Truckee River Raft Company

Had a blast today with the family. They made everything easy all we had to do was just show up. Fun fun fun

Truckee River Rafting Co I am very disappointed with how we were treated today, we drove three hours to be told you are not taking walk ups … Really don’t you think your staff should have told me that when I called to check you hours? Ridiculous …

We did this river a decade ago, and drove the course of the river now — really sad to see the river very low and the Trout viewing at its termination into Lake Tahoe is nil as there is a continuing drought in California ! Hoping, praying that we get lots of rain and snow soon and rebirth all these wonderful things !

Beware this company. You will be treated rudely by the teenager you speak to on the phone, for example «Chantal.» Yet if you try to use Unilocal for its intended purpose and complain, this company will call Unilocal to get the negative feedback removed. I’m talking about YOU, Unilocal Customer Service Rep Mikaela.
To make this a «substantive consumer experience» as Unilocal says it requires: I was a consumer of Truckee River Raft Company’s services. I called to make a reservation. I was sassed by Chantal. I called as a courtesy to let them know we were running late — I was told by Chantal, among other things, that there was but one other company offering a float down the Truckee so that I was stuck with them.
How’s that for a substantive consumer experience, Unilocal

We signed up as large group and instead of letting us on the boats 4 or 6 people at a time, they forced us to go 8 people per raft. This caused us to catch on every rock on the way down forcing us to get out at least 20 times and push and dislodge our raft while everyone else just floated by.
When we signed up with 40 people, I didn’t think we would get worse service.
They were rude and didn’t treat us with respect.

We were in a massive raft boat. First they rushed us to the dock to wait in the hot sun for an hour (not cool). Then their cheap blue boats rubbed off on 8 of the people in my group’s bathing suits completely ruining them. Not Acceptable!!! Bathing suits are expensive and they should have better quality boats that don’t destroy suits just from sitting on them!

OH SNAP, I guess I had a Senior Moment or My Beer Light was On but I placed my review on the wrong company. Saved by my Internet friends… lol. This is the correct company, NOW.
OMG…This event was so much fun and taking a River Rafting Trip with a bunch of crazy adventurer’s is even more fun. We all parked at Truckee River Rafting (TRR) parking area at 2200 River Road Truckee, CA or Call Dani at Truckee River Raft @ 530.583.0123 if needed. Office opens at 8AM on Saturday. Cost is $ 30 but you can get a $ 5 discount for an early bird start.
Our group of crazy people started off thinking «Oh Ya, this will be fun, floating lazily down the river for 2 or 3 hours baking in the sun» So we clipped our three rafts together and started having fun acting crazy as usual then the water stated to splash us, rock us, roll us, and before we knew it… Yours truly was tossed overboard… Man Overboard, man Overboard the laughter was gut wrenching except from your’s truly who was suffering from «shock» of the cold water and the sheer lack of help from my adventure friends. lol. Pictures attached,
As I gathered my dignity and climbed aboard, the rafts were rocking and rolling with the scurvy crew trying to avoid the rocks due to the low water. We dodged rocks, tree branches, and other things just because we liked having three rafts all tied together going down the crazy Truckee River keeping all the crazies in one spot. Believe me, it was better for humans and nature that we did it this way. Plus it was safer for us as we enjoyed «Adult beverages in large amounts».
Half way down the river trip, you come to a large Island that everyone stops. It is said that… Indigenous «female» river tribe members that desire large amounts of adult beverages. Possibly in exchange for passage along the river and will provide expressions of gratitude. I will not confirm or deny this rumor but I would recommend that families should avoid this island. It will be easy to spot, as there will be many 20 something’s on this Island gathered in large crowds.
From the very start of our adventure, bus ride to pick up our rafts, to the end of the raft trip the TRR staff is awesome and super helpful with suggestions on what to do to make our trip truly awesome.

Overall great experience! The Truckee River was pretty high and there were some fun small rapids. $ 35 is a little high per person but was worth it for the five mile trip which took us about 3hrs to float.

What an awesome day! My 5 year old even paddled– the only hitch were some aggressive Canadian geese. Happy times

The classic thing to do in Tahoe for the summer is white water rafting. Truckee is more rafting if anything because the water is pretty calm. It costs $ 30 a person and all 8 of us fit in one boat so that was cute. Our reservation was at 10am so we got there around 9:30am to sign all the papers. We packed a cooler and brought drinks, chips, and other noms for the 2.5hour trek down. We went at a pretty steady pace, not too fast or slow and the difficulty level was not bad at all. We rushed the second half because we were hungry and I feel like after an hour or so, you get pretty bored of the same ol scenery. The only exciting part was literally at the very end where there were bumps and rapids. That was fun and I wish we did legit white water rafting but unfortunately I think you have to know how to swim to do that. I would pack minimally because if you leave your bags or jackets on the floor of the raft, they eventually get soaked so finish your food and forget your jackets. THere is no guide on this trail so you can literally hop off to the islands if you want a break or even just go swimming. Overall, it is a really chill experience and you just chat with other rafts and enjoy the company :)
**TIPS**
1) Make a reservation and arrive half and hour before to get the paperwork done.
2) We went in the middle of august and even though it wasnt completely warm, we took off our jackets and they pretty much got soaked. I would avoid bringing your jackets.
3) Dont bring your camera. It may get wet.
4) Wear your bathing gear underneath. The seats get wet and you can hop off your raft to frolic in the water.
5) Pack a cooler with drinks and food! No glass bottles allowed.
6) Enjoy!

We went at 1pm on Friday 8÷2÷13.
The water was a very good level and had some movement to it. It was busy but not too crazy other than the few areas were everyone stops to rest and party. We had a lot of fun. There were two of us and it took us around 2 hours or so to get down the river with no stops.
The pick up point is right next to restaurant which is nice as you get dropped off at the restaurant patio so you can just walk across the street and leave.
We didn’t bring anything with us so bought beer, water and chips at the store where you get your rafts.
Things to remember for next time:
Wear bathing suit under clothes
You can bring our dog
Bring cooler with food and drinks
Bring sunscreen and just put in cooler
There is a pretty cool spot down the river a ways were you can just bring beach chairs and chill in the river. We need to try and do this sometime:-)

Boy were we outgunned today! We were armed with four water shooters for the five of us but we were no match for the xlr water cannons that were everywhere.
My kids loved engaging in water battle with the flotillas of other rafters. We quickly learned who we could blast with water and who we could not. 20 bikini clad sorority girls who shot us with warning glares? No! Grandmas? No, no. Middle aged ladies clasping onto their purses? Nope. Babies and toddlers? Never. But (mostly) boys/​men between the ages of 7 – 50 who were holding water blasters? Oh, yeah!
Although it was a requirement that kids under 12 wear life vests, many older kids (like age 7+) seemed to be without one, including one of my kids who is a strong swimmer. The water was tame and not too cold today. The only place we required that child of ours to wear a life vest was in the rapids toward the end.
Midway through our 3 hr journey, our raft starting taking on water, about 3 inches, but that was just because kids were in/​out of the raft and because of all the water fights. I saw many rafts filled with totally dry people. That was not us. We were completely wet, as was everything we’d brought (which was not much, thankfully).
So if you’re like us and have kids who love water battles, know that you will get wet! I would suggest bringing water bottles rather than cans (nice to have lids/​caps), snacks, hats, sunscreen, xlr water blaster cannons (
), creek shoes and a waterproof pouch for small valuables. We left our phones, wedding rings and towels at home.
The Truckee River Rafting Co staff was excellent and we appreciated the enthusiastic send off and warm welcome back at the end.

Floating the Truckee River is a MUST DO when you are in Tahoe, and Truckee River Raft Co. is absolutely the outfit to do it with.
They have thought of everything to make your trip down the river easy and fun. The staff was extremely helpful and seemed to really enjoy their jobs and take pride in making your experience a good one!
TRR made me feel safe, taken care of and appreciated as a customer.
THANK YOU TRR!!!

This is THE BEST outfit to run the river without a guide with your young kids. Mellow float with a little rapids at the end to call of a great day. The eddy and restaurant setup where you pull out is brilliant and beautiful. The logistical setup is superior to the neighbouring outfit: you park your car at the end so that when you get out tired and wet, you can pack up and leave (they do bus you across the street to the parking lot however, but it’s no prob), which is WAY better than a longer bus ride back to your car like the other outfit does. The driver was a cool guy too. brilliant fun for families!

Great bunch of people that work here! I can’t really say enough for the natural effort these guys give you to enjoy a grand old time in the north side of Tahoe. It cost $ 30/​pp to launch here, but you can get a $ 5 discount if you reserve online. My friends and I couldn’t really do that though because we were pressed for time. Looked like we were one of the last ones to set adrift. The guys at the dock were cool. They helped load up our coolers and fun stuffs… and away we go!
The river was a bit frigid when we went. We were in between heatwaves and should have gone this week. (It’s freaking infuego up in the East Bay.) Once you take a dip in the river though… it ain’t so bad! A couple of nice deep, calm, and non-​flowing water spots. Take advantage of the ones early on… they’re a lot sunnier than the ones later on in the afternoon. No real whitewater to write the folks about here, but enjoyable when you’ve got the right equipment and the right people. 6pm is the last shuttle bus ride to the launch area, so if you launched around 3pm like we did… no worries. If you set adrift without any major paddling you can reach the end in 2 ½ hours easy. Take your time and enjoy.
The guys that helped us out of the raft were awesome!!! Young guys. Surfer types or at least thrashers IMP. Narly dudes. Thanks for the assistance brahs! Don’t forget to tip these guys y’all. Give them a healthy libation like we did or somethin’. It ain’t easy bringing that raft up or cleaning up after your mess in the raft (in case you didn’t get to throw away your garbage on the dump spots.) Keep Tahoe Blue!
Cool shuttle drivers! Don’t forget your ID or Credit Card when you exit the shuttle bus! And, don’t forget to get a memorable photo from TRR that they took of you before you set adrift. It’s only $ 20 you cheapskate… buy it. Anyways, haggle with the price. They’ll at least drop it down $ 5. Of course they want to get rid of the photo of you, unless you’re a bunch of hot models in bikinis. C’mon now! I bet you could get it down to $ 5 total or at least $ 10…but these guys are good guys… get a little discount and be on your way. Don’t be the Merchant of Doucheness.
Have fun guys and safe rafting!

