Tributary Whitewater Tours

These guys are fantastic. We met where everyone meets but they start 30 min later to stay out of the mass of crowds. The guides are so nice and capable and fun. And they make a killer lunch — all fresh that day and they all work together to make a great spread of fresh cut fruit and veggies, dips and hummus, a full awesome make your own sandwich buffet with everything you would want and more. Our guests were the only ones swimming the last Rapids (fun! Don’t be afraid!) We loved our guide Jake and all the guides are skilled so don’t be afraid. Great day.

Booked the 2 day south fork/​middlefork overnight trip. It was my first time ever rafting, and it was a trip to remember! Shoutout to our raft guide Dave Wilson! This man literally made the rafting trip 2 days to remember. If you’re not falling out the raft, flipping it over you’re not having fun… First day was on the south fork and not a bad one to get the basics down. The second day was the most intense at least for my groups level. If you happen to stay overnight, the dinner that was prepared for us was way more than what I bargained for, thank you Dave you my man are a bbq genius. So to all you out there who want book this trip please do it ASAP! And if you want a fun experience ride out with hippie, but if you want the time of your life getting close to the brink of death please request Dave you won’t regret it! And remember to always tell Dave EDDY STREET throughout the trip! Oh and also another shoutout to another raft guide Margaret you were awesome but not as awesome as Dave! Thank you to all the staff at Tributary Whitewater Tours for making this one of the best trips to remember… And Dave if you happen to read this I’m still waiting on those brownies you burned.

A big group of us did a easy family-​friendly day trip with them last weekend and it was great. Exciting enough but not too much for the kids. Great, easy going guides.

If you like a secluded river run, the 11-​hour drive to Lower Klamath is well worth it!
Our GSGLA Troop 5051’s last blast — they’ve been together since 1^st grade and are now rising college freshman. We had a great time on a 3-​day, 2-​night adventure on the Lower Klamath River with Jake, Brittany and Joel. With the river to ourselves and not a soul in sight, we encountered a ton of wildlife — bald eagles perched high in their nests, osprey diving for fish, a couple of golden eagles, blue jays /​woodpeckers, otters, bear scat (no bear — phew!).
Jake and Brittany were great, safe navigators but also challenging — our girls got to swim down rapids and try out the kayak on a couple runs! Beautiful hike up to the Ukonom Falls — well worth climbing up the rocky slopes and taking a dive in the chilly pool of water. And after each day’s rafting, a welcome greeting of ice-​cold lemonade & snacks from Joel with our camping gear in tow! Girls were amazed to have appetizers for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Our two troop advisors loved the pampered gourmet meals (not to worry about meal planning and lugging gear for same) –chix/​beef tacos, dutch oven lasagna and brownies (yum)! Learned about some new camping gear to add — bucket sinks, drying pocket rack and the GROOVER (no, I think we’ll leave that one alone)!
Best of all, the evening campfire chats to learn about each other (Joel and Jake — you’ve got to encourage the boss to record his knowledge of the rivers so his legacy can live on), travel (Jake and Brittany — visit Sabrina in Shanghai) and reflect on life experiences. Truly enjoyed being ‘unplugged’ from the rat race of Los Angeles!
Thank you, Tributary!

Did a half day trip with a friend and my 7 y.o. on the south fork and we all had a blast! Our guide Cory was awesome– knowledgeable and adventurous. He even let my little one «co-​captain». Thanks Cory and tributary for a great time! Can’t wait to trib-​up with yall next time! We’ll definitely be back (maybe without the lil one)! :)

Went on a day trip through middle fork with some friends on Saturday (Sept 13^th, 2014). Had a great day with our guide Ryan who knew and explained everything about the river, the rapids and his experiences around the world.
We signed up or an amazing experience and Tributary gave it to us. Everyone in the boat except me and ryan fell into the rapids atleast once during the trip. It was also fun to watch the guides go through a level 5.5÷6 rapid :)
Lunch was also great with fresh fruits and a deli spread. I would definately recommend tributary to friends.

We had a great time! We took the 2 day trip on the American river. The staff were fun and friendly and did a great job of giving us a fun safe time on the river. The food was good, fruit, sandwiches, BarBQ chicken and Tri Tip. Our guide was Evan he was fun and helpful. We were able to jump in the water to cool off in the calm pool areas and help paddle through the rough stuff. We highly recommend Tributary Whitewater Tours and will go again.

We went with Tributary on the Lower Middle Fork of the American River YESTERDAY, Wed 7÷16÷14. Our 2 grandsons (7 & 11), my husband and myself joined a father and his 8 yr old for a wonderful day with Cayla our guide. She had boat games the boys played, they got chances to dive off the boat in calm spots and even allowed our 7 yr old to be in the back with her as she taught him (with encouragement) how to paddle or not, safely. We saw otters diving for food, turtles on rocks, ducks swimming up river scooping up their meals and dragonflys overhead. During our stop for snacks, the boat was turned over and splashed to keep wet while the boys ran from the top down onto the boat and into the river. They had a blast! We highly recommend this company. The website has layers of information, the office staff is very helpful making decisions for the reservations, the van drivers (Tony & Carroll) provided fun on the way to the river and out and the guide, Cayla, who makes this experience a lasting memory was such a sweetheart, with an easygoing nature, very easy to approach and interact with. Tributary was only boat on this quiet beautiful section.
We’re excited to plan our next summer trip with Tributary. Thanks for the memories
A NOTE: We went with Trib last year on this section with Scott as he rowed us down the river for our first time. I mention it now as time slipped away from me and deserves to be included in this review. We had such a great time with Scott also.

