usa raft

We always have an awesome experience here every time we come and this time was no different. USA rafting is the best place to go for a fun trip with family and friends. The staff is great, and all of the raft guides are awesome. This year our guide was Ewok, and he made this year's trip better than any of the others. We'll be back next year!

I have taken different family and friends rafting with USA Raft for the past five years. Each year I bring a few new guests. The staff is always wonderful. I have never had a bad experience with them nor have I witnessed others having any issues. This year . There were four of us, all who had previously rated the Pigeon river with them. The girl who checked us in talked me into trying the 'extreme' raft. WOW! That was amazing. The raft is small and only weighs 25 pounds compared to the regular rafts that weigh 150-175 pounds. You can imagine the difference that made. The river is exciting in the regular rafts.... It was TOTALLY AWESOME in the extreme. My 14 year old got knocked out of the raft on the middle of a class 4 rapid, the first time any of us 'swam' unintended. He did as they tell you in the safety talk and the guide had him back in the raft in no time. I was afraid the experience would cause his rafting trip to be a bad one, but to the contrary thanks to our wonderful guide. He told him that he had one up on the rest of us. We had to ride in the raft through the biggest rapid and he swam it. The rest of our time in the Smokes, that was all we heard. Use this company and you will NOT be disappointed.

This was the first time that my daughter and I had been rafting. Had a great time, even though I was a little nervous b/c I had had some motion sickness in the past. Ewok (Chris) was great telling us what to do, telling us history about the area and just making the trip fun and enjoyable. My daughter was made to feel special and it was just an all around great experience.

Our white water experience was completely awesome. Not only did some of our group do it for the very first time and have a great experience, but the veterans that have gone before had an even better experience than with other companies that they've gone with. Our guide, Ewok, was completely amazing! Very knowledgeable, and confident, which really relaxed our novice rafters. Ewok even got us to experience our first baby sasquatch (river otter) and "beavershark" (inside joke). Thanks for the wonderful experience! Hopefully, our group will come back and we'll make sure to book with USA Raft again.

Our family of 5 - two adults, two teens and an almost teen, has been white water rafting multiple times in other locations (ME, MA & WV) but this was our first time rafting the Pigeon River in TN. The guides at USA Raft were very professional, told some great stories, and related some great info about the area and the river, and the rafting was excellent. A great time was had by all. The kids really enjoyed the "surfing" - something we had never experienced before. The youngest children also took the opportunity to get out of the raft, jump off the rocks and then swim back to the raft - and loved it. One of the great things about this rafting trip was the put in and take out of the raft. Compared to other rafting trips we have taken the bus ride to the put in was short (about half an hour from getting on the bus to getting on the river) and the take out was a very short 2-3 minute walk back across the street to the USA raft main building - which was great because it meant no getting on a bus in wet clammy clothes. Another plus they stored our car keys for us while we rafted. We were rafting with several other family groups in a total of three rafts on our trip down the river. Compared to other rivers we had been rafting on the Pigeon is milder - although the rapids are class III and IV the river doesn't flow as quickly as say the Kennebec. But even so, people were falling out of the rafts during the trip. My youngest child was one of the people to fall out of the raft at one point during one of the class IV rapids and got swept onto some rocks, but our guide was great about getting him back in the raft. USA Raft is a smaller company than some of the other rafting outfitters but I liked this because it did enable the activities like surfing and jumping off the rocks. One thing to be aware of if planning a rafting trip on the Pigeon - as compared to some locations like the Kennebec in ME, where the rafting trips are held every day of the week, the rafting is only available 4 days of the week - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, so it does require a little bit of advance planning. One of the other things I really liked about USA Raft they hold trips every hour so there was a lot of flexibility in the time of day - we had a very leisurely morning and lunch before heading out for our afternoon trip. We chose USA Raft in part because price (our cabin rental came with a "free" coupon for one rafter - so we only paid for 4 people to raft), but I'm glad we did.

First time rafting for our family of adults. USA rafting was a pleasure to deal with, very helpful and reasonably priced. Had a very experienced guide in Big Mike. He was a lot of fun and even got us "surfing" on one wave. He asked USA how much fun we wanted to have and did not disappoint! Turns out his instructions on how to get out from under the boat were right on point. I would recommend this trip for anyone. Just don't fix your hair first!

