Whitewater Rafting Program
From Project GO
We invite you to experience a challenging and educational adventure: whitewater rafting. Through good, clean, wet, fun, paddlers learn and apply teamwork, leadership and a healthy respect for the environment.
We raft "The Gorge" on the South Fork of the American River, near Coloma, California. This section of the river is rated class III, an intermediate degree of difficulty. This run is suitable for novices with a trained guide, and contains some impressive rapids with names like "Satan's Cesspool," "Hospital Bar," and "Surprise."
Our raft trip begins only a mile below where gold was first found in California, and we float down one of the most storied rivers in Western lore. From the first discovery to gold panning to hydraulic mining, this river has seen it all. As we raft through miles of undeveloped riparian habitat, we stop to see the remains of a Maidu Indian kitchen, and to examine some of the area's unusual geological features. After lunch, the big rapids begin, and your boat surges through one heart-pounding rapid after another. By that time, you're part of a well-trained paddle crew, successfully negotiating the side-curler at Satan's Cesspool, the twisting drop at Bouncing Rock, and the giant hole at the bottom of Hospital Bar.
Rafting is, in every way, a team sport. Between the various group activities, participants help to inflate boats, prepare the equipment and rig the gear. They'll learn the paddle commands, emergency signals, and the importance of working together. A rafting adventure can provide:
- Teamwork
- Communication Skills
- Increased Self Esteem
- Leadership Experiences
- Healthy Evaluation of Risk Taking
- Development of Self Reliance
- Good, Healthy, Wet Fun!
Project Great Outdoors provides highly-skilled volunteer guides and facilitators for every river trip. All trips are outfitted with professional quality life vests, paddles, rafts and safety equipment. All Project Great Outdoors guides are certified in First Aid and CPR, and at least one guide per trip is certified in technical Swiftwater Rescue.
How to apply for our Whitewater Rafting Program
See a trip in action at our PGO TV Spot
