Rubicon Adventures

This was such a ridiculously great way to start day. We were in the Russian River area to celebrate a birthday with friends. As so typical we planned to drink wine and eat great food, which we of course did. But to add this adventure to the list of activities was incredible. I highly recommend to break your routine and call these guys up and book a river tour with them. We did about 5 miles total. Started our day at 9am and ended at noon. We were able to cruise up lazily the Russian River or challenge each other to a race. We went on a Saturday in summer and couldn’t believe that we had the river to ourselves. We didn’t see another soul until the end of trip. So peaceful and beautiful at the same time exhilarating. Cant wait for the next trip.

First timer! Had an amazing experience paddle boarding! OMG! I was nervous, but nothing to be nervous at all. Bill & Cory training instructions before and during made me feel super comfortable. I left there feeling like a pro! Looking forward to doing it again! Check out their other excursions @

I had a few lessons with John from rubicon, couldn’t recommend him any higher. In 3 lessons I think I shaved a full year off the learning curve of learning to sup. And he’s one of those people who somehow manages to be a great and patient teacher no matter what. He clearly loves his job.
Great equipment too, a big step up from the usual beginner boards most places will rent you.

We had a great time today with Bill from Rubicon. He met us promptly and provided some training on paddleboarding. Bill is very knowledgable about paddling and how to paddle through rapids safely. Then he took us on the Russian River. It was a seven mile run. We stopped once to rest. This was our first time paddling down rapids but we felt well prepared with the instructions we were given. It took us about three and a half hours. If you like paddleboarding and you are reasonably athletic, Id recommend giving this a try. Expect to fall in the water at least once!

Went to the American River the other weekend with a group of 10 people and used Rubicon Adventures for our guides. These guys were pretty organized and a lot of fun! They had our group of 10 and another group of 5, so there were three boats of 5 people each, with one guide in each boat from Rubicon to help steer.

On the day of river rafting, we arrived at Camp Lotus, the campgrounds where we were spending night. Rody, one of the Rubicon guides, met us there and we got on a bus with a bunch of other rafters to drive up to the top of the south fork of the American River. At the south fork of the river all of our rafts were waiting us with the other two Rubicon guides. From there we received our life jackets and oars and they explained to us the basic guidelines of rafting and after that we were off! The guide in my raft was Greg, and he was pretty hilarious. We had a good time joking around and we had a lot of water fights with the other two rafts in our group. We would pull up to the side of the other rafts and start splashing them as hard as we could with our oars! At one point in the river, there was an area where there were two bathrooms up on the hill where we could walk up to. At that same area there was a big rock in the middle of the river where we could wade to, and then jump off of into the river! Majority of us jumped off the rock which was a lot of fun, and we floated downstream a little while and swam back to the shore. That was probably the most «scary» part of the entire experience although it wasn’t rough at all, it was maybe as fast as jumping into a surge of water at Raging Waters lol. The water level of the American River is so low now days that the rafting part wasn’t scary at all. It was probably stage 1 and 2 the entire time. I rafted the same river almost 30 years ago when the water level was high and the rafting was definitely stage 3 and 4 back then… I remember almost getting tossed out because our boat almost flipped over it was so rough! This time all you needed to do was to tuck your foot under one of the front seats and you were fine.
At another point in the river (the whole river ride took about 3 or 4 hours) we stopped for lunch and the guides all made us turkey sandwiches for lunch. By then we were starving! Keep in mind we had been paddling the whole time. After that, we got back in and went through a couple more rapid areas and the ride ended right at Camp Lotus. Once we got back to camp we had the option of resting or using the paddle boards that Rubicon brought to the river. Some of us went paddle boarding, the rest of us pitched our tents and made some drinks. That night, the Rubicon guides cooked us dinner which was really good by the way… they grilled some chicken, cooked some pasta and vegetables, some salad and also had birthday cake dessert for one of my friends in my group. The next morning, Rubicon cooked us breakfast which consisted of omelettes and bagels. After that, we cleaned up, said our goodbyes and left the campgrounds.
Overall, it was a great experience and would definitely recommend Rubicon Adventures!

We just got back from a fabulous weekend on the American River with Bill and Rubicon Whitewater Adventures. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience! We were a big crowd (bachelor/​bachelorette party) all with different levels of rafting experience and the whole group came away feeling great! We went up the night before to get settled in at Camp Lotus (fabulous place!!) before the day of rafting. Two of the guides came and found us in our camp to check in and brief us on what was going to happen the next morning. Bill and his crew are the perfect mix of helpful, friendly, professional, laid-​back, and great fun. After the day of rafting (where they made a filling and delicious sandwich spread for lunch) we came back to camp and they cooked us a spectacular dinner at our site. We came in with some dietary limitations and Bill accommodated them above and beyond our expectations. With breakfast the next morning, they wowed us again. They put as much care into the success of our party as we did, which meant a lot and wouldn’t have been easy to find elsewhere. I would recommend Rubicon to anyone who wants a wonderful river experience. You’re sure to get something special from this family operation. More than with the big box companies, you’re going to get a personalized trip designed to give you the time of your life!!!