OARS American River Rafting Outpost — Local services in Placerville

Fantastic overall experience!

I know there are already a lot of good reviews, but I will add one more. I assume that many of you, like me, appreciate a review with a little detail.

I did the two day (with camping) South Fork American River trip. This trip included lunch on both days. You will probably be very pleasantly surprised at the effort they put into the lunch. One day was a great lunch meat spread with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and four or five breads. As an appetizer, which was swerved while the River guides sliced veggies and setup, they served chips, honey crisp apple slices, and orange slices. Day two was delicious taco salad. Both days included cold water and cookies too.

They cooked breakfast on day two also. Eggs, bacon, and both blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes. Of course, coffee and juice too.

On day one, they guides cooked dinner, which was a tasty chicken and pasta dish. Some adult beverages were also provided.

The rafting experience was excellent. The guides really make the trip better, and in my case, our guide Evan was wonderful. He worked really hard to make sure we enjoyed our trip. On day two, we “surfed” Chili Bar, which was thrilling. Evan had to work hard (three tries, and he had to jump in the River to move the boat) to get our boat in this unique current.

They are very safety conscious: a good briefing, flotation devices, and a helmet. Also, you will practice basic safety commands on the river.

The rafting itself was very exciting. Especially on day one, the rapids are fun without feeling overwhelming. I voluntarily went for a swim at one point—yes the water is cold!

The final rapid on day 2, “Troublemaker,” was without a doubt the most intimidating, but with a good, well-trained guide (OARS has their guides complete weeks of training before they lead customers down the river), you will be safe. If you are worried about falling out involuntarily, it of course could happen if Mother Nature decides she wants to rock the boat hard enough, but no one on my crew fell out.

One of the kids said it’s like an ride/water park, but on a real river instead of some amusement park. I like this analogy.

Day one was 4-5 hours, including lunch. Day two was 2-3 hours, including lunch. They did a good job with the schedule. Day two is more thrilling, but that’s fine because you learn and gain confidence after day one. Note: you can do a day trip for either day one or two—day two includes the Chili Bar and Troublemaker rapids, day 1 includes rapids like “Satan’s cesspool.”

For the camping, we paid a little extra for the platform tent. This setup was perfect—clean, roomy tent with two beds and a porch. If you like relaxing in the evening while camping, you will enjoy this setup. I did not need to bring any of my own camping gear. They also provide bathrooms and showers (you need your own toiletries and towels). I guess this is really glampimg, given that someone cooked my meals!

At the end of each rafting day, they had ice cold sodas waiting. This seems like a silly thing to mention, but, after hours in the sun paddling, the soda was the prefect touch and highlights their focus on the customer experience.

I hope to do an OARS trip in the future.

I highly recommend if you are looking for an “adventure” vacation. Our trip included kids, and I think this trip is kid-friendly (but they do need to be able to swim). if you are unsure, day one is less intimidating.

There are maybe 10 competitors—OARS in my opinion is the best option (after seeing the other boats and facilities and lunch etc). Everyone I spoke with, from scheduling to the campsite to the rafting, was personable and friendly.

Again, the guide Evan went above-and-beyond. We learned a lot, talked during the calm water, and really enjoyed ourselves.

Final note: please remember the guides work in the service industry. Please tip them for...

I was part of a South Fork American River | Team Building Express trip through OARS and loved the experience. The session began with lunch, instruction, white water rafting on class 2 and 3 rapids and was followed by dinner. The food was great and fresh. Our guide James was lively and informative and kept us safe and in the boat (other than when rafters could jump in and swim during the calmer parts of the journey). We even got to see a rattlesnake swimming which was a rarity and a shocker. That along with devil’s cesspool was a highlight. This is the 2nd trip I’ve taken on the South Fork and the 5th Whitewater trip I’ve taken in my lifetime (my first trip was rafting on the Snake river which I understand is one of the more challenging ones, followed by a kayaking trip on the Brule river, then rafting the White Salmon river, and rafting the South Fork of the American river). Four of the five trips were with groups and definitely brought the groups closer together. And one of the trips was a trip I still refer to on a regular basis because of the insistence that my sister and I “paddle paddle paddle”. The trip on the south Fork had moments of intensity, but also I had a lot of downtime for chilling and talking. I feel ready again for class 4 rapids. The front of the boat will get you the wettest. For this particular trip I was in the back of the boat. The scenery was spectacular and even though it was summertime, it was a pleasant day temperature-wise. That said, I probably wouldn’t go on a South Fork trip on a day hotter than 90°. Or I would figure out a way to go earlier in the morning. Our guy told us chili bar is a nice one to try if we want to do something a little different where the class 3 rapids begin at the beginning of the ride. The safety training right before we left was excellent and I felt very prepared to get out from under the boat by acting like Spider-Man and swim towards the boat like Superman. The simple explanations did a good job teaching safety. I didn’t get the hot shots pictures, but if I did, I would’ve uploaded them...

I've been smiling for 3 days after spending a day on the river with OARS. Our guide Sam from Maine was great - confident, knowledgeable, and silly. The rafting itself was pure fun in nature. The intimidation factor was wiped away quickly after warming up with Sam's clear, simple instructions and her comfortable knowledge of rafting and the river. This was a great way to spend the weekend celebrating our friends 40th birthday.

Thank you OARS too for your well appointed campground with showers, bathrooms, and for feeding us so well. The meals were so appreciated! This mom who is always exhausted by planning camp trips appreciated the attention you paid to logistics so I could actually just camp and enjoy myself. I also appreciated how close this outpost is to restaurants and coffee shops for those meals that we couldn't/didn't do with OARS.

I did this same trip 11 years ago as a combined bachelor - bachelorette party and I had a blast then too. I look forward to coming back sooner next time with my kids. The trip was totally family friendly and appropriate for a wide variety of ages and...