How To Rate River Rafting Trips

The River Rating System

The River/Rapids Rating System helps you understand and prepare for a White Water Rafting Trip. Class IV and V Whitewater River Rafting trips are for the adventure seeker. Class II and III trips are for family trips and beginners. Use the classifications below to understand what you will experience then talk to us to help select the proper trip for you. Understand that classifications of various river sections may change at different water levels.

TIP! - River sections change during the season, find a trip that fits your group's needs when you arrive.

Class I - Easy. Small riffles. No significant waves or obstacles.

Class II - Novice. Moderate rapids with regular waves, small drops, clear passages and wide channels. Occasional maneuvering may be required.

Class III - Intermediate. Moderately difficult rapids with larger irregular waves, often narrow channels. Complex maneuvering to avoid obstacles required.

Class IV - Advanced. Intense, powerful rapids requiring precise maneuvering in fast, turbulent water. Complex channels with many significant obstacles to be avoided.

Class V - Expert. Extremely long violent or obstructed rapids, often following each other almost without interruption. Drops may have large, unavoidable waves and holes or steep, congested chutes with difficult routes. Steep gradient.

Class VI - Commercially unrunnable. Reserved for teams of experts only, with every available safety precaution, and only at very specific water levels.

 

The class of a rapid or river can change at different water levels. The temperature of the water, the air temperature, the remoteness of the river, and the difficulty of a rescue can all influence the rapid's class.

Rafting is a recreational activity utilizing a raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.