Kid-Friendly and Family-Friendly River Trips

Looking for kid-friendly and family-friendly river trip resources? You’ve come to the right place. River trips are our families’ favorite vacations, and we have decades of experience planning private trips. Plus we can steer you toward the best commercial outfitters for your family, depending on your goals. Here are all the resources you need to get your loved ones out on a safe, memorable river adventure. 

Young boy in blue splash gear and yellow helmet rowing a river raft
Trying out the oars on a calm stretch of river (photo courtesy of Northwest Rafting Company)

Planning private river trips for kids and family

If you’ve done some rafting or kayaking and you want to start taking your kids on private trips, you’ll quickly learn that introducing toddlers to multi-day river trips is a different world from boating with adults. You’ll naturally be choosing easier river stretches, keeping a closer eye on the weather (and water levels), planning shorter days on the river, and bringing lots of wardrobe changes for the little ones.

Our guide to planning rafting trips with kids covers essential information:

  • Choosing the right river stretch
  • Preparing for changing weather
  • Tips for prioritizing safety
  • Essential gear for kids’ trips
  • Trip pacing for kids’ trips 

Learn more:  Essential Guide to Private River Rafting Trips for Kids

If you’re looking for ideas for specific river stretches for a family-friendly trip, check out our post 10 Family-Friendly River Trips.

Choosing a family-friendly commercial trip

The right commercial rafting outfitter can deliver a safe, exhilarating experience for your family. Whether you’re looking for a half-day trip or a multi-day experience in a remote canyon, a river trip will likely be a highlight of your family’s year and can jump-start a lifelong passion for river running. 

We’ve talked to expert commercial outfitters with years of experience running family-oriented river trips. They all emphasize the importance of being clear about your goals for the trip, whether it’s a shot of adrenaline for the teen-agers in your group, a mellow float with beautiful scenery for the grandparents, or a safe but exciting trip for elementary and middle-school kids. 

Our comprehensive guide to choosing a commercial outfitter walks you through the important considerations:

  • How to target the right river stretch for your kids and family
  • How to decide between a day trip and a multi-day trip
  • What questions to ask outfitters
  • What food to expect (and how to specify your needs and preferences)
  • How to prepare for your trip (including essential rafting clothes)  

Learn more: How to Choose the Best Commercial Rafting Trip for Kids: A Parent’s Guide

Clothing and gear for kids on river trips

An essential element in making kids comfortable on river trips is equipping them with the right clothes and gear. You’ll likely encounter every kind of weather on a multi-day trip, but in our experience the kids do fine when they have they have the right gear. As with any outdoor adventure, layering is the key to keeping everyone from the young to the old happy and content on river trips. 

Our guide to kids’ rafting and paddling clothes spells out every type of clothing your family will need, plus some specific recommendations for clothes and gear that we have used and loved for years. In this post, we cover:

  • Splash gear, including jackets and pants
  • Base layers
  • Water shoes and river sandals
  • Sun-protection clothing
  • Sunhats
  • Camp clothes, including warm layers such as fleece jackets and hats
  • Rain gear

Learn more: Kids’ Rafting and Paddling Clothes

Professional youth river expeditions

Imagine going to a summer camp that is a multi-day river trip through Desolation Canyon on the Green River or the Rogue River in Oregon. Colorado-based GOALS Youth Expeditions, a nonprofit organization founded by professional river guide and former school teacher Brett Hochmuth, provides multi-day rafting and kayak paddling trips for kids from grades 5 through 12. 

Building on Hochmuth’s conviction that outdoor experiences for kids are essential to their development and well-being, he has evolved the organization from an initial 15-person outing on Desolation Canyon to a program that takes 200+ students each year on river expeditions on western US rivers and in Chile, Peru, and Nepal. 

“There’s something about the confidence and the camaraderie and the lessons that you can teach in the outdoors—in a relatively short amount of time—that are way more important than reading, writing, and arithmetic,” said Hochmuth.

Check out our profile of GOALS to learn more about the program and the current expedition schedule. 

Learn more: GOALS Youth River Expeditions Sparks Transformation for Kids