We’ve relied on many sources of information over the years to plan river trips, buy river gear, and stay up-to-date on river advocacy issues. Some of our go-to resources:
River planning resources:
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which manages recreation activities, including the river permit process, for many of the popular U.S. western rivers, including Westwater Canyon of the Colorado, the San Juan River, Ruby-Horsethief Canyons on the Colorado, and Desolation Canyon on the Green River.
- Recreation.gov, the place to reserve campsites near many popular multi-day river trip launch sites.
- U.S. Forest Service, which manages popular rivers including the Middle Fork of the Salmon.
- Our own RiverBent River Beta section, which offers end-to-end river trip planning information, including relevant links to river permitting processes, best river maps, camping information, ideal flow information, and more. RiverBent was named as one of Feedspot’s 25 Best Watersports Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2022.
- Whitewater Guidebook, an online resource offering comprehensive information on whitewater rafting and kayaking, including river guides, gear reviews, pro tips, and trip reports. It covers various rivers across multiple states and provides educational content for both beginners and experienced paddlers.
Podcasts and blogs:
- River Radius is a top-shelf podcast for river runners, with a focus on river management issues and stewardship. Check out 7 Paddling Podcasts for Your Playlist for other great stories from and about all sorts of paddlers.
- Duct Tape Diaries on the NRS web site is a must-read. (One of our favorite posts from that blog is Eric Johnson’s Seafaring Superstitions for the River Runner.)
- Gear Garage is a YouTube channel that provides informative and entertaining content on whitewater rafting and kayaking, including gear reviews, technique tips, and river adventure insights
- River Currents, produced by western river outfitter Holiday Expeditions. Love Susan Monroe’s weekly book recommendations.
Also check out our guide to paddling podcasts for more river-related shows.
River gear outfitters:
- Down River Equipment in Denver, geniuses at building raft frames, and maker of innovative gear including their space-efficient hand-washing system.
- Northwest River Supplies (NRS), which carries nearly every type of river running gear you could imagine, including items you never knew you needed.
- Colorado Kayak Supply (CKS), originating on the banks of the Arkansas River near Buena Vista, CKS was the original supplier of Stohlquist gear, some of our most beloved and time-tested river stuff.
- 4Corners Riversports, based in Durango, Colorado, Four Corners makes one of our favorite groovers, the space-saving Coyote system.
- REI—Putting the venerable outdoor gear online retailer on a list of river gear shops might seem weird, but they carry a surprising amount of river gear, which often comes in handy if you’re heading to the river today and need to pick something up from your local REI. A couple of examples: they carry one of our favorite lifejackets for women, the Stohlquist Betsea as well as our favorite NRS paddling gloves (affiliate links).
River advocacy groups
Running rivers instills a passion to protect and share rivers with everyone we meet. In our Community section, we feature conversations with river advocacy groups that are making rivers more accessible and healthier for us all. Some of the groups we’ve featured include:
- American Whitewater, the 68-year-old river conservation group that wields significant influence on river policy issues and maintains an essential river database (there’s an app for that, too)—for more info check out our interview with Evan Stafford, American Whitewater’s communications director
- Protect Our Rivers, a group river stewardship mission is quickly going nationwide
- Diversify Whitewater, a national group based in Northern Colorado that works to make paddling more accessible for the Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) community
- Team Riverrunner, a national organization that teaches paddling skills and provides paddling experiences for military veterans
- Forever Our Rivers, an organization that channels funding from various sources into proven river restoration programs that focus on protecting rivers at the watershed level (check our our interview with Forever Our Rivers executive director Ann Johnston)
- Kalmiopsis Guides Association, a group of professional guides dedicated to advocating for and being a voice for the protection and preservation of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in southern Oregon.
Do you have a favorite river-running information sources that you use? Let us know in the comments.