Lower American River Rafting

On Wednesday, August 11, I took the two kids rafting down the Lower American River.  We selected River Rat as the company we rented the raft from.  There are basically two companies that service this stretch of the American River: River Rat Raft & Bike and American River Raft Rentals.  They both start at the same place, but River Rat has a bit longer route, adding about an additional 45 minutes to the trip. 

We rented a four person raft for $50.00.  We also paid $4.00 per person for the return shuttle fee.  Additionally, we paid a required county parks boat launch fee of $2.50, plus a optional raft damage waiver of $2.00. 

After renting the raft, we were told we could walk it down an "eight of a mile," or place the raft on the car room and drive it down.  We chose the latter.  It is a good thing, because it seemed like it was a much longer road than they suggested. It was pretty easy driving the raft down, even though only gravity held it onto the car roof.  I ended up parking in the county parking lot for another $5.00.  We then had to carry the raft to the water.  

The day was not in the mid 80s, and was quite pleasant.  We were told that the trip would last about 3 hours, but it was really four and a half.  We made a stop of about 20 minutes to a small island about halfway down to stretch our legs. 

A stop on the Lower American River.