All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting

Just returned from an awesome two day rafting trip on the Tuolumne River. We went with a group of 26. We all had the best experience! The guides — Collin — Horse — Noah — Ryan — Drew — were absolutely the best! The food was delicious and a plenty! All-​Outdoors is top notch. We can’t stop talking about it. We’re going with AO next time for sure!

I’ve used this rafting company a handful of times and im still alive! This company is top notch. The guides are great (shout out to Sam, drew, Kyle, horse, Matt, Jordan and a few others that I’ve been with). I recommend the overnight because two days are way better than one and they set up camp for you, cook, clean etc all while you sip on an ice cold beer and watch them. Pro tip: ask about the Safari West package deal they offer. Safari west was a lot of fun too. They have a partnership with them i think.

Just got home from an AMAZING trip — this place is definitely the place to go! Great customer service and great guides. Our guide, Marilee, was so sweet and managed to keep us all in the boat even as we were about to fly out. We had the BEST time. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED — we’ll definitely be back!

caught el nino! Fantastic rafting on the merced, excellent guides, delicious lunch. now a rafting addict!

I’ve rafted with them twice over the past 3 years. Fantastic and knowledgeable guides, great organization.
Roger, who was our guide this time — rules and commands the raft, would go rafting with him any day! We did American river, south fork. Good times, good times!

I have completed the level 3 South Fork American River twice with All-​Outdoors and I am now addicted to white water rafting. This was an unforgettable and breathtaking experience. Booking is super easy and they always have great deals to take advantage of. The trips themselves are just phenomenal and a must experience to understand type of thing. The guides are super nice and make sure you get the most of your money. They will take you on the currents that provide you with the most excitement and thrill. They are all really experienced and as long as you work with them, you should have no problem navigating through the rocks. There are photographers at certain points to take your pictures so, make sure you have cool poses ready. If you are an adrenaline junkie, you will probably die of overdose after your rafting trip. Honestly, I was really hesitant about paying so much for white water rafting because there are other adventure alternatives with that money. After completing the trip, I would say with all my heart that white water rafting is worth every dollar. My girlfriend had this absurd fear that rafting is dangerous, but now she is as addicted as I am. We try and go every year with our group of friends now. In my opinion, level 3 is not that bad and everybody should start off at this level. This river is dam controlled so the water level is always consistent. The river flow is just enough to keep you going on the river so you do not have to constantly paddle, but not too much that it is hard to control and you end up flipping over. We plan to attempt level 4 next year. If I had the money, I would go white water rafting with All-​Outdoors again in a heartbeat! Also, remember to bring tip for your rafting guide!!!

This was my first time rafting and it is something I will definitely do again WITH ALL OUTDOORS. Joe and Brit were outstanding. They provided the type of customer service that you hope to get when you go somewhere. The exceptional customer service started with the booking of the trip. The person who booked my appointment (cannot remember her name) was very thorough. The initial trip (⁴⁄₂) was cancelled due to not enough people booking for the day. I was kept informed through email and phone calls and a subsequent booking was made the following week. The process was very simple even with the cancellation. Most times when there is a cancellation and they have your money many companies can make you feel like it’s a burden to come up with a new date and time. Not so with AO. They were on top of it and kept me informed at all times. THANKS GUYS. If you are thinking of booking a trip and read this review my suggestion to you is DO IT. The trip is OWESOME and creates great memories. Hope to see you on the water.

I have set up company events (60 people) with this company two years in a row. They are extremely accommodating, provide an excellent day out on the river, reserve an amazing campsite for overnight camping and and very good food!
They work very closely with you to determine what your needs are for your trip and try to work as much of your requests in.
The day of rafting, they pick up the group at a meetup location and drop everyone off at the drop off at the river. Their guides are all very experienced and knowledgeable of the area. They can safely guild everyone through class 3 – 4 rivers even if it’s an inexperienced group. We chose to do a one day trip on the middle fork. We had lunch provided in the middle of the day (great appetizers, and a lovely sandwich spread containing everything you could possibly want on a sandwich!) There was a nice slow float after lunch on the river before it got exciting again.
Since we were a bigger group, we requested our own campsite to prevent any disturbances to other campers. The company also provided dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. All the food was more than what I could ask for camping! They took care of most the cleanup and were amazing to be around.
I would recommend this company to anyone who either wants to get on the river, whether you’re in a small group or a large group!

Great river rafting adventure on the Middle-​Fork American River. I would highly recommend this company for your rafting trip.

I don’t write Unilocal reviews much at all, but I felt compelled to write one after our trip with AO Rafting. I went on a Guys Trip in June 2015 with four lifelong buddies who were looking for an adventure-​type weekend getaway. We got one heck of a trip!
We decided to try the 2-​Day Middle Fork American River trip because none of us had rafted before. We were beyond excited for this trip to come. We hopped on a plane and flew up to Sacramento for an epic weekend on the river. We were assured by AO that the current California drought concerns would not be an issue. They were right. Water flowed just fine for our trip.
We had a fantastic guide crew. Our raft guide, Dane, was the trip manager as well. He kept the trip on point and really taught us noobs how to manage the rapids. He was spot on with all of his directions for us while navigating our raft down the river. Learning proper rowing technique was key for us and probably saved us a lot of residual pain from sore muscles days later.
The highlight of the trip was the Tunnel Chute. It was a rush like I had not experienced before and we captured it all on the GoPro (a must if you have one). Dane set us up perfectly to bomb this exhilarating water-​soaked highway to hell! You fly down this rock-​formed channel with water spilling over all sides and down into the mouth of the river where you are engulfed in a wave of refreshing whitewater. So much fun!
The rest of the trip had other exciting rapids, but none compared to Tunnel Chute. It really made us want to step up our next trip to some more adventurous rapids. Class V’s please!
The Saturday night campout on the river was a blast too. We rafted all day and then around 5:00 we found a beach and parked the rafts. There were plenty of spots to setup our sleeping bags for a night under the stars. I highly recommend bringing a large tarp to set up camp on. The AO crew prepared a delicious meal of tri tip and chicken. We were not shorted on food that’s for sure. We all ate like kings. There was fishing off the shore, hikes down the river, horseshoes on the beach, and general frolicking to be had.
Day 2 started with a nice full breakfast and we loaded up all of our gear onto the equipment rafts. I think we got back on the water by about 10am. We hit more fun rapids on Day 2, but I have to say that Day 1 was much more fun from a rafting perspective. We were off the river by about 1:00 — 1:30. I was hoping for another long day on the river so it was disappointing when it was over. So much fun though!
I would highly recommend this trip to anyone and I plan on taking my family up to have this adventure when my kids are old enough! Thanks AO!

I’ve been on 3 rafting trips with All-​Outdoors and a few others with different companies, but AO is head-​and-​shoulders above the competition. Their staff actually seem like they enjoy being on the river and don’t roll their eyes at idiot kids in the boat. They go above and beyond in terms of safety (I’ll talk about Cherry Creek in a minute), they have more variety and options in river trips, and their mid-​day lunches are actually tasty (no old granola bars at this picnic). In addition, they bring their own photographers instead of relying on freelancers to potentially be on the rocks that day.
There are a variety of different rivers and river sections that All-​Outdoors guides, and you have the option of doing a basic float or doing intense Class V’s. For the most challenging option, Cherry Creek, you’re required to do a physical fitness test in running while holding your breath and swimming across the river through some Class II’s. Nothing too strenuous. It is also STRONGLY recommended that you have some solid paddling background (to know where your weight/​balance needs to be, etc.) On Cherry Creek, a couple of guide/​oar boats will go down the rapids before your group so they can catch you if you go downstream or pry you out with an oar if you get caught in a hole (the former is not fun, and the latter is REALLY not fun). There was never a moment where I felt unsafe, and they haven’t had any deaths on their watch.
That being said, I actually think the calmer Middle Fork trip is more fun than Cherry Creek (rafting, that is… kayaking is a completely different story). For one the Tunnel Chute rapid on the Middle Fork is one of a kind – you scream down a long, churning slide of whitewater and through a wide tunnel blasted by old goldminers. Additionally, you only have to portage at one spot and you get a few opportunities to surf instead of just blasting through rapids. It’s the perfect family trip, assuming everybody likes water.
Long story short: YES I recommend AO Rafting.

I joined as solo and had a blast. 2 days on Middle Fork American River is more than enough experience if you don’t have any. It is safe just because guides do everything they can to keep you safe. Class 3 – 4 rapids are not that many on Middle Fork but gives you enough joy. Camp ground was peaceful. Food was great. Too bad we couldn’t have a camp fire because it was after 1^st of July which is banned for a while. Having 2 day trip on the raft, you get to relax and enjoy being on the river and scenery. Guides are awesome by the way. Mike and Rose and others were not just a great guide, they are very friendly. All Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting is very organized and they do a great job from reservation to drop off.

Went rafting on the American River Middle Fork (Class IV) on July 4^th, how much more American can you get. Awesome river to raft in, better than Snake River. My guide Dane was all business, very professional and knowledgeable. Highly recommended and will definitely go back and perhaps move up to Class V.

Had a couple beginners in my group of 4, but did they love the one day Middle Fork on the American River. The class 3 – 4 rapids were perfectly scary, but we went through just fine. I was able to book a weekend trip with their early summer 20% sale without a hitch.
They are on the pricey-​er side, but all my group agreed that they appreciated AO’s style of rafting. Also, I’ve rafted before with this company (the same route in 2009), and seeing as they have stuck around means something. At the starting point, AO had 8 rafts going out, definitely more than any other company at the same starting point.
We definitely appreciated our guides — they work so hard. No bathroom breaks, constantly guiding, making our lunch for us, but also waiting after everybody grabbed food before they ate. I really wish the guides would be able to eat first since they work the hardest.
Jason was our guide and was definitely knowledgeable, plus no one fell out of the boat! This made a huge difference for our group and now they all can’t wait to go back for the higher level rapids.

We originally booked with the Merced River (Class III), but the river was running low during our weekend, so we switched to the Tuolumne (Class IV). At first, we were nervous about the increase in difficulty (as first time rafters), but in the end, we had sooo much more fun! Class IV rapids weren’t as intimidating as we had anticipated, and traveling through the canyons was utterly gorgeous.
We felt like we were part of Jurassic World! Beth was incredibly informative, about the geology and rafting in general. And we saw a river otter and a bald eagle’s nest! Absolutely breathtaking.
We came across other rafting companies while on the Tuolumne, and I’m so glad we went with AO. The other companies seemed more quiet and not as fun.
AO was extremely involved in making our trip successful. Claudette contacted me a week and a half before our trip to the Merced, and alerted us of the possibility of low river runs at the Merced, and provided another option for us (the Tuolumne). We originally booked the Merced with a 20% off spring sale, and they also applied the discount on the different in price for the trip.
Rafting isn’t the cheapest thrill, but you pay for such an amazing experience! From the shuttle drive to the meet spot (alongside the mountain, on an unpaved road!), to the riverside lunch (food and tables packed all on the rafts!) and the ride back!
Photos were taken by a separate company, and the photos were available right after we arrived back to the meet spot. They weren’t cheap, but you pay for the experience, you might as well get the captured memories!

Best way to celebrate a milestone birthday, bachelor party or family get together.
This company manages to take an extremely dangerous sport and make you feel perfectly safe and secure through all of it. They have tough, military grade rafts, and very capable guides who take your through class IV Rapids all the while giving you interesting facts and history about the locations you are rafting through.
We did middle fork American river and Toulemne river near Groveland. Both were AWESOME!!! All of the guides seem extremely competent but we are particularly fond of Joe who works the middle fork American river. We also had Horse/​Ryan for the Toulamne river. He was pretty dang cool to

Awesome experience! I loved my rafting trip! Wyatt was the best instructor! We definitely got lucky! The scenery is gorgeous, the rapids are awesome! They gave us snacks and made us an awesome lunch, with fresh fruit, build your own sandwiches and lemonade! Worth the money! I highly recommend this company! We’ll definitely be back!

My friends and I rafted with All Outdoors through the Middle Fork River and I cannot express how pleased we were with the entire experience.
Scott (owner) is AWESOME and Chris (our guide) was a ROCK STAR!
We will be back again for sure!

Our family went on the 2-​day Tuolumne River trip and loved it! It was probably our 4^th time rafting and 2^nd with the All Outdoors group. Extremely customer oriented and the whole trip was well planned. We were up in Mammoth Mountain for a few days and made the drive through Yosemite and through Groveland. If you do pass Priest Station off the 120, stop for one of the best burgers around! Excellent food.
The guides were funny, helpful, and made the trip seamless. We had absolutely no complaints about the food and it was fantastic to shut off from technology and just sleep under the stars. They offer a 1, 2, or 3 day river trip, all extending the same length of the river. If you are looking for a lot of down time, choose the longer trips. We thought 2 days was the perfect amount of time to raft, hike, and relax at the camp site.
We went as a family of 4 but got along really well with the other groups on the trip. Make sure to bring sufficient sunscreen (your legs especially!), a hat, and old tennis shoes. Definitely worth the drive!

I can’t say enough good things about AO! All of the «guides» are super fun and really experienced (which is always helpful while rafting class 5 rapids!)
We’ve come rafting with AO for the past three years, we raft the tuolumne (too-​wall-​a-​me) river over two days. I could write pages on all the details and experiences from our cumulative trips, but I’ll get to the point.
The guides set up camp and cook your food for you (food is amazing!) the river is beautiful and camping overnight is always tons of fun.
Great team building and so much fun, highly recommend a rafting trip with this company.