Middle Fork of the American River (class IV)
Trips Run May into October

Experience Needed: This adventure is suited for Intermediate to Experienced Rafters.

Ages: Minimum age is 14. Maximum based on fitness.

Acceptable Groups: Not suitable for young youth groups. While we raise the minimum age, plenty of families run this river. While we're stronger in our language, this river does not require guests to be of elite physical shape. We're simply noting this is a longer day and there are larger rapids than on the South Fork of the American. Our campsite is Located in the historically rich Coloma River Valley, where gold was discovered, we're nestled in a 26-acre campground: FREE hotwater showers, FREE flushing toilets, 1-mile nature walk, swimming, volley ball, people watching, etc.

California Rafting, wine tasting, hiking, visit historic State Park, close to South Lake Tahoe. There is so much to do, this is the place to be for a nice weekend escape or a longer family reunion.

When: Monday - Friday

Trip Options: The Middle Fork is only run in a 1-day full river, though you may raft more than one day by running the South Fork another day for a maximum of 3-days of rafting.

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Tunnel Chute Rapid, Middle Fork of the American River

With Action Whitewater Adventures, The Middle Fork of the American River is a one day wilderness trip through a classic forested Sierra Canyon. The run is best known for Tunnel Chute, but has many other interesting rapids.

You'll put in on the Middle Fork of the American just below Oxbow Powerhouse and navigate Panic Alley immediately. There are six distinct Class III rapids in the first mile, which will warm you up for Last Chance, the entry rapid for Tunnel Chute . Last chance is a river wide hole formed by bedrock. Last Chance is quickly followed by Tunnel Chute. It's nice to catch an eddy just before Last Chance and scout Tunnel Chute on the right.

Tunnel Chute was created by some industrious miners in the 1890's that wanted easy access to the gold rich river bed at Horseshoe Bar. The blasted a tunnel through the narrow part of the horseshoe and then blasted a chute in the bedrock to divert the river to their new tunnel. This is an amazing rapid and interesting place that all serious California rafters should visit at least once.

The next few miles following Tunnel Chute contain several great Class III rapids including the always exciting Orange Wall and the Class IV Kanaka Falls . After Kanaka Falls , you have nine miles of Class II rapids and classic Sierra scenery.

This "scenic" section ends at Chunder , a fun vertical drop that can be easily scouted on the right. Chunder is immediately followed by a mandatory portage of Ruck-a-Chucky , a 30 foot waterfall onto jagged rocks.

Immediately following the portage is Cleavage (a fun surf spot), directly below the falls. The last mile and a half include a great concentration of Class III and IV rapids including Parallel Parking, Texas C hainsaw Massacre, Final Exam, and Pop Quiz . The take-out is at the site of the Old Greenwood Bridge. The bridge was destroyed in 1964 by a flood created by the catastrophic failure of the Hell Hole Dam. (description from California Whitewater Rafting. A site dedicated to documenting California Rivers)