Ideal family road trip #1: The Rogue River, bears, caves, redwoods, and surfing

Southern Oregon boasts perfect weather and ideal scenery for summertime family vacations. The area surrounding Grants Pass Oregon is filled with camping, hiking, floating, state parks, museums, culture, food, winery's and almost any other type of activity that makes a great vacation with family and friends. Below is the first of what will become more great southern Oregon itineraries. We will try to give you a list of the locals favorite spots and insider views of things to do and places to stay.

This Southern Oregon Itinerary is perfect for families with younger children looking to get outside and relax. Here are some great ideas for parents with kids 4 years old and up.

1. No trip to southern Oregon is complete without a day or two on the Rogue River. The Rogue is the heart of Southern Oregon and is the highlight of all summer travel through Grants Pas. Here at Orange Torpedo Trips we have created an ideal way to take in a few days rafting on the Rogue River while also taking in two of the Grants Pass area's best attractions. On our Rogue River near Galice 2 day rafting trip spend 2 days floating on a beginner section of the river where wild waves in the many class II rapids will break over the bow and keep the group cool. The days on the river are spent swimming and laughing in the pools and screaming and yelling with excitement in the rapids. This is perfect for your kids first days on the river.
This trip also includes a night at the famous riverside Morrison's Lodge. A must stay spot on a trip to the Grants Pass area, enjoy a spectacular 4 course meal on the deck overlooking the river. Our 2 day Rogue River rafting trip also includes a tour of Wildlife Images. You and your kids can get up close views and learn about some of Southern Oregon's most exciting wildlife. The stop here is always a favorite of the kids.

2. The Oregon Caves. Next on your Southern Oregon Itinerary drive a little over an hour south to the Oregon Caves. Kids love the the 90 minute walk through one of the west coasts largest marble caves. Follow your ranger through the many corridors and into multiple stalagtite filled rooms. Learn about the history of the area and the details of the caves discovery as well as information on how this unique caves system was created. The park hosts different children's programs for kids 3 and up including a Jr. Ranger program, but due to the "moderately strenuous and technical" nature of some sections of the trail through the cave children need to be 42 inches tall to do the cave tour, but there are plenty of above ground trails offering something for everyone.

3. Jedediah Smith State Park and the Redwoods. You and your kids will be awestruck by the size of these beautiful trees. Every time I drive through it never ceases to amaze me how enormous these trees are. Trips to Jedediah Smith can include hiking through the redwoods, camping, and swimming in crystal clear Smith River. This is a great family stop on your summer road trip. A stop everyone in the family will love. Check out this video for more info.

4. Cresent City: beaches, good food, great beginner surfing. End your family road trip at the coast. Relax on the beach, fly a kite, or rent a surfboard and wetsuit to try your hand at surfing. With multiple surf shops you will definetly find the right wetsuit and board for riding the Northern California waves.



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The Grants Pass area hosts plenty of exciting river based jetboat and rafting trips to accompany camping or staying at beautiful lodges. Keep checking back or sign-up for our automatic blog updates to learn about more of the great things Southern Oregon has to offer.

Rafting footware, your feet need to be loved on the river.

When you are rafting on the Rogue, Salmon, Klamath, or Umpqua rivers it's important you take care of your feet. Below is a list of the leading white water footwear that you would want to bring on a guided rafting vacation. If you click on the image it will take you to the manufacturor's website.


Chaco z/2
The Z/2 from Chaco is a favorite of our guides on the Rogue and Salmon River. Loved by river guides everywhere the unique pull-through strap system makes sure the webbing gives equal pressure all accross your foot. These are great sandals for any active ourdoor activity. If you don't like things between your toes look into the Z/1. These are a wonderful sandal for your guided rafting trip. Price: $105.

Teva Hurricane 3
The purest form of the Teva sandal, built with function in mind and no extra frills to weigh you down. This is the classic river guide sandal and is the footwear of choice for a whole generation of river runners. If you want the sandal that takes you back to your days on the Salmon or Rogue rivers check this out. Price $80



Teva Omnium
Added coverage for protection, quick-drying materials to keep you comfortable and Teva tested Spider Rubber® to keep you on your feet. A little bulky to tuck into the sides of your torpedo, but they are great for those side hikes up from the river.
Price: $75



Keen Newport H2
Order up some adventure with a side of water in the Newport H2 from KEEN. Great toe protection and nice on the trail, this is a local Oregon company we love supporting. These are a rising star on our Rogue River and Salmon River rafting trips. Price $90


NRS Scout
The Scout Water Shoe gives you the open, water shedding features of a sandal and the support and protection of a shoe. Go from your boat to that grueling side hike without missing a stride. If you like to have your foot more protected from the sun and objects on the side hikes, around camp, or at the lodge look into these water shoes. Cost: $60







NRS Attack
The NRS Attack shoe is a great inflatable kayak shoe. Guides on the Rogue and Salmon rivers all agree that if you are looking for a water shoe over a sandal, this is the one to pick for your guided rafting trip. Cost: $60





Remember, happy feet are an important part of a happy rafting trip. Always make sure you try on your sandals before you buy them. Some water shoes and sandals will feet certain feet differently and it is important to make sure the one you choose is not only the best design for what your doing, but also the best fit. See you on the river.

The Salmon River rafting dog

So we had a customer request to bring their dog on a trip down the Main Salmon River last summer. We have not had a dog request in a long time so we thought about it, learned about the dog and said ok. The dog was great, it was a trained aid dog that had apparently not passed its final tests because it was overly friendly. So it spent its days on the Main Salmon River sitting on the back of the raft relaxing in the sun. However, when we would get to camp this dog had one strange habit................


Okay.... so we may have staged this photo, but the dog would sleep like this sometimes. You would pet her stomach and she was out.

Summer fun on the Main Salmon River. Can't wait until next year.

Welcome to the Holidays

The holiday season is upon us. Black Friday has passed, but there is plenty of shopping still being done by many of us. Stores have staffed up and are staying open late to let you buy that cool new this or that for the people in you love in your life.

So what are you going to buy this year? What are you going to get for _______ who has everything and is impossible to shop for? Are you tired of the stress filled search for that perfect gift he or she will always love and cherish? What are you going to buy your teenager? Video games? Do the gifts you buy create experiences of doing things together or things alone?

What about buying an experience for someone this year? We recommend giving the gift of a memory. Give something your loved one will cherish and remember for the rest of their life. Give something that does more then last a month until the newer or better comes out. Give a vacation, a day in the sun, a week away from a cell phone. Give your children a week of un-interrupted time with their parents doing something the whole family will love. Make this holiday different.

Call today and order your gift certificate so you can have it in time for the holiday. Give someone 3 days and 2 nights on the Rogue River in Oregon. It's a gift they will be thanking you for years down the road. 866-479-5061

Hiking on the Rogue River

The first week of October we were able to run a raft assisted backpacking trip on the wild and scenic Rogue River. We ended up running the trip on the only 4 rainy days in a 20 day period, but that seemed to just add to the fun of the trip. We had a great time on our 4 day, 44 mile, raft assisted camping trip with an awesome group from Texas. We are going to be running these trips as camping or lodge to lodge trips starting in May under our new partner company, Rogue Journeys (look for the new website in a couple of weeks). Trips are already starting to fill up, so if hiking one of the continents best trails and not having to carry all the gear sounds like a good idea give us a call and reserve your spots today, space is already starting to run short 800-635-2925.
Here are some pictures.
These are only a few of the pictures, check out more of ours at flickr
Also check out pictures from a few of the guests, see it from there eyes here or here

Monday morning, perfect time for great Rogue River news

Most everyone knows the feeling of sitting down at your computer on a Monday morning. Hit the on button and wonder and wait what e-mails sitting sit there needing to expeditious response. Granted with modern phones it's not such a mystery what e-mails are waiting, but you get the idea. This was a great Monday with an e-mail highlight! It is always fun to read feedback from trips and hear comments about how great the trip was or how, "awesome" the guides were. However, by the time November rolls around most people have already sent in their feedback and people are looking towards next season. Well today we had a surprise e-mail that proved to be blog worthy. The title of the e-mail was G'day

"Hi,

It’s Troy and Michelle from Australia ! We came to you on a sunny day in September and we had a fantastic and memorable time, especially with our well trained and anything-but-lazy guide, Aaron. Please see attached photos we thought you might like to keep for yourself. Aaron, we tried to include photos of you working as well as the ones where you were relaxing so you wouldn’t get a hard time from the Boss.

We loved Aaron’s enthusiasm and love of life and all things natural. It was a real pleasure for us to spend the time we had in a beautiful part of Southern Oregon with a down-to-earth and relaxed guide as Aaron.

Having crapped on enough about how great Aaron was, we’d like to say a thank you to the rest of the staff for their warm welcome (even at the crack of dawn on a cold morning), positive attitudes and great advice. We’ll never forget the great experience we’ve had on the Mighty Rogue River and we have you guys to thank for that, so thank you.


Kind regards

Troy Lea & Michelle"

While all of the photos seemed to be Aaron relaxing, we will let it slide and assume he worked at some point during the day. Here is the trip they are talking about
Thanks to everyone this year who sent in great feedback, we always love hearing how trips went.

The newest OTT Trip

What do you think, should this be the new Orange Torpedo Trips white water adventure?
Probably not, but it is fun to watch