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If you’re soon to be packing up for a trip on the Tuolumne or Cherry Creek you gotta go visit Yosemite! FREE park entrance this weekend! (still gotta pay overnight fees) I’m sure the crowds will be out in force, but what a cool chance to add on a little more natural splendor to your adventure weekend. Especially if you’re doing a family rafting trip and need to save $$$ wherever you can……
Yes, it’s true, the time is just around the bend: a time with no more Tuolumne river rafting trips. No more Cherry Creek. A time when your only options for a rafting trip with your beloved AO rafting are the South Fork and the Middle Fork. And it’s not like they’re no fun, or not beautiful, but they aren’t the T! So if you want to see the Tuolumne canyon this year, or brave the back-to-back- class five white water of Cherry Creek’s Miracle Mile, you have to start planning prontissimo!
The Powers That Be basically shut down the Tuolumne River (well, they don’t shut it down, they just don’t release enough water for us to raft on) after Labor Day weekend every year. There are limited river rafting trips available on the T–it’s a protected Wild and Scenic River–and the last spots are filling up fast. Don’t be bummed out! Call us today to squeeze in that trip you’ve been wanting to do all summer long!
As one of only two outfitters that run Cherry Creek, we get a lot of interest from people who are looking for extreme adventure sports opportunities in California. Sometimes it’s people who have done a lot of rafting and know they are ready to take on the ultimate challenge. Other people may not have rafted a ton but are still interested–and they want to know if class V white water is right for them. If this sounds familiar, check out our list of Cherry Creek FAQ’s–you just might find the answer you’re looking for. But of course, feel free to call us too–we love talking about rafting!
With the North Stan, North Fork American, Cal Salmon, Merced, and Kaweah Rivers but a distant memory, what’s a white water enthusiast to do? Fold your cards, throw in the towel and head to the Lower American River for a boozy and soggy-sandwich filled float that ends with acid-reflux and a sunburn? Not to bash that dream, but come on, there are better ideas out there. The South and Middle Forks of the American the Tuolumne Rivers, thank you very much! (more…)
It’s official! Cherry Creek is open for business. After a series of training trips we had our first commercial trip of the season on Sunday and although I wasn’t there (I am not allowed), I have heard a story or two and it sounds like it was a day of high adventure, lightning reflexes, and good old-fashioned fun. If, of course, your definition of fun is a mile of solid class V whitewater, constant paddling, and death-defying maneuvering. And I know for lots of you–especially our beloved die-hard fans–that is EXACTLY your definition of fun. So, you’ll be happy to know we are seriously busy on Cherry Creek this year–lots of memories gonna get made. Of course this means I won’t see hide nor hair of my husband until September, so hope all y’all get to enjoy his company! 
Alright you gonzo class five freaks–it’s time.
The spring Tuolumne watershed is spent and we’re down to summer flows. For the main Tuolumne, that means good summer flows. For Cherry Creek, it’s party time.
Our first trips are this weekend–get on the horn and on the first trip of the season.
This is it for the Tuolumne and Cherry Creek rafting in 2009–Labor Day weekend is your last chance to see these rivers until next spring! The Tuolumne River watershed is dam controlled and the authorities at Hetch Hetchy will be shutting off “raftable flows” after the holiday weekend–this is your last shot! We have some spaces still available on both Cherry Creek and the Tuolumne this weekend so give us a ring if you’re interested. There might even be a web special or two worth checking out if you want to save some dough….
(Left: Plenty o’ time to relax on a 2-day Tuolumne rafting trip……)
It’s been a fantastic season on Cherry Creek this year but as they say, all good things, they come to an end. After Labor Day the water level in the Tuolumne River–including its upper section, or Cherry Creek–will drop considerably. 
There will be plenty water for fish, deer, and the hordes of meat bees we all know and love on the T, but there will not be enough water for rafting, extreme or otherwise. Unless, I guess, 
your idea of extreme is carrying a heavy inflatable raft over very large rocks and sweating more water than you are actually standing in. Point being, if you want to raft Cherry Creek this year, you gotta make your plans before the season is over.
With a few weeks to go of the “high season” for California rafting, the news is all good. Flows have been lovely all across the board–from the gentle riffles of our class II Tom Sawyer Float Trips on the South Fork of the American River, to the boat-eating gigantor hydraulics of Cherry Creek, which is as tough as California Rafting gets.
At this point in the season, we are only rafting dam-controlled rivers: the South and Middle Forks of the American River, the Tuolumne River, and Cherry Creek. All of these runs have tightly controlled water levels because of their upstream dams and reservoirs. For us–and you!– this means continuing raftable flows all summer long, and lots of different rafting itineraries.
This could possibly be the ultimate whitewater trip for experienced river rafters in California: a combo trip on the Tuolumne River and Cherry Creek. Ok ok I admit the Kern River has a pretty awesome range of sections and there are certainly other canyons with incredible beauty like the North Stan…..but just because you want the extreme challenge of Class V rapids doesn’t mean you want the class V put-in experience of hiking in gear or following a mule train down into the canyon. And just because you want beauty doesn’t mean you want to raft at a moment’s notice in the spring.
With our Tuolumne River combination trip you get, well, the combo of extreme whitewater on Cherry Creek and the beauty of the upper and lower Tuolumne River Canyon. Plus you get our awesome guides with their years of experience and winning personalities. Hello, what’s not to love?
On these trips you also get away and really take a break–camping overnight in a river canyon puts a lot in perspective. Like how many stars there are when you escape city lights, and how loud an ocean of crickets is….
(Top: Cherry Creek! Middle: Cooling off on the Tuolumne River, Bottom: Guide Boat on Cherry Creek)
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