River Journey Adventures

Highly recommend River Journey rafting trips. Staff and equipment are top notch. Great way to spend a day with family and friends.

I’ve used this company a few times and highly recommend them. I’ve done both Oakdale and Knight’s Ferry trips, both rafting and tandem kayak. Really pleasant experience each time. The pricing is reasonable, the trips are organized, and the staff are incredibly friendly and well-​trained. While they were waiting for us at the end point, one of the staff members had paddled upstream in a kayak and was picking up litter from the river. Respect!
The scenery is gorgeous, really nice oak groves. We saw fish, turtles, tadpoles, lots of birds and a few mink-​like creatures.
As for activity level, it can be a good work out, or if you are lazier, you can go at a slower pace. You’ll definitely have to paddle at times: 1) to navigate and 2) because water is very still in some parts. The water level does get low in some spots (we had to step out and pull the raft a couple times in the whole journey.) It’s a drought! It happens…
I really can’t think of any negatives unless you hate the outdoors, water or physical activity. Otherwise, bring plenty of water, food, and sunblock and it’ll be lots of fun… try it!

Fantastic! Easy to find, 5 minute lesson, then boom! Crystal clear water and a great time I am a mom, lol, and I went with 3 teens. They did get a bit grumpy because u do have to row etc. Its not just a leisurely float. But alas, I am home now after championing our trip!!! They are all cozy and showered while I am mopping up soggy bread from ice chest and cleaning sandy car and clothes Will they owe me, ya… was is worth it. Ya!

Drive by there all the time and never new that you could go kayaking around here. The river was clean, calm, and very relaxing. We saw a river otter, turtle, huge trouts (they are protected apparently so you can fish but can’t keep). The ride to the river and the staff where very friendly. I am thinking of buying my own kayak because this was so much fun. This was a very fun trip and very affordable, would recommend to families or anyone wanting to have a fun and very relaxing afternoon.

Had a great time rafting down the Stanislaus River starting in Oakdale. James was our group leader and was very friendly. I even got a free t-​shirt as soon as the staff found out it was my birthday… excellent customer service and well deserving of a 5 star review!

We did the kayak float trip yesterday with our son and his friend. Check in was easy, and the staff was great. Everyone was in a good mood, and the bus ride to the start was a lot of fun. After a brief dos and don’ts talk, we were on our way. I never knew this beautiful place existed. The river was clean and clear. We saw a lot of fish and turtles. There was a nice little park with picnic tables and a bathroom about an hour into the trip. Bring sandwiches because you will get hungry. It took us about 3 ½ hours with light paddling. The suggestions they have on their website were good ones, so do yourself a favor and read them. You will get wet, so leave a change of clothes in the car. Don’t forget sunscreen. They did have dry boxes for your wallet and phone. Yes, there were several places where we bottomed out and had to drag the kayak 5 – 10 feet. This wasn’t a big deal and added to the sense of fun and adventure. Given our drought conditions, I’m surprised there wasn’t more of this. Overall, a great time. I look forward to doing it again.

Went on a river float today and had a great time. Facility was clean and all of the gear was in good condition. No surprises. Only issue was not knowing when the float would end. Kids got anxious about missing activities. Maybe make a map of the route and possible picnic areas or landmarks?

though i check this place out have been on the American river before. Water was so low felt like it would be easier to walk down the river. Whish they would tell you that its too low too go they just want your money. Beware

Had a great time rafting this weekend. And River Journey Adventures made the experience really wonderful. We arrived at 10 am, were given our wristbands and were told to go to the river. We had come prepared knowing that everything would get wet and we’d brought a safety waterproof box for our valuables. It pays to come prepared to these things! Anyways the guy who helped us on the raft gave us some tips and of we went. YES we hit a couple of trees and YES we got stuck since the water’s really low, but then isn’t that the POINT of an adventure? I thought the whole thing was a blast! we were told that it would take between 3 — 5 hours, but we made it in 2.5 … we are a competitive family :). Will do it again when the waters are a bit more rambunctious … around March — April is what we were told. Overall a FUN way to spend a hot Saturday morning.

Fun way to spend a day with family! It was very relaxing to ride a raft! I will make sure to bring water guns for next time!

River journey is absolutely the company to take when rafting the Stanislaus. The river is a class 2 so no crazy rapids but moves fast enough that you don’t have to paddle the whole time. The scenery is beautiful and the lunch stops equally nice. No trash on the ground and plenty of space. The photos are super entertaining an a great thing to remember the trip by. The only thing I would change about this experience is the service. The boys (clearly they were young and inexperienced) that run it were making crude jokes and weren’t nearly as accommodating as I had hoped from a tourist based business. Despite that I highly recommend going rafting with river journey. I had a BLAST!