We had a group of eight and We chose the upper Pigeon River trip. I really didn't know what to expect because this was my first time. But, no experience needed was correct. Ewok was our guide and he was awesome fun! He told us what to do and when, and we all worked as a team. I Really enjoyed this and would recommend this trip. I thought it was a good price for the ride... ask for Ewok!

My husband and I went on an upper river rafting trip a week ago.My hubby had been rafting before, but it was my first time, so I was a little nervous, but I love the water and was prepared. Our guide did a great job going over safety rules before our trip and made me feel at ease. Throughout our trip, he told us stories about the river and the rapids. I had a blast! I loved the class 3 and 4 rapids and getting splashed. We went on the 4 o'clock trip and our raft had a total of 5 people (including our guide). If you pay attention and do what you are supposed to do, then you really have no worries about being thrown off the raft.There was another raft with 3 young girls (teens) and a young guide. They did not have their feet tucked in properly (as they were instructed to do) and were thrown off their raft twice, while going through the rapids. I had a great time and can't wait to go again!

My wife and I were on vacation with my son, his wife and our grandkids. Have used USA rafting on other rivers and were very impressed with the way they stress safety. We went on the Lower Pigeon River because my 3 year old grandson could go. He had a blast sitting in the front of the raft and getting splashed at every rapid. Great fun would recommend if you have small children. Be sure to check for coupons.

LOVED every minute of the trip! Kenny was a wonderful guide for first timers! Booked the day trip. First trip down the river was very exciting. Got soaked, but stayed very safe! Came back to the building and had a great lunch with all the fixings. We were going to go down the second half of the river on kayaks, but were encouraged to try the extreme down the upper river. So we did! It was well worth it! It was more intense in a smaller raft. You can really get the feel of all the rapids. Cannot wait to try it again when we visit the mountains next year.

Yes, this trip was fun and our guide Taz was great! I was disappointed how short the trip was. Our trip time was 3pm we did not get on the river until after 3:30 we finished up at 4:50 we were on the River a total of 1hr and 15mins. ; we paid extra for the extreme trip, in hopes to get more bang for our buck. Little disappointed that I paid extra for the extreme trip but did not get my money's worth. As far as USA Raft as a business, I feel that they are a good place to go if you have a big group.

Loved this trip with USA Rafts. It was a fun ride and the guides were amazingly good. They navigated us down the river and made us feel safe. What a ride. The jokes told by the guides are as cheesy as they get and this adds to the charm. Keep in mind it's a bit of a job from Pigeon Forge, but worth the trip. I wish we did the full day trip.

I was a little apprehensive about rafting since over 50 & not athletic but it was fantastic! The orientation was thorough but fun. Larry's humor kept things entertaining during bus ride to river. Our guide, Big Mike, made the rafting exciting & kept us safe. Haven't rafted w/ any other company but we had an amazing time. Would love to go again soon.

First time white water rafting and everyone there made me feel very safe with all the safety instructions. Ewok was a blast to have as our guide and full of stories. The only disappointment was that we didn't have time to come back again before trip was over.

This was my first time going white water rafting but my husband had been many times before. To begin, it is one of the most expensive places and they do not accept their competitors $12 off coupons but since we decided last minute it was the only company not filled for the weekend. We signed up for a 4pm trip, was told to be there 30 minutes early for a saftey demonstration and by 6pm we still hadn't been shown the saftey demonstration. Apparently, they had a bus catch fire and one break down that day. They have very old buses. Which I understand things happen but they didn't tell anyone what we were waiting on and we were stuck inside a hot barn with no idea what was taking so long... It would have been nice/professional to have someone come to the bleachers and explain the situation but they didn't. We finally left about 6:30pm. 3 hours after we arrived. Larry was our guide and an amazing one at that. He made us feel safe and would explain the river to us and what to expect before we came upon it. The trip was much quicker than I expected. My husband half jokingly asked if he could get a discount on the $40 Pucture CD we purchased post trip due to our extremely long wait and they were quick to reply no discounts. We will go with a more professional company next time, that's cheaper too.