from the majestic Cal Salmon, the one name that would swirl around my head would be Wooly Bully?...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
It was a heckuva weekend on California rivers! We had high water on the Merced–got up to 11,000 CFS for awhile there–bigger flows down on the Kaweah, and the Tuolumne shot up to 6,000...
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting
From the snowy afternoons of a South Dakota blizzard we now continue our world tour and head for mighty China! Who knew we would travel so far and wide. The AO t-shirt really gets around. And by that, of course I mean well-traveled...