With a lot to offer in white water rafting opportunities, California is best divided into three sections as travel destinations. Northern California tends to be less busy, but still contains some of the largest white water rapids on the California Salmon River and others. The central region of California, an area more or less near Yosemite National Park contains the widest variety of rivers and river classifications - meaning there's something for everyone. You've probably heard of the American River? How about the Merced? Stanislaus or Tuolumne? There's a lot to learn about California Rafting! As for rafting in southern California, the Kern River single-handedly covers all the bases from kid-friendly sections to wild Class V and even multi-day expeditions in the high Sierra mountains.
Blessed with a long spine of the Sierra Nevada mountains, from which flow a number of rivers for white water rafting in California. At the crown of this range is Yosemite National Park - a popular tourist destination for spectacular reason! Rivers that make for incredible white water rafting in California nearly all flow toward the Pacific Ocean - on the windward side of the Sierras, with all others flowing toward the Great Basin on the Nevada side of the Sierra Nevadas in the Tahoe area. You may recognize the names of a few rivers in California: The Kern River, descends south toward Bakersfield's Central Valley, and the South Fork of the American River, famous for the California Gold Rush, flowing toward the Sacramento Valley.
Several other rivers in California may not be on the tip of your tongue, and may even twist it: The Stanislaus River, the Tuolumne River, and the Merced River all tumble westward from the Yosemite National Park area. Those may be difficult to pronounce, but there's more! The California Salmon is northward, the Kaweah River is south of Fresno and the Kern River.
Spring runoff makes for the best water rafting in California, even though most crowds arrive in the warmer summer months. White water rafting trips in California range from day trips, or half day trips to 4-day trips in some areas. There are stretches of the South Fork of the American River that are great for families with young kids, but more numerous are the exciting (class III-IV) rivers in California which are great fun for beginners, intermediate, and even advanced white water aficionados.
