USA Raft Nolichucky River

August 1, 2015: I have rafted 10 or12 times over the last 20 years. This was the worst. They told us the river was at «summer water level» and it was running good. When we got there they pushed hard over and over to put as many as people as possible into duckies. A couple dozen of us fell for it and soon regretted it. USA Raft was able to use fewer guides as a result. It was uncontrolled chaos as duckies would get hung up on rocks and have 3 or 4 others crash into them, fall out of the duckies and cause more jam ups over and over and over again. 2 duckies got holes in them during the trip. The guides made no effort to direct traffic, but instead insisted that everyone keep moving. «Summer Water level» is a euphemism for «too low to have any fun». Never ever let them stick you in a duckie. I am certain that the others with me today will agree.
There were raft guides in the rafts. The one my kids were in added no color to the trip with stories or information. The only time he talked was when providing directions to the rafters. Another smelled so badly that I knew when that raft was coming up behind me.
The river is beautiful and probably a lot of fun in the spring, but not today.

I’ve taken two full day whitewater rafting trips with USA Raft and I highly recommend them for a great day on the river. The guides are personable, knowledgeable about the river and fun.
The customer service is outstanding. They had to change our trip from rafting to individual kayaks because of low water level and they called to make sure we were okay with that. Also, they called the morning of the trip to make sure we weren’t «lost» finding them. And, turns out we were! LOL
They offer several options for outdoor adventure and truly provide a great experience.

We did the overnight trip and it was AMAZING! Chris and Keith were our guides and they we awesome! We had never been rafting before and they made us feel safe and like we were pros! The rafting was a blast!
The grounds had activities for us to do while we waited for our trip. The changing facilities had showers and were nice to use after our trip.
The camping portion of the overnight trip was above and beyond all expectations. Chris and Keith cooked a wonderful dinner and breakfast for us and treated us like princesses in the wilderness… I didn’t even know that was possible.
If you have the time, I highly recommend the overnight trip.

Guides were really nice and accommodating. They had showers, picnic tables, and some yard games available for the guests.