South Fork American (trip)

Log in or Register

South Fork American

  • Lotus Airport, near Coloma, CA
  • Boats, Barges & Small Ship Cruises
California, United States

To check availability or book,
contact ARTA River Trips:

Period offered: Year-round. The provider (view their profile) can provide you with specific departure dates, final prices, and other information.


privacy notice
Your email address is safe from marketers! The address you provide will be used to contact this provider just like a regular email message. No third parties will be given access to your email address, nor will we ever sell it to them. TravelDragon hates spam too!
Do you want a brochure/catalog?
How should the provider respond to you?


from $248* per person2 DaysYear-round
Comfort accommodations Exertion level: 3
Operator: ARTA River Trips 12 people max
and past the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, the South Fork of the American River provides a fantastic one or two day escape from urban living.

The river has a lot of fun, invigorating Class II rapids and just enough tricky, exciting Class III’s to keep it interesting. There are 20 miles of river and a lot of options for trips; 2 different one-day, 10 mile trips (the Upper which includes Meatgrinder and Troublemaker and the Lower which includes Satan’s Cesspool and Hospital Bar); a one-day 20 mile trip (all the rapids!), and a great two-day, 20 mile trip with an option to spend the night at a wilderness-style campsite that is accessible only by raft. Our South Fork American whitewater rafting trips take place in a rolling foothill canyon in the Coloma-Lotus Valley halfway between Auburn and Placerville in the heart of the historic Highway 49 Gold Country.

This is the perfect trip for groups of varying experience, ability and thrill thresholds – everyone will have fun – and it is just a short drive from the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe.

Loading map, please wait...

Locations visited/nearby

California, United States

Comments from Facebook

Special information

  • This is a custom departure, meaning this trip is offered on dates that you arrange privately with the provider. Additionally, you need to form your own private group for this trip. The itinerary and price here is just a sample. Contact the provider for detailed pricing, minimum group size, and scheduling information. For most providers, the larger the group you are traveling with, the lower the per-person cost will be.
  • Family oriented trip.

Itinerary

We offer three different 2 day trips on the South Fork of the American River.

    2 Day Camp Lotus Trips (drive-in camping)
    2 Day Wilderness Camp Trips (raft-in camping)
    2 Day Cooperative Trips (bring your own food)

2 day Camp Lotus Trips

Our 2 day South Fork Camp Lotus trips run 20 miles of the river (both the Upper - Troublemaker section and the Lower - Satan's Cesspool section) and camp at Camp Lotus a private, secluded campground right on the river. Your vehicles, hot showers, flush toilets and a small store are a short walk away. Meals are prepared by our guides at our outdoor kitchen and afterwards we often enjoy a campfire and a star-filled sky. Weekend trips are fun, but the river and campsite are more crowded; midweek trips have a much more relaxed and isolated feel to them.
2 Day Wilderness Trips

Our 2 day South Fork Wilderness trips run 20 miles of the river (both the Upper "Troublemaker" section and the Lower "Satan's Cesspool" section) and camp at an isolated stretch of the river that has no vehicle access. We will bring everything we need into the campsite by raft (we'll provide the waterproof bags) and the campsite is a peaceful respite from what can be a busy day on the river. The site boasts a two story, composting outhouse that is amazingly pleasant. Meals are prepared by our guides and after a campfire, you will be serenaded to sleep by the sound of the river.
2 Day Cooperative Trips

ARTA's 2 day Cooperative Trips on the South Fork are designed to provide low-cost, participation oriented, river centered experiences for groups who wish to take a more active role in their trip. More importantly, they are tons of inexpensive fun. Cooperative trips run the full 20 miles of the South Fork and stay at Camp Lotus.

Trips are run on a charter-only basis and are priced on a per raft basis. There is a minimum charter size of two rafts (8 to 12 people) and we have accommodated groups of over 80. The chartering group is responsible for bringing and preparing their own food (we provide stoves and kitchen gear) and is encouraged to take a more active role in the trip. As a result, Coop Trips are educational and unifying experiences for groups of all ages and have a unique and energetic spirit which provides great moments and lifelong memories.

More information from ARTA River Trips: