Here are your options for Northwest River Trips!
Adventure Missoula offers 13 types of river rafting trips in the Northwest area. Read about them below. This includes Spokane, WA Coeur d’Alene ID, and Western Montana (our headquarters). Our line up of trips can suit your needs for taking in the scenery, excitement, beauty, and adventure. We offer beginner (scenic), intermediate, and well conditioned whitewater rafting adventure tours.
Come experience a day on the river and soak in the scenery with some splashes while hearing some local folk lure of the Northwest with some of the best guides around.
Participants will experience local watersheds, breathtaking scenery, wildlife, and gentle floats by local outfitters. On an exciting side, one can also experience the wild, free flowing water, and adrenaline rush in the canyon features on each of these rivers. Rafting the northwest is an amazing experience not to miss while traveling in our area.
*Note: If you are driving over the Idaho (PST)/Montana(MST) border either direction there is a time change
All whitewater trips include: Life Jackets (pfd’s), wet suits if needed for comfort, splash jackets, water shoes, guide, boat, paddles, shuttle back to vehicle, private parking.
All scenic trips include: life jackets, paddles or guide oars the boat, shuttle back to vehicle or vehicle moved beforehand to take out point, guide, boat.
Full day trips include locally sourced, homemade lunch featuring fresh garden grown produce grown on our rooftop garden at our river shop.
View and Compare all river trip options
Northwest River Trips Options
World Class Montana Trips: 30 minutes west of Missoula on I-90 at our Clark Fork River Headquarters
Clark Fork River Combination Whitewater and Fishing Family Trip $575 base (1 to 2 people) + $75 ea. participant (max. 5 ppl) Season: April to October, Class I, II, III Lunch, Gear, Everything provided, Private Trip, Cyr, Montana *Best family trip Northwest Signature Adventure
Full Day Whitewater Adventure Adults $95 Youth $85 Season: April to October, Catered river lunch, Class I, II, III #1 Thing to do in the Northwest* Cyr, Montana Clark Fork River
Half Day Family Friendