It is no secret the the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and the Rogue River are two of America’s best rafting trips. With spectacular scenery, awesome wildlife, and perfect Class III rapids, the Rogue and Middle Fork make for ideal family vacations. For families looking for a few more thrills and spills than a 16-foot raft can provide, ECHO River Trips is now offering unique wilderness adventures: four to six day family expeditions down Oregon’s friendly Rogue River and Idaho’s pristine Middle Fork of the Salmon River, using only inflatable kayaks.

What makes these trips different from ECHO’s regular raft trips? Instead of riding as passengers or paddlers in a big raft, each guest will paddle their own kayak for the entire stretch of the river. With help from experienced professional guides, guests will rig their own drybags onto their kayaks. Once boats are rigged and the “expedition” is ready to go, guests will experience whitewater in the most exciting way possible: up close and personal. With just a paddle, and directions from the fearless leaders, each person in a duckie! will paddle through boulder slaloms, plunge into frothy holes, and glide over glassy waves to their heart’s content. Maneuverable, stable, and incredibly fun, duckies! allow adventurers to challenge the rapids on their own for a more personalized whitewater experience than rafting. Because each person has their own kayak, Duckie! trips travel light and fast, allowing more opportunities enjoy the marvels of these premier river canyons. There will be ample time to hike in the side canyons, soak in natural hot springs, take photos of wildlife, and examine Native American pictographs and other archeological sites on the Rogue and Middle Fork canyons.

The progression of the rapids is perfect for beginner paddlers because by the time the trip enters the Impassable Canyon or Mule Creek Canyon, with the most challenging whitewater, everyone will have gained confidence and experience on the easier rapids upstream. Negotiating the fun yet safe Class III rapids is an empowering bonding experience for the whole family. On Duckie! trips, the emphasis is on exploration and adventure over luxury in camp. This minimalist style of river trips embodies the spirit of wilderness adventure on which ECHO River Trips was founded over 35 years ago and creates lasting memories and tall tales that will be retold for years.

We are offering a duckie! trip on the Rogue River in June and on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in August. Learn more about duckie! trips

(well, red wine too)

Imagine rafting the beautiful Rogue River for four days, and camping luxuriously for three nights.

Imagine gathering before dinner to taste excellent California wines while listening to a distinguished vintner talking about how and where the wine was made

Imagine eating wonderful food, planned to complement the great wines.

Imagine running exciting rapids in rafts and inflatable kayaks.

Imagine bald eagles up close, river otters along the shore, osprey diving into the river for fish, and black bears strolling through the woods.

Imagine sharing this special experience with someone you love.

Join Tamra Lotz, Assistant Wine Maker for Mumm California and Dick Linford, co-owner of ECHO for this very special river trip. We hope you can join us!!

Price: $815 per person
Price includes tents, sleeping bags and air mattresses, wine, and meals beginning with lunch the first day and ending with lunch the last day

Learn more about our wine trips or call us at (800) 652-3246 to hold your space.

Yoga instructor and long time ECHO guide Dennis Eagan has just scheduled a “family yoga” trip on the Rogue. This is a four day camping trip that starts July 24, 2007. He has put this trip together as an offering for people that want a yoga retreat they can combine with famiy time.

Dennis focuses on yoga training for outdoor sports enthusiast. Dennis is an experienced skier, kayaker, and climber who turned to yoga to maintain his abilities in these sports. He enjoys helping others do the same.

Learn More About Yoga Trips on the Rogue River

A few hearty souls have prompted us to bring back the “Salmon Supreme.” This is a seven day combination of the Middle Fork and Main Salmon when we expect the water to be it’s highest and the weather to be it’s coldest. This trip would normally take twelve days to finish the 161 to 186 miles, but with high water we can do it in seven.

This is a trip for those of you that want to experience an adventure. If the water is too high, we’ll have to fly in to Indian Creek and only run 161 miles. If the weather is too bad, we’ll have to spend the day playing cards under tarps and in our tents. This is the kind of trip that legends are made of and stories are told about for years to come.

