North Creek Rafting Company

Had a blast with our guide was Jay. He made sure we had lots of fun and gave excellent directions (even though he did scare us sometimes). Compared to whitewater rafting in the Lehigh, lake George was so much more superior. We had a good flow the entire way down, didn’t get stuck of died trying to paddle our way out. There is also a lot more fun stops along the way like rock jumping and «surfing.» This company also provides good, healthy food which I enjoyed. Definitely returning!

Great! Super! Fantastic!
We booked this just after we got back from rafting out west in Oregon and wanted to taste the east coast river experience. Our son (13) had the weekend off from camp in the area so we seized the opportunity.
We arrived early and were met with friendly confident guides who helped outfit us for a cool morning out on the river. They literally have any and all the gear you could possibly want or need. Booties for those who thought flip-​flops were a good idea, Neoprene jackets for those of us who run cold, the mandatory helmets, life jackets in every size, waterproof baggies for the guy who could not release his phone for the day and literally everything.
We loaded up on to small school buses — save your jokes — and then off loaded at our entry point. There we were given an exceptionally thorough safety talk by Jay. This team obviously get all kinds of customers.
Then we were off on our 6.5hr adventure.
Lunch was delicious and very appreciated as a vegetarian. The southwest wrap was really exceptional. we are going to try and recreate it here at home. The peanut butter wrap was a huge hit with my son, he had three.
Our guide Kevin, who was freelancing for the day, was great. He gave us a steady, but unobtrusive flow of information about the river and the area. We wish him well in his travels!
Tips:
Wear clothes that can get wet. and dry quickly.
Shoes should be more in the Keen/​water shoe family than sneakers — for the love of Pete leave the flip-​flops at home
Sun Block! and bring some with you to replenish after lunch. The guides have waterproof bags that travel in the boat with you.
Drink water along the way! The guides are carrying 10gallons with them. take advantage of it.
Leave your phone in the car — there is no service out there anyway — you can buy pictures at the end
HAVE FUN!

We went on the Hudson River rafting trip on Sunday (August) and I was extremely pleased with the North Creek Rafting Company. The staff were professional and knowledgeable and everything went as planned without issue. The rapids were great! The guides pay attention to the skill-​level of the group and adjust the path accordingly so it never seems too-​easy or too-​tame depending on what you’re looking for. There are parts where the water is tame and you’re just floating for a while, but the guides do their best to keep this part interesting as well. Towards the last 45 minutes or so I was ready to get out of the sun, but if you know to plan for a little bit of down time, it’ll be fine. There are more areas with rapids than there are areas without rapids. I was surprised to see that there were tons of other rafting companies on the river. Of the others that I saw out on the water, North Creek Rafting Company seemed to be the most professional, knowledgeable and safe while navigating the river. Another boat in another rafting company flipped over at the same time we were out there. People do fall out of the boats, and rafts do occasionally get stuck, but it seemed to me that this happened far less often than with the North Creek Rafting Company boats than with some of the others and it’s never a big deal anyway– they pull you back in right away.
We were told to show up at 8:30am, we probably didn’t get into the water until after 10am and we arrived back to the parking lot a little before 4pm. All in all, it was a great day and well worth the $ 85 we paid. Definitely got our money’s worth and I would’ve still felt satisfied if I’d paid up to $ 120.00.
Couple notes:
–If you can bring a small sunscreen and secure it in a pocket, you should. You’re out in the sun for 6 hours and your sunscreen will wash off eventually.
–Leave your car keys at the office for safe-​keeping.
–Everyone mostly wore shorts and a t-​shirt (non-​cotton stays dryer) with their swimsuits underneath. Lots of people had water shoes or sandals that strap on (no flip-​flops), but others wore sneakers as well. You will get completely wet! There’s no avoiding it.
–Your butt will get sore from sitting on the raft all day. The more you can move around, the better! There are lots of opportunities to get out of the boat and swim if you want to.
–Our guide was Jay and he was great! Kept it fun, seemed very skilled on the river, and genuinely seemed to enjoy his job. Never once did I doubt his decisions or his expertise and he kept us safe while also allowing us to take some trickier paths than the other groups. We had 8 people on our boat, plus the guide.
–The entire group was full of families with younger kids and first-​timers. There are some tricky parts of the river, but it’s safe for everyone.
–The lunch provided was either a small Southwestern wrap or a peanut-​butter/​granola/​honey wrap. They also gave us an apple and a cookie and water to drink. The food was good – it left me feeling a little hungry still, but it’s probably a good idea not to eat too heavy while out there.
–They have a professional photographer take pictures of your boats at one point along the river that you can purchase after you get back, if you’d like.
–They bus you to and from the river.
–On days when it’s cold, they have wet suits you can wear.
All in all, I highly recommend North Creek Rafting Co!

This is the place to go if you want to get some excitement in you on a weekend getaway! We had 2 other options that we could have picked but luckily we did not because the other two spots didn’t make their way to some of the crazier surfs, etc… they were just «oh lets go down that river type…» This company had real good guides who knew what they were doing and what we can do… Our guide was Jay and this guy looks like Robert Downey Jr…
He was one of the funnies and best guides on the river. this guy knew every other guide out there… haha!
Shout out to Nate (owner) and Jay! — There were two other guides and I forgot their names, they were really nice as well. We’re coming back in April for ya!
Good times here. good times!
The house here is a great combo for this trip!
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If you are looking for a great experience on a white water rafting trip, look no further. Our family of 4 enjoyed a tremendous day of rafting the Hudson. Their equipment is top notch. The rafts, wet suits, helmets were all in pristine shape. What really makes the difference though, is the staff. The management and guides of North Creek are outstanding. Joe, Mark and Becky were tremendous hosts. It’s clear that they want you to have fun and encourage you to do so.
It’s true that there are some serious parts of the river, and those were managed very professionally. On the other sections, it was all about enjoying the beautiful scenery and the river. We’ll be back again.

I went on a Saturday with six other people.
75 $ got us a six hour raft ride through the beautiful Adirondacks, complete with guide and a delicious lunch, comprised of a southwest-​style vegan wrap and delicious homemade mint chocolate chip cookies. Drinks were sugar free iced tea, water, and juice. The lunch itself was eaten standing up after stopping on a river bank. The trip itself was both thrilling and informative. Frank, our brilliant guide, was extremely knowledgable of the river and landscape, teaching us about the local wildlife and waterways, as well as busting chops and telling us about his career in the Navy. Apart from navigating class 3 – 4 rapids, we climbed a 25 – 35 foot rock in the middle of the river and leapt onto the water, and took a break to lounge on a small beach area. The highlight of the trip for me was when Frank took us ‘surfing’. Turning our raft around in the rapids, we paddled into waterfalls and tipped the boat so water poured into it, soaking us. This was a completely unique experience that could have only been accomplished by having a seasoned and talented guide. I only rating ⁴⁄₅ stars because after we finished the final rapid, there was almost a two hour period of floating and paddling on a straight stretch of river. We were all tired and ready to stop at this point. Overall, this is a professional company who provides a first-​class trip down the Hudson with amazing views and safe but exciting rapids.

Great small outfit. Our guide, Basil, was incredibly knowledgeable and competent. It was clear that safety was his first objective with fun being a close second. We were a family group of seven and had just about as perfect of an experience as one could hope for. Will definitely return to this outfitter.

My first whitewater rafting experience! Went down the Indian/​Hudson River (Class III-​IV /​/​17 miles) with Becky, our instructor. She’s a sweetheart and definitely knows what she is doing. It was a little far from where we were staying in Lake Luzerne but it was worth the ride. The homemade Southwestern (vegetarian) wraps and cookies were awesome! As for the company, they broke off from a bigger whitewater rafting company and has been in business for some time. The equipment seemed relatively new which is a big plus. The scenery was beautiful and relaxing. Definitely will be back for the Moose River challenge.
FYI Bring bug spray… those horse flies are annoying!

it was May and we were a little late for the Moose River trips in April so we settled for the Indian/​Hudson white water rafting trip instead.
North Creek Rafting is about 25 minutes from the launch point. So you gear up at their place, everything is included in the price ($ 180 for 2), and then get on a bus for the ride up past the dam and to the Indian River. All the guys we met were friendly and helpful. The equipment even fit! Not an easy task since my wife and I are both 6’1″.
The cool thing about the Indian/​Hudson trip is, even though the rapids were only II-​III (maybe 1 IV) at the time, it has a lot of continuous action and less pool-​drop. This is mainly due to the elevation drop of the Hudson from start point to finish point (Indian to North Creek) it is quite remarkable and very visible to the naked eye as you go downriver. The trip is about a 17 mile stretch.
They do a water release every day from the Indian dam just for the rafting companies, so you should always have some good flow as long as there are no major drought conditions. There are some people trying to stop the releases saying they are harmful, but that sounds a little bogus since rafting companies are usually among the best ‘keepers of the rivers’ we can find and in reality the releases are of no harm to native species, but that is another story!
We lucked out and got a smaller raft with only my wife and myself and our guide Rob. Rob was great and we had some great conversations, but we also had time to enjoy the scenery of the gorge in silence. We stopped for a supplied lunch — a delicious, fresh veggie wrap and some hot cocoa and a cookie (there was a chill that day and a little wet) — and then continued on the rest of the journey.
From take out to base camp is about a 5 minute ride.
Nice day, nice people, good lunch, nice white-​water experience at a reasonable price. If you are in upstate NY, I would definitely give North Creek Rafting a try.