This is our annual trip with friends during the 4^th of July weekend! It is such a great time! The employees are awesome and always polite. They offer dry boxes FREE of charge to borrow while you’re rafting down the river, which is great if you don’t want to lose your keys. They have a security guard in the parking lot, which is a great thing, but we know better than to leave valuables in the car.
It was nice to see the owner working the check in booth. It is a very good thing to have an owner be so involved in his business.
Thank you for another great trip, I am going to tell our Boy Scouts Troop about the trip and maybe they can raft and camp with you guys next year!

Oh! Dear God im in love. I love kayaking and I CANNOT believe I didnt know there was kayaking in this area. (slaps forehead) I lovingly forced my boyfriend to come with me. We took a tandem kayak. Its a blowup type, ive never been on one before but i really like it alot and its perfect for the river (nice job!).
We had the best time ever! I was referred to this company by a friend of the owners, so I thought sure ill check it out, We will be coming out AT LEAST three more times this summer. We were able to navigate the river just fine, glad we listened to instructions before hand and avoided any stress. Stopped to take photos and eat some snacks we brought. We double bagged everything and used a drybox for the electronics (also bagged). I totally forgot they told us they would take a photo of us until a few days later I decided to look it up and there they were! Amazing and hilarious photos of us!
We were so happy and exhausted after we finished. And so grateful for the shuttle back to the car.
*We got there way too early and did not know where to find the launch. No worries, we went and had some food came back at the right time and easy peasy, there they were, very easy to find.
If only I could go every week!

Had such a great time yesterday. Our age group was from 50 to 85 with the 83 year old being a below the knee amputee!!! We all had a great time and are definitely planning on doing this again. Kody, our instructor/​guide was great. Especially helping us up when we landed in the dirt on occasion… Can’t wait to do this again!!!

Our group trip to Knights Ferry for river rafting and camping with our swim team is the highlight of our summer. We anxiously await our trip every year along with our group. Dave treats us like family. I actually sacraficed seeing my sister and her family from the east coast this year because I couldn’t bare the thought of missing this trip. I wouldn’t be able to tell you if the campground, the all out war on the river or the ice cream are the biggest draw. It is a well-​rounded experience for all of us. Our group ranges in age from 4 years to 40+ years old and we all enjoy.

So I’ve had written a review before this but don’t know what happened? WEIRD! I haven’t been rafting yet but I feel like I’m a pro of the area and know what to expect. I’ve been having issues with reservations because of change of plans and I’ve been going back and forth with a kind young lady by the name of Emily. She has really gone above and beyond with all the questions I needed answered and more than helpful and patient. Sorry for calling multiple times, but it has been a pleasure for providing me with EXCEPTIONAL service. There’s no «FEEDBACK» area on the website, so hopefully on here you can be recognized. I appreciate your help Emily!

Took our first rafting excursion this past summer, and at the recommendation of a few friends we booked our trip with River Journey Adventures and had a blast! We had a mixed group of people (teens to seniors and a few of us inbetween) and two boats. As my daughter and her BFF said: Best. Summer. Outing. Ever.
We loaded up our lunches, and our super soakers (a must!) and headed down the river. It was great to have both segments where you needed to paddle like a mad man through the fast waters and to keep out of the the trees, and also areas that you could drift at a leisurely pace. We stopped so that some in our party could jump from the cliff into the river, and another area where we played on a rope swing.
We spent the entire day on the river, starting at 10 and not getting to the end until 5 pm. The guides gave us some excellent advice on navigating the river, what to do to avoid getting taken out by tree branches, and where to eat lunch.
We are planning another trip for 2013, and plan to make it an annual event.
Extremely affordable, very entertaining, and a nice way to escape the real world for a day.

WARNING: We took a trip in July 2012; my group had 6 vehicles; which they forced us to park in a parking lot that was not visable to where you check in; after the trip when the bus dropped us off; realizing we were the only group parked in this area, well 3 cars were broken into, thousand of dollars worth of damage and stolen goods. The bus driver would not call policy and once the owner showed up… it still took him time to call the police. Things just didn’t seem right after we started thinking about the day. Morning: We were one of the first groups to go out and forced to park in this lot; not one other guest was forced to park in this area, when we returned there were over 60 cars parked where we were told not to park. It seemed as if it was an inside job!
I JUST WANTED TO WARN ANYONE WHO DECIDES TO USE THIS COMPANY!
THEY KEEP DELETING MY POSTING OF OUR TRIP… WHICH MAKES ME THINK THEY WERE IN ON IT TOGETHER!
FILED BBB COMPLAINT!
Good luck, but I wouldn’t use this company EVER!