Whenever I come to Squaw Valley in summer time I always wanted to try river rafting and finally last weekend we did it. you can either park at their lot near Alpine Meadows then take the free shuttle bus to the starting point or park at the starting point (better go early on weekends or the parking spots will run out) then take the shuttle bus back after you are done. Price is ok 35 per person but if you book online you save $ 5.
We started around 11am and reached out ending point at around 1:10pm. If you dont paddle then it will take about 3 hours or more. There are many spots you can park your raft along the way to enjoy a quick rest or have lunch. Be careful when you go under the bridge at one point the bridge was really low we have to get into a fetal position in order to cross.
Overall a great experience, we will def do it again in the future!

We should have read the review before the «fun» adventure along Truckee River. I will keep this review short with important details. We called to make reservation but they mentioned that there is discount if you come after 2.00 pm. If you planning to raft before 2.00 pm, do call or make on-​line reservation to get $ 5.00 discount. We picked Truckee River among the other company because the staffs are friendly and the discount.
We came at 2.30 pm with party of 16 with 9 adults and 7 kids ranging from 3yrs to 10 yrs old. After the paper work and paying for the trip, we put the life jacket on for the kids and off we go with 2 rafts. We decided to «buckle» up the raft together with the life jacket as recommended by the staff. It was fun with the 16 of us side by side but it created more problem than fun. The raft collided more often during the fast rapid (class 1) and sometimes it get stuck on the big rocks. It make more challenging to clear the bridge underpass since 2 raft is bigger and difficult to control.
Like everyone has mentioned in Unilocal,the challenging and most rapid is 0.1 miles before the end of the trip and our friend fell into the water. It is very cold and water is rushing very fast. Do not panic and walk slowly or grab on other people raft. He was lucky that other strangers came to help and use the raft to float and someone pull him out of the water. He was shaken after the fall but was OK.
I agree that Truckee River has good raft but I wished they have more than 2 paddles. If you have kids, make sure they sit in the middle and not on the side. Bring water and food since it is 2.5 — 3 hrs journey. Since we started 3.00 pm, we only did 1 stop to play at the sandy beach and took memorable photos. I highly recommend to raft along Truckee River and will be back again.

My first time rafting and I have to say that it was awesome! You don’t have a to be a swimmer because they provide life jackets and even my 2 year old nephew got to enjoy an afternoon on the raft.
There are several spots where you can stop and snack. Bring snacks, towels in waterproof bags and water guns if you go with a large party like we did. We were shooting each other and random others if they challenged our group.
The roughest part was near the very end. My brother-​in-​law was thrown from our raft and we probably should have been wearing our life jackets for that last leg of the trip.
Hoping to go again next year!

Considering that it’s March right now and there’s 7 feet of snow on top of us makes me long for a hot day in Tahoe so I can get people together again for a day of rafting on the Truckee River. This is one of my favorite summer activities and the Truckee River Raft Company takes care of everything so you don’t have to worry about a thing. Shuttle service is excellent, equipment is in great condition. Even my 5-​year-​old niece had a blast.
Like others have said — pack a small cooler of snacks, lunch, and lots of beverages. The route makes it easy to drift to shore or a little island to stop, jump in river to cool off, and munch on something. A water gun is helpful if you are into water wars.
The only «scary» part is the very end when you need to make sure you make it to the landing strip in front of the River Ranch restaurant in time!

Yea, I’m a fan of Truckee River Raft Company. From the phone reservation to the check-​in to the shuttle bus drop off/​pick up, TRR were professional and super nice. We were 2 families with 4 adults and 4 kids ranging in ages from 3 to 15. The staff was super nice and attentive to our 3yo and 6yo, and were super cool with our 11yo and 15 yo.
Obviously, they provide the raft and oars but life vests as well. Other than that you’re on your own, but it’s a relatively calm river. You’re definitely not the only one on the river, so you’ll need the oars to row around other rafts, inner tubes and kayaks but that’s the fun of it.
I’d recommend checking out their FAQs on their website, but expect a relaxing and fun 3 hours (at least) lazily floating down Truckee River. Pack a lunch, munchies and beverages so you can stop at one of the islands or the riverbank to eat and go for a swim. The rapids are practically nonexistent with the exception at the end — an exciting ending for the little ones.
I love that they take a photo of your group before they send you off down the river. You can pick up your photo when you get dropped off at the parking lot. (Don’t forget your ID!) Also love that you end at the River Ranch. If we didn’t have the kids with us, I’m sure we would have stayed for a bite to eat, some brews and hang out longer at the river. All in all, this was a perfect activity for the family on a warm summer day — a great experience because of TRR.