Me and my bf were looking to go whitewater rafting for our first time. Tributary was the first link off google that I clicked and I’m so glad it was! We did the middle fork american and had a blast.
All three guides were great and even the driver was cool. Tim was our guide and i HIGHLY recommend him! He’s down to earth, nice, and a great instructor… a bit of a perfectionist but in a good way! tunnel shoot is in the first mile so before we reached it we had already gone over drills and knew all of his commands. He is very precise on his routes and instructions and it just made those class 4’s easier and less intimidating. We all joked and conversed unlike the other rafting businesses that we passed who were boring their crew with dull tour guide talk. However, he was also very informative about the river, plants, animals, etc.
Lunch was better than I expected. appetizers were fresh fruit platter, carrots and cucumber with ranch, red pepper hummus, oreos, and chips and salsa with tea and water readily available. main course was a deli spread and i was very happy that they do not skimp on the avocado lol.
after 17 miles of passing all of the other rafts and businesses, I will definitely go through tributary again and I recommend them to friends, relatives, and anyone else who’s interested in rafting.

Went on a day trip through middle fork with some friends in from San Diego (All guys in our thirties). Had an awesome time with our guide Jessica. She explained everything easily and completely throughout the trip.
We signed up to have an adventure. While other rafters had to sit down inside their boats when things got rough we were allowed to paddle through it and actually maybe fall into the water haha.
Jessica guided us through one section called Bus Crash perfectly and it lived up to its name. We asked her for the roughest path and it knocked most of us into the water. SO MUCH FUN! Falling out is no biggie. You float up to the top and get back in though that water is COLD.
I look forward to doing it again when some more people come to visit me and hopefully we can do one that can b even more challenging.
I’d recommend this for anyone as the guide can make the trip easier or harder based on what you want since they know the river so well. If you want an actual adventure trip then pick Tributary Whitewater Tours

I went with 2 buddies on the Middle Fork of the American and we had a blast. The guides were not only knowledgeable about the river, but the region and wildlife in general. The lunch spread was fantastic. I would recommend these guys to anybody. This trip might have convinced me to never leave Northern California!

I went with a few friends for a bachelor party and must say it was a blast. Our tour guides John and QB were awesome, I would highly recommend them just make sure to bring them a 6 pack of Redd’s apple ale; they told us that was their favorite drink of choice.
–Luis

I’ve always wanted to try white water rafting and thought it would either be an awesome or terrifying experience. After my first tour of the Middle Fork with Tributary, I now understand that rafting is very customization and the right guide can make your experience everything you are looking for and more!
My husband & I booked TWT joined about 20 of our family and friends for this trip. We had a total of 4 boats in our group with was awesome, since the guides encouraged us to race and splash each other throughout the day. It was pretty cool to see how much fun they could have and still be 100% professional when it came time to give directions. The day started out with just a few moments of calm before the first class 4 into Tunnel Chute, and Mark made the best of that time to test our skills and make sure we understood the importance of listening to his commands. As a noob, I was admittedly nervous going into that first drop, but I had an absolute blast and quickly learned that Mark knew exactly how to get us through safely. From that moment, I trusted him implicitly and knew he wouldn’t let us get hurt.
The adventure continued with a series of class 3s interspersed with a lot of calm pools and while we floated passed competing companies, I realized that we were having a lot more fun than other boats. We were laughing and joking around while the other boats seemed quiet and bored. We came to a calm area where the guides said we could jump off a rock. One of the guides led all of the jumpers up the path and showed them the best way to jump safely. The rest of the guides stayed with those of us not interested in jumping and helped the jumpers back into the boats. The combination of fun spirit and professionalism that these guides displayed impressed me very much.
Once everyone was back in the boats, we took off and hit some more rapids before stopping at a beach for lunch around noon. The beach had bathrooms and plenty of shade to relax. We hung out for a few moments while the guides prepared the food. I was surprised how quickly they had fresh fruits & vegetables, chips & dips ready for us to nibble on. We weren’t expecting some fancy spread, but we devoured the snacks and by the time they were gone, the guides had set up a display to rival any deli. A plethora of breads (including Gluten free), mustards, mayonnaise, hummus, sliced tomatoes, onions, pepperoncinis, sprouts, lettuce, meats, cheeses, peanut butter butter & jelly… It was a spread! And we horked it down! They even had Oreos and had fun playing a hilarious game with them!
After lunch we hopped back in the boats and thankfully had a pretty calm ride for a few minutes while we all finished digesting. The most exciting rapids were on the lower half and we had a blast hitting them and watching how our fellow boats hit them differently. I learned a lot about how weight distribution can effect the way a boat hits the drops and we got to play around with that a lot. We came pretty close to tipping a couple of times, but Mark kept us in the boat! At one point, the is a Commercial Class 6 and everyone got out of the boats to hike around. We all hike about 20 feet up to a rock ledge to watch our guides take the boats over the crazy drop. Watching them bounce around like ping pong balls helped us see that we were NOT ready to ride those rapids and we hiked another 20 feet down to where they waited to let us back into the rafts. Shortly after the show, there is a rapid where they let you «surf», which is basically them turning the boat into the falls and riding the back current. The river rushes into the boat and everyone gets soaked, and it is an absolute blast!
The rest of the river is primarily class 3 and below, interspersed with large, calm pools where the guides let us goof off, jump in and even jump off another rock! Mark even let us swim through a calm rapid where, unfortunately I offered my GoPro as a sacrifice, but had an amazing time getting swept away in the the energy of the water.
When it was all over, we climbed out of the river, loaded the rafts back on the vans and had a great time laughing and reliving our adventures with the guides on our way back to our cars. I can’t tell you how awesome these guys were. You’ll really have to see for yourself. Tributary will be my go to for future adventures all over California! In fact, we already have our next trip booked!!!