Learn more about the “Salmon Supreme”

Rio Futaleufu, Chile In January 2007, ECHO River Trips will offer adrenaline junkies of all ages a chance to float the world famous Rio Futaleufu in Chile. Affectionately known as the “Fu”, this river has the planet’s most intense, class V rapids available to rafters. ECHO River Trips combines non-stop hydraulics with world-class river guides, fantastic cuisine, rock climbing, horseback riding, canyoneering in exotic Patagonia for the ultimate adventure experience. Safety is the #1 priority, thus enabling almost anyone to experience the beauty and awe of the Futaleufu.

Includes: Round trip air charter flights from Puerto Montt to Chaiten and return. Vehicle transportation from Chaiten to the river and return. Hotel in Chaiten on day 2. All camping gear. Meals beginning dinner day 2 and ending with breakfast day 9. Horses and mountain bikes. Climbing gear when needed. Dates: January 13 - 22, 2007 Price: $3000

The price does not include: Commercial flights to/from U.S. to Santiago or to/from Santiago to Puerto Montt. Guide gratuities. Service of a professional masseuse in some camps. Video or DVD of the trip. Hotel on day 9.

Ten day excursion features incredibly blue water, breath-taking alpine scenery, rapids ranging from Class III to Class V, and luxurious permanent camps, river carved stone hot tubs, and wonderful off-river activities. The Futaleufu River has a few sections of Class V whitewater that some may choose not to do. A beautiful horseback and hiking trail that follows the river opens the trip to anyone, regardless of experience as they can choose to walk around any of the big rapids.

Learn more about rafting the Futaleufu River

Bluegrass musicians and ECHO friends Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum have decided to do another bluegrass trip on the Tuolumne this summer. Their other trip filled in February and the waiting list has grown since then so they decided to do this second trip for their fans. We’re pretty happy with this since this is one of our best trips each season.

Learn more about ECHO bluegrass trips

Each year we offer special family trips at a discounted price to encourage large families to enjoy a river trip. The majority of our trips are “family trips” and most trips (especially on the Rogue) are made up of families.

These discounted family trips sold out very quickly, so we decided to add two more: one on the Middle Fork from July 27 - August 1 and one on the Rogue from July 5 - 8. Learn more about family trips.

Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum will once again be joining us for a three day trip on the Tuolumne River that we like to call “Bluegrass on Whitewater.” We spend each day paddling down the Class IV rapids of the Tuolumne during the day. When we reach camp, our guides prepare delicious meals while the group goes swimming, hiking, or simply taking in the beautiful setting. Each night Laurie and Tom play their favorite tunes.

On the last day, we wake up by the North Fork of the Tuolumne, eat breakfast and hike up to the famous swimming pools before we finish the last few miles of the river. This trip will start on August 31st and cost $625/person. Learn more about “Bluegrass on Whitewater”

We are pround to announce our 2006 wine trip on the Rogue River!

For 2006, Ludovic Dervin from Mumm Napa is joining our trip as wine expert. Ludovic is a wine maker at Mumm Napa who completed his studies in wine and champagne in Champagne, France.

This is a four day Rogue trip starting on June 20th for $785/person. You can learn more about this trip on our “Wine and Whitewater” page.

For 2006 we are offering discounted trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon aimed at hardshell kayakers. This is a great time for kayaking because the water is up and the flowers are in bloom. Of the four trips discounted, two will be five day trips and two are six day trips. The six day trips will have a slower pace with more time for stopping at playspots and hiking. We may even have the opportunity to lay-over at Marble Creek where there is a great playspot.

This would be a great trip for a kayaker that wants to vacation with friends and family because we can bring inflatable kayaks along. This will give them a sense of kayaking and is much easier to learn. You must be an experienced hardshell kayaker to join this trip in your hardshell, but no experience is required if you want to use an iflatable kayak.

Learn More About Kayak Trips