Rogue River Rafting Nugget Falls Itinerary

The Nugget Falls section of the Rogue River is a perfect, quick, rafting addition to anyone traveling through Southern Oregon. It is especially perfect for anyone wanting to visit Crater Lake as it is right on the way. Depending on where you are coming from you can opt to meet your guides in one of two places. See the Travel Information page for details on meeting locations.

After meeting your guides the group will load into the vans and head for the put-in below Gold Ray Dam on the Rogue River. At the put-in the guides will get the rafts ready while the head guide fits everyone for helmets, pfd’s, and optional wet-suits or splash tops. Before putting on the river the guide will give a thorough paddling orientation as well as offer use of our day dry-bag to anyone needing to store some items on the raft during the trip. Valuable items can be left in the van as the driver will remain in the van as he parallels the river trip

When everyone has their sunscreen and is geared up the group will load into the paddle rafts and head downstream. A great feature to this run is that it builds in difficulty so the group starts off with several class I and II rapids to practice their paddling skills before getting to the first class III rapids. As the group floats through this initial section you can expect to see great wildlife including bald eagles, osprey, and deer.

After about an hour the rafts arrive at lineman’s and the raft surfing begins. After splashing through the rapid we will pull into the eddy next to this famous Rogue River kayaking spot. If there are any kayakers we will hop in line and watch them try to surf and do some tricks while we wait for our chance to get onto the wave and hang ten. Surfing a raft is like it sounds, we will aim upstream and paddle the raft out into the current and try to catch the surfing wave. If we do it right the people in the front will get very wet and will be able to sit on the wave in the middle of the rapid without paddling. It is a very unique and fun feeling.

When the group is thoroughly wet and ready to hit some big waves we will float down stream to our first class IV rapids, Nugget Falls. At Nugget Falls the rafts path down squeezes the river into a narrow chute where the raft is forced to navigate the “monkeys fist” and two LARGE holes. Hold on tight this is always an adventure.

After Nugget Falls your sure to be thoroughly wet so soak in some sunshine as we float the final flat above our second class IV, Powerhouse rapid. At Powerhouse the team will navigate some rocks and drop over a bouncy ledge into the top pool before making a turn and dropping over the bottom 8-10 foot pour-over into the bottom pool. After Powerhouse your sure to have a smile on your face as we float to the boat ramp, vans, and the end of your Rogue River rafting trip.