River Journey is great my family and I have been making trips down the river for years and always go back to River Journey. The staff is friendly and comprised of locals that know the river and great spots to stop and enjoy lunch and a few beers. The rafts are topnotch and you wont find alot of self bailing rafts out there which makes it nice because you do not have to stop and empty out the rafts throughout the day. Parking is a breeze which is clearly marked for all rafting customers and is fenced in just above the bridge with a bus to take you to the launch.
Ive never had any problems with this company, with parking, which way to go down the river. Everything is there for you the directions are clear and the staff is great. The only way you might run into problems is if you do not pay attention. Cant wait until our end of summer rafting trip!!!

Wow!!! What a place… And I mean that in a bad way. When we got there we signed in. After that we got our life vests, got our paddles, and just waited there for about 5 – 10 minutes until someone came to «try» and inform us. The guide person told us to wear our life vests, where we could eat, always to stay on the left, what to do if someone fell out, and that the river was five times higher than normal. The rafting trail was about 8 miles. My group was the first group to set out on this adventure.
The first 5 miles were fun, exciting, and ok, but then we docked on shore to eat lunch. We had a great lunch eating at Horseshoe park; it was easy to find and easy to get to. We had a hard time getting out of the little picnic area until a guide from another raft had to pull us out, then the troubles started. We started hitting trees as the current got faster. A sign pointed to this litte area. The sign said that this was where the raft dropped of was. The sign was so so wrong. It lead to a dead end. So one of the passengers had to jump into the cold cold water and pull us out of the dead end and back to the main channel. THE SIGN MISLEAD US!!! When he hit a really bigg branch, it knocked down one of our passengers into the water. We had a hard time getting her out. THe raft was really hard to navigate. We finally spotted the actual drop offd zone, yeet we almost got pulled into the river until we had to paddle as hard as we can. They finally got us out from the horrible adventure. In the end we realized that ther people in the beggining they never ask us if we had any questions, how to navigate the boat if we were begginers, and barely any good advice! I do not reccomend this place for anyone! HOrrible, horrible horrible, HORRIBLE PLACE. DONT GO HERE.

This isn’t my first experience river rafting. my first time was actually at American River Raft, I would really like to give this place a 4 – 5 stars but…
— When we first arrived in our party of 90 people everything seemed so unorganized. We didn’t know which bus to hop on to get us down to the river.
— When we finally arrived to the river it seemed as if everyone was everywhere, there was no organization at all, again it was very unorganized. The employees there finally gathered us together after we all wore our life jacket looking lost.
— I knew this was level 2 so it was just a breeze through the river. It got annoying because we kept on hitting trees and leaves which led me to getting all these red bumps and hives on my arms.
— We had to remember all the forks or else we would’ve gotten stuck in bushes and trees like the other 2 rafts did.
— It was a struggle to actually pull into the «horse shoe» to have our lunch.
— «free photos» WHERE?! totally not on the website.
I highly recommend going to the American River Rafting if you’re looking for a thrill. I went to level 3 at the end of August for my first time and it was def. worth the money i paid for with my family. There was actually strong currents, excitement, movement, and professional photos which you had to purchase. We had an instructor at the american river raft which caused more fun! and was taught how to actually raft in technique and style. i’ll post some photos from Level 3 american river rafting.

The river is very calm and lazy (not as exciting as their photos depict but it’s a nice relaxing time with friends), which makes it great for bringing food/​drinks onto the raft! A few too many beers may make one fall off the raft multiple times :)
EVERYTHING gets wet on the raft, no matter what you like to think/​argue. Every single thing inside our bags got soaked, so good thing we listened to the company when they told us to NOT bring anything electronic/​valuable onto the raft. If your car keys are electronic, seal them inside layers of plastic (or something waterproof) and secure them in a backpack/​cooler pocket.
The staff was really nice and the safety orientation they gave us didn’t take very long at all. The «shuttle» that they use to take you from the parking lot looks like a junky old jail bus, but hey! We were happy that we didn’t have to walk all the way there.
There were plenty of places to stop and picnic. There was a little cliff that people like to jump off, too. There’s also a tire swing but I have a feeling that it belongs to a private property along the river, and rafters using it may have prompted what happened in this next paragraph:
The only thing I didn’t like about this river was that it goes through a lot of private properties (as in you can actually see the houses and their backyard is essentially the river) with trashy people living there who like to harass rafters. On the day that we went, some rafters complained after the trip about some punk ass teenagers who were shooting at them with BB guns from the shore!!! WTF. Dear lord! And apparently this had happened before, according to a staff member on the bus. I hope the staff does something to identify these little f*ckers and set them straight.
Also, they were supposed to have a camera to take our pictures on the river while we were rafting but they decided to not do it that weekend that we went because it was their last operating weekend. Lame… they should have specified that on their web site. I’m glad they had a Groupon.