Josh wrote the following review. I must absolutely agree with his praises.......I was in the same boat with him. Joy was the best in every way....... Tim, the owner, knows how to pick the right people for the job. I could tell that the other guides and their passengers were also having a great time!!! When I called to book a reservation for a full-day trip on the Deschutes with River Drifters for my scout troop's High Adventure trip, the owner, Tim, answered the phone. He was super helpful, gave us a great discount for our huge group (17 total) and made it very easy for us. I promptly received an email confirmation that included PDFs of instructions/directions, plus waivers so we could fill them out before we got there. The day of the trip was fantastic. We were in two boats, and our guides (Erin and Joy) were absolutely amazing. Even the bus rides to and from the river were a lot of fun; it's clear the staff really enjoys their jobs. My boat's guide, Joy, was from South Africa and we loved hearing her stories as we made our way down the river. I've been rafting on the Deschutes several times and this was by far the most fun I've ever had. Joy made sure we all had a good time, even promising one of our scouts (who was "riding the bull" at the front of the boat at the time) a "Class V" rapid experience. Then, when he was in place, she walked up to the front of the boat, exclaiming, "CLASS FIVE!!!" and pushed him out!!! It was hilarious!! Joy also helped us do some really cool tricks on the river, including a pirouette, wherein everyone in the boat goes to the back, which makes the bow of the boat go very high up into the air. A rope tied to the bow is then used to make the entire raft twirl around like a ballerina spinning on her toes. Very cool! Later, she had everyone weigh down the back of the boat while our lightest passenger "rode the bull." This sent him so high up into the air as we crashed through the rapids... all we could see was blue sky in front of him. It was a lot of fun doing these tricks, and would have been impossible without Joy's experience. After about 2 hours of rafting, we stopped for the provided lunch at a park in Maupin. There was a BBQ picnic all ready for us, with burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, grilled chicken, potato salad, chips, salsa, etc. The food was delicious and really hit the spot. Such a great value! I would highly recommend River Drifters to anyone wanting a fun adventure on the Deschutes River. I'm excited to try some of their other river runs in the future. If you have a church or Boy Scout group (or any large group), be sure to tell them when you book your trip, as they are not shy about giving good deals to large groups. River Drifters is a great rafting outfit and I hope they're around for a VERY long time! read more

If it could be no stars, id mark that option. Kinko, the old white haired, half sideburns, tour guide, was terribly rude right off the bat calling us blind and deaf and couldn't give directions. I'd rather buy my own raft and go next year than repeat business through river drifters. Klinko koo koo Kokomo would say paddle and stop paddling at random moments like he should, but he would say "why weren't you paddling" when clearly nothing was said. Way to much nature talks I mean half if not more than that was spent looking at plants and how water spins around rocks... Dude I'm here to f**king ride a tube and your here to help get down the river safely, not there to show us stuff in depth about things I obviously didn't come to see. He singled me and my brother out like we were messing his routes up when clearly going by my GoPro footage we hit the rapids we were supposed to hit. We almost missed the lunch stop... But instead he said "I guess we are just going to float on by because you aren't paddling". Never once did he mention guiding us to the shore... My dad chewed him out right off the bat because of the deaf blind thing and just how rude he was acting and he rest of the boat members were just seconds from doing the same.. They said they weren't coming back and they didn't want a single photo from the station at the end either. I got kinda snotty with the old man I was devising plans to tackle him off the raft be use of the rudeness. He over exaggerated the Rapids and their potentials and scared the people in my raft into taking easy no splash route... After the Rapids, the people in that same boat said "yea the oak springs rapid was clearly not 13ft it's like 6ft". We hung out on the shore a lot, I was very disappointed with that kinko dude. We had RYAN last time and he was excellent he had good jokes and was loose and not a d*** like that crazy old kook that makes bird noises. IF RYAN IS BOOKED THEN DONT GO BECAUSE YOU WILL GET THIS OLD DUSTY BAG OF BEANS. read more

We just came back from a 2 day, 1 night trip down the Deschutes. Fantastic trip! We were a group of 9, aged 14 -62, with varying degrees of rafting experience. Our guides (Jo Jo, Kat, and Kim) were excellent. They did a great job of judging our differing comfort levels and would push us to expand them. One of our crew was a special needs teenager. Jo Jo did a great job of recognizing his abilities and excitements and moving him through rafting skills and games successfully. It was fun to see his confidence level rise over these 2 days! All of us came away with the feeling of being challenged individually and having lots of fun doing it. The float had a good mix of calm where we got to enjoy the scenery and excitement as we paddled into rapids. I enjoyed the wildlife we encountered along the way ( wild horses, sheep, osprey). It was great to have all our meals prepared for us, especially during the overnight, which allowed us to go on a hillside hike, throw frisbees, and stare at the stars. By the end of our trip we felt drained (in a good way) and wishing we could do it all over again! I would highly recommend River Drifters. I hope we can come back again. read more

We had a GREAT experience on a full day trip on the Deschutes River. Shion was our guide and he did an amazing job of making our trip extremely fun and memorable. This was our second experience of river rafting out of Maupin but the first time we went with a different outfit. Had a very scary experience the first time on one of the rapids. I explained this to Shion. He made it very clear that it was going to be fun and not a scary trip. He took extra time to let us get off the boat, jump in where it was safe, float down a rapid and hike up to some natural slides. We also "surfed" a lot of the rapids and we had a blast! We had two other people that we didn't know but Shion had a way of including all of us. By the end of the trip we had made 3 new friends. I would definitely recommend River Drifters and we will be back. It appears that all the guides were fun and knowledgeable but we would go with Shion again in a second. Thanks Shion! read more

We took 14 boys (ages 13-17) and 6 adults on the 3-day Deshutes trip, and it was amazing. The guides were professional, well trained, and a ton of fun. We had Ty and Haven in the gear boat and lunch boat, and then we had Paris, Lilly, and Teo as our guides in the boats we were in. The food was amazing, and the rafting was spectacular. We had so many amazing experiences throughout the trip. That was all made possible due to the guides we had. I'm sure everyone at River Drifters are amazing individuals (as the whole experience from the minute we booked the trip, to showing up at the start of our trip, and through the entire float), was a great experience, but our guides were absolutely awesome for our group. River Drifters knows how to create an unforgettable experience and it shows through every step of the process. Thanks for everything. I would highly recommend River Drifters to anyone, and plan on rafting again with them in the future! read more

We went through River Drifters for our White Salmon River Rafting yesterday and it was so awesome. We highly recommend this place to anyone. The personalities of the tour guides made this trip incredible! They were all so fun and exciting, while providing safety and awareness and clearly knew what they were doing. You do have to wear wet suits, which was discouraging at first, due to the extremely hot weather. However, once the water touched us, we were so grateful we had it on. I would definitely recommend wearing one of the jackets they provide you with. IZAAK was our tour guide for White Salmon River, and he was AWESOME!!! WOO!! #BLUEDAB The only thing we would like to see is SPEAKERS in the raft for some extra fun read more

Maupin, OR trip: booked this trip for our 11th anniversary with another couple. Didn't really know what to expect. I have to say we were all super impressed and entertained. Check in was easy and speedy. We ended up with Brian who was so stinkin funny the entire trip. Had us rolling with laughter so much our tummy hurt! We had an amazing day...so fun and exciting! All the guides seemed so awesome and professional. You could really tell these guys loved their jobs and treated us fantastic. Again...Brian is the man! Thanks for a memorable anniversary...going to be back! read more

Last week we embarked on the 1/2 day, Lower Deschutes raft trip with 4 people including a 5 and 6 year old. Our tour guide Matt (Davidhoff) was fantastic. He made sure that the trip was fun, entertaining, and safe. The kids had a blast. I was a little concerned about it being too rough, but the river held enough fun for everyone on the trip without tossing us all out of the raft. Everything from the checking process, the trip to the launch site, the ride itself, and the ride back to our cars was easy. This was the highlight of our vacation to Oregon! Thanks for making memories! read more

My Fiance and I went on a 1/2 day trip on the White Salmon/Washington for the first time ever. The guides are smart, FUN, care about your safety and want you to have a good time and trust me, you will have a BLAST! Were already planning to do a full day next. Yahoo! When your done rafting, head into White Salmon and go to the Big Mans Rotisserie Food Cart. AMAZING!!!!!!! It's behind Umpqua Bank. ( Pass Ace Hardware on left) Pulled Pork, chicken, etc. Very Very Very good food! So have a GREAT time rafting with River Drifter's, then go satisfy your tummy. Fun Times! read more

This is our second year doing the White Salmon river ride, half day last year, and this year the full day. I really recommend the full day! We love our guide and ask for him every year, Peter is amazing! We are always well taken care of! We bring our kids and feel safe and have an absolute blast! The food for the full day was way better than expected (because who are we kidding, halfway through a day of rafting they could have fed us anything and we would eat it...) it was amazing BBQ... Could not have asked for more! read more

I have never been white water rafting- we went with my whole family. 17 people with a variety of ages and we had such a good time. We were in two rafts and both our guides (Ryan and Caleb) were superb. They were great conversationalists, kept us safe, made sure we got wet, and everyone was thrilled with the experience. We did the all day trip, which I highly recommend in order to get the full experience of the Deschutes river. highly recommend! read more

Shion took us on a 1/2 day trip down the Deschutes. We had our 4-1/2 year old daughter with us and he did a terrific job accommodating her emotions and worries (which were more about getting splashed with cold water than about the actual rapids). We really enjoyed our trip and thought that River Drifters and Shion did a great job from the time we pulled up until we were back after our trip. I would definitely use them again. read more

We did a full-day White Salmon River trip on June 16, 2021 with Noah and four passengers. It was fantastic. The water was ever-changing, we saw a number of cool birds and altogether enjoyed a splendid day of whitewater. Highly recommend River Drifters -- everything was exceptionally well-organized -- and the grilled chicken lunch (you can request veggie) was very good. No complaints. Great water! read more

THIS is the place! We went down the Clackamas with Larry - We came from Minnesota for our first trip to Oregon and to try white water rafting. Larry with River Drifters did not disappoint! We had so much fun! We always felt safe and had a beautiful day on the river. Larry was a kindred spirit and made our experience with River Drifters extra special. We will be back! read more

Fantastic outfit. People are all friendly and have a great interaction with their groups. Experienced guides that makes good conversation. Rafts are new and in great shape. The White Salmon river is one of the best spots I have done River Rafting at. Going down the waterfall at the end of the trip is a hoot. Thank you River Drifters for a fantastic time. read more

Great experience all around! My group was 12 ladies and we did the day float through Maupin in two boats. We had wonderful guides who were able to read their clients as well as the river. One raft wanted more thrills and the other did not and each guide delivered on point. Can't wait to come back and do this trip again! read more

This was an absolute blast and the highlight of the vacation. The full day excursion down the Deschutes River was an absolute blast. We couldn't have asked for a a better guide. Mike was professional, down to earth, knowledge and fun. Will definitely do this again! read more

What a great trip! You must ask for Wilson! He was the best! He had all of laughing, and doing fun things while we went down the river! Have floated down this river many times, but this by far was the best trip ever!!!! Thank you Wilson for making our day! read more

Best trip ever! Our guide Fisher was knowledgeable and funny but very safe and professional. my son and I will definitely book another trip with River Drifters! Thanks for the great time on the White Salmon guys! read more