I am bummed to see that other people did not have as good a time with Tributary as we did. We had such an awesome time that I wanted to write a review before even looking at the others. Now I definitely want to write a review so people know how much fun they can have.
We went rafting on the ½ day excursion with our 3 boys, ages 9,8 and 4 ½. Our guide was Scott, the owners’ son. He was a super fun guide. Really great with the kids, especially our 4 ½ year old who wanted to talk and tell him stories the whole time. The trip was on class 1 and 2 rapids, so perfect when you are just starting out with the kids. After only 2 rapids, they exclaimed «This is better than Disneyland!», so we knew we did the right thing.
I really liked that Scott was really attentive to safety, but also did things on the trip that were super fun — like when we stopped for a snack (you bring your own –definitely recommended as it’s from 1:30 — 6:30) and he turned one of the rafts upside down so we could use it like a waterslide to slide into the river — so fun! He also shared with us some of his fun stories, as he’s been riding the white water since he was a baby!
I would definitely go back to Tributary. Actually, we are already trying to see if we can get our friends to go back with us in a few weeks.

TERRIBLE service! Gave the lady my credit card information and told her not to charge it until I called back to confirm, only to find out two days later that my card had been charged. I called them immediately to get it straightened out and she refused to give me a refund, blatantly lying and saying that «I told her to book it.» What was even worst was when I asked her if I could use the credit for another day, she told me no!!! I had to dispute the charge on my credit card, she then lied to them… so I had to file it as a fraudulent charge (which it really was.) Stay away!!!

This was a tough review to write…
I’d give 5-​stars to our guide Stephanie who led us on a 2-​day rafting trip but 1 star to Tributary.
Our guide was awesome. She was fun, funny, professional and a really good river guide for our group (bachelor party). We had a really great time and I would highly recommend rafting trips to other groups and bachelor parties… super fun.
Here are some of the bad parts…
* We arrived at 4pm and nobody was at our camp site (there’s supposed to be a host to welcome you, show you around, etc.), the sprinklers had been left on and 50% of the site was soaking wet (not ideal to pitch a tent on wet ground).
* When the hosts finally arrived it was 2am and half of our crew was asleep and the other half had been drinking. The hosts were TOTALLY drunk and belligerent and demanded we move our cars into different spots, told us no fires (in a fire pit) were allowed past 10pm, etc… they expected us to know the rules despite not having been there to welcome us. One of the drunk told us he was going to eject us and cancel our trip and proceeded to call the owner and slurred as he spoke to her and attempted to explain what was going on. Needless to say, he didn’t make a great impression on her (nor us).
* On our 2^nd day of rafting (8am — 5pm) we stopped for lunch and the guides didn’t had one bottle of water between the 6 — 8 boats. People were dehydrated (it’s 100+ degrees in the blazing sun all day long). They promised water would be waiting when we arrived at the landing at 5pm… but when we got there the other group had already grabbed any water bottles and there were only a couple Cokes left. Not very professional to lead a group of 30 people and forget the water.
* The dinner was pretty good and the breakfast was some eggs and bacon which was good too… however, the guide company next door (River Rock?) had some seriously better supplies (avocados, onions, tomatoes, etc. available with scrambled eggs) and other tasty looking food).
Long story short… next time I go rafting I will choose a different company. I’m sure there are lots of good guides and this company never bothered to reach out to us and say «sorry about the belligerently drunk hosts who were rude to you» or «sorry we forgot to bring water along on your 9-​hour rafting trip», etc.

We took a trip this week with Tributary and we were very pleased with the service we got. Andrew was our guide and we were doing a nice mellow section of the American River. Andrew was patient will all the questions fired at him by a group of very chatty kids, 2 of them mine. We had a pleasant ride and lots of information. I’m sure we might want to try this tour again.
The lack of that one star is because I hope they give those life vests a very good wash! they were a little stinky, of course the fact that we had a safe trip and our guide
was so good outweigh the later.
By the way if you are curios the kids on board were from 5−8yo (young brave crowd, including girls!)