tributary whitewater tours - south fork american river rafting

My husband, my parents and I thoroughly enjoyed our white water rafting experience! Our captain or guide -- whatever you call them -- was a lovely young lady by the name of Rian (pronounced Ryan), who possesses the skills and knowledge of rafting required to make sure you have an amazing rafting adventure. At one point, I fell out of the raft and she pulled me right up out of the water, and even managed to get my sandal back as it was floating downriver. I would do this again in a heartbeat, and I would do my best to make sure I'm assigned to Rian's raft.

This was our first whitewater rafting trip for our family of four (kids age 11 and 13). We did the South Fork American River 1-Day Gorge trip. My 11 year old daughter was a little timid and didn't know what to expect. She was afraid of falling out of the raft. Our wonderful guide, Jeff (known by the other guides as "Hippie") did a great job of reassuring her. He had her sit right in front of him so he could make sure that she was safe, and this made her feel comfortable and at ease. We started off at a nice leisurely pace so that we could ease into the experience and enjoy the beautiful scenery, with some fun little rapids here and there, consisting of class 1 and 2 rapids. We stopped for a nice lunch prepared by the guides that included a nice spread for sandwich making with all the fixings, including avocado, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and lemonade. After lunch we continued on down the river where the rapids become even more fun with class 3 rapids. We had several opportunities where we could jump out and swim, even swim through some of the rapids, as well as jump from a big rock into the river! Jeff was a great guide and was so fun! He really made the trip an absolute pleasure! We all had such a blast, even my my daughter, who was a little afraid in the beginning! We can't wait for our next trip with Tributary Whitewater Rafting!

My husband and two teenage boys shared a 14 foot raft with another family of four. It took me a few miles of river before I really got into the experience. I was a little worried because I've had some close calls with rushing water in my past. But this was fun and I would call it 'adventurous' rather than dangerous. Just perfect for us four city folk. It's also beautiful! We stayed two days doing three trips. Two on the first day: a short pre-lunch paddle followed by a longer post-lunch paddle. We stayed the night and enjoyed the hospitality and great food and drink of our river guides. I was bounced from the raft twice. And I elected to jump in the water and swim rapids a few times too. Great fun for an active family trip! (Jim is the man! And Keegan is on his way too!)

We did the America Fork Rivet an all day trip - 21 miles. Angie are guide was awesome. Cost was reasonable. Will definitely be back to do the Mid ForkRiver!

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience on the river! And thank you for choosing Tributary Whitewater Tours and we hope you have a wonderful holiday here in the states.

My husband and I and 5 kids (ages 7, 10, 12, 14 ,16) had a blast on the 2 day family package of class 2 and 3 rapids. We have a tough time finding something the whole family enjoys and everyone loved this trip. We loved it 2 years ago and decided to go with the same trip again. The guides took care of everything, including great meals. Our guide, Margaret, was the best. She was great with the kids (as was Eric 2 years ago), very patient and added extra fun things along the way. The campground was comfortable and the scenery was beautiful. We will be back next summer!

My friend and I at 65 years young had never done this before, we had a BLAST! We went on the level 2 & 3 , now ready for more. We had wonderful guide named Dave and the driver Evelyn can't say enough good things about them both, Great Job !... Thanks for a wonderful time, I'll be back. Linda Mineer, Florida

We did the Middle Fork of the American river on a beautiful Saturday in September. The weather was still warm and lovely and the river isn't so crowded, because kids are back in school.The pace of the 17 mile trip is great! You do Tunnel Chute about a half mile into the trip. It is exhilarating! There are several more rapids, then you go through a straight area for miles, then lunch, then more rapids.Scott, our guide, was great fun and knowledgeable. The guides put together a yummy lunch spread with fresh fruit and avocado.This is a good trip for adults looking for adventure. There are lots of class 3 and some class 4 rapids. You will feel a sense of accomplishment afterward. It was a fantastic day!!!!

We found these guys by luck of an internet search and had the time of our life! Jessica was our guide and she was amazing. We did the South Fork full day. From the light hearted intro to the great sandwiches for lunch and to the safe and fun experience of the river, these gays are top notch. We got wet, we got crazy and we will go back. I give this experience a triple thumbs up and would highly recommend this company.

Four of us did the half day morning run at the South Fork of the American River. What a great experience for all of us, our ages are 66, 55, 33 & 29. There was another family of 4 on the raft their ages were between mid 40's to 14. The Class III rapids were awesome. Andrew was our guide from Tributary Whitewater Tours; he was very professional and knowledgeable. He pointed out Sutter's Mill where the Gold Rush first started in 1849. The trip from Sacramento to base camp was about 45 minutes. We will try the class 4 rapids on out next visit to Sacramento; Andrew said we would love it. My son & I went whitewater rafting about 18 years ago in Maine, at 66 I wasn't sure I could do it again but no problem and we will be back out whitewater rafting on our next trip to visit him. Enjoy your trip, Chuck

Except for a few bruises from the ice tea bottles on the boat that I fell on in the boat, and swimming in the river, my daughter friend and I enjoyed the adventure- but I would never recommend this company to anyone because of their clear lack of principles. Friday: When I first boarded I had my boyfriend’s gopro in my pocket- our guide, Graham, asked to see it and then said he could hold on to it for me- I was reluctant, but he said he could keep it safe. It soon lost its charge so I couldn’t take any more pics so he left in in his safe box. But near the end of the route he took it out to give it back to me- but I didn’t know- I was swimming in the river, when he bent over to pull me back in the boat it fell in- he looked for it for about 10 minutes- and apologized several times. He never asked how much it was, or offered to pay for it… after 11 years on the river you would think he would have a routine for this, he said he didn’t want to forget to give it back, but he still had our water bottles, sunscreen, etc. He should have manned up and offered to pay at least the current value.Back in the parking lot I asked what we were going to do- he said he’d call the office- they suggested that I find out if my homeowners would cover it, if not- they could probably get me a discount. Homeowners? It wasn’t even my camera- I didn’t have it stolen, I didn’t lose it- don’t they have insurance? Saturday- I call the office- they say they need to talk to Graham 1st- but he had talked to them Friday…. they said he was on the river, and they were very busy- Monday they had payroll- so they’d call back by Tuesday… NO CALL (The manager was on the phone but wouldn’t take my call when she got off.) I’m very polite.Thursday I call again- I’m a bit peeved- but this lady sounds sincere- still busy- still won’t let me talk to the manager… says she’ll definitely get back to me by the end of the day… she does- only to say they called him for an hour but he hadn’t gotten back to them… they would call me soon.Wow- a week and they still haven’t been able to talk to their own employee? Monday- I wait over the weekend- then I CALL THEM again on Monday- the office manager- Lorranine tells me HE IS STILL LOOKING for IT! As if- I ask her what are the chances anyone will find a small camera… in a river? She won’t answer- and of course even if it were found, what are the chances he would be the one to find it? So she keeps asking questions, like why I brought it, and then cutting my boyfriend and I off when we try to answer. She said I shouldn’t have brought it, that other outfitters said I shouldn’t have brought it- and told me I was not trying to work it out because I wasn’t going through MY homeowners insurance… I told her it was my boyfriends camera SO SHE TOLD ME TO LIE AND SAY HE GAVE IT TO ME AS A GIFT…!! I told her she was selling the integrity of her company for less than $300. This company has problems with ethics from the manager who refused to talk to me or get back to me, to the office manager who cared nothing about customer service, to the guide who has no sense of responsibility. My advice- go with another company- I can only imagine how they would handle other issues such as an injury- and don’t let employees “keep your stuff safe”!

We did the SouthFork whole day 10:30-5:30 trip on a gorgeous Sunday in late July. If you read nothing else...read this: follow their map to get to the meeting place-do NOT plug it into your GPS (just as Tributary says on their website). We got hideously lost and were TOTALLY late and missed our 8:45 a.m. meeting time and the early trip. However, Lorraine and company were gems to deal with and put us on the 10:30 all day trip. We had a blast. My husband and I (pushing 50) and our kids 13 and 16 thoroughly enjoyed the entire day on the river with our guide, Kayla. We felt totally safe at all times. The morning portion prior to lunch back at the camp was pretty tame, and quite honestly a tad dull (certainly nobody's fault) as there were no class III rapids. However, the afternoon more than made up for it with lots of whitewater to navigate. Our guide gave numerous opportunities for swimming and even a bit of rock jumping and swimming the rapids! I did not get in the river at all after my family reported that the water was super cold!!! Lunch at camp was nicely done with yummy sandwich fixings and REAL food like veggies/fruit. There was a slight wait as the guides prepared lunch for us (cutting fruit, laying out cold cuts, etc.) Simple, simple (no plates, no napkins but who cares???). The people who guide the trips are very nice and super chill about everything; they make you feel very comfortable. At the end of the trip the river gets very flat and has little current; but they had some jet skis pull us out so we didn't have to paddle through that long, slow portion of the river! Sweet. Not a cheap day; but well worth the $$ spent. I wish I had a waterproof camera along though because we didn't get any pictures of our fun day (we didn't stop at the 2 places that took our photo as we were in a pretty big hurry to get to our next destination).

Booked a full day's rafting for myself, my wife and our 4 girls (15-10) who are all get up and go type girls. The tributary team where extraordinary in both providing us with great help and advice during the booking, evening before the rafting day and especially on the day. Our Guide Margaret was brilliant giving us just the right amount of fun, excitement and sense!. She also was a great person to spend the day with and because of her and all te other team this is an adventure I would recommend with absolutely no doubt at all - In fact we have already recommended to some friends of ours.

Thanks for coming with Tributary for your team building event! We had a great time with your group too :)

Went rafting on the South Fork American with my husband. Our guide John was fantastic, we had an immensely fun and thrilling, yet relaxed day out on the river. I thought I would be quite scared, but just ended up thoroughly enjoying myself. The lunch provided was very tasty too.If we had stayed in the area for longer, we would have definitely tried to squeeze in another day of rafting.Thank you Tributary for a great, memorable day!