Klamath River Rafting

The “Wild and Scenic” Klamath River is in the class of Best Family Friendly Rafting Trips. It combines moderately difficult rafting with superior solitude, lush and dramatic scenery, and fantastic wildlife viewing. The Klamath River can be experienced by raft, kayak, drift boat and canoe. When we mix the remarkable rafting on the Klamath, with horse back trail rides at the Marble Mountain Guest Ranch, we create our signature Raft-N-Ride or Saddle and Paddle vacations.

Experiencing this amazing assembly of forest and wildlife is best done via the family friendly rafting of the middle Klamath. Summer flows here are comfortably temperate and allow great river swimming. The middle Klamath rafting is beginner to intermediate level in difficulty with class II to class III+ rapids. Running the rapids is done in three kinds of rafts, with varying levels of participation required. Oar powered rafts require little participation with the guide doing all the work, while paddle rafts require you to assist in driving the raft and allow you to participate with directions from the raft guide. Smaller, one-person inflatable kayaks offer a face level view of the river and allow you to personally challenge the rapids while directed downstream under the watchful eye of nearby guides.

Along the course of your Middle Klamath Rafting trip we stop and detour for one of the finest side hikes in California. Hiking through ancient Karuk tribal lands, we scamper through crisp creek water ripe with the scent of wild bay leaves, moving through rain-forest settings we arrive at an intimate pool at the bottom of the double Ukanom Falls. Here we can swim in the pools below the falls or just lie on the rocks enjoying the sun and the magic of the moment.

Our Klamath River rafting trips are scheduled in the warmer afternoon hours after our morning horse riding events. This schedule allow us more seclusion on the river, and allows the youth on the trip to swim the river during the warmest portions of the day. Snacks on the river, and drinks at trips end are always included and we plan a return to the ranch early enough to allow sufficient time to freshen-up prior to hors d’oeuvres and dinner.

Join us for a thrilling raft and ride holiday, or saddle paddle vacation that will thrill and engage the whole family. Our Klamath River rafting is only offered as a piece of our All Inclusive Family Vacations between June 1 and September 1. Stand alone Klamath rafting trips are available from Marble Mountain Ranch during our Spring and Fall shoulder seasons.

The lightly traveled Highway 96 generally follows the Klamath River offering easy logistics, and numerous river access points for various river runs. In spite of the highway generally following the path of the river, the feel of solitude and remoteness is preserved here. This is a place of serenity, and overall solitude.

The Klamath River flows 263 miles through Oregon and Northern California before meeting the Pacific Ocean. The Klamath River corridor is noted for it’s geologic diversity (aka The Klamath Knot) with tectonic plates pushing many different formations into a tightly mixed geology that changes frequently along the river path. This foundational geologic diversity lays the underpinning of a remarkably vibrant and varied biologic diversity. To put it simply, lots of different rock and soil types allow us to see lots more wildlife and plant diversity. While the Klamath has no signature animal or geologic formation (as the bison and mud-pots of Yellowstone), there are more kinds of animals, plants, and geologies here than in most places. The farther downstream you float from the Iron Gate dam and the I-5, the more lush, heavily wooded in a mixed forest, alive in wildflowers, varied in animal species, and dramatically verdant the canyon becomes.