A trip down the river through “The Grand Canyon of the East” provides memories that will last a lifetime and is the perfect trip for first-time rafters, youth groups, and families with children. After meeting at the South Poolhouse and changing into river apparel, you'll meet your trip leader. You’ll be issued a paddle and PFD, be given a safety talk, and then walk about 10 minutes to the river's edge. Five and one-half miles of spectacular scenery and fun rapids await you and your fellow paddlers. On warm days, you can cool off body surfing at "New Wave Rapids" or get soaking wet at "The Leap of Faith." With a little luck, you may even see some of the animals that inhabit the park. The park is home to beavers, deer, eagles, hawks, raccoons, and river otters, just to name a few. Upon reaching St. Helena, our bus awaits (weather conditions permitting) to bring you back to the office to change back into dry, clean clothes and to enjoy a light snack.

During the summer months, the river often becomes too low to raft. When this happens, we use inflatable sit-on-top kayaks in order to enjoy the gorge. The ride is calmer and may take a little longer than when we're rafting, but hey, that just gives us more time to enjoy ourselves. (It may also require you to get out of your boat at times to walk a short distance through shallow water.) We are solely reliant on rain in the watershed at our Letchworth site. Water levels will determine what type of craft we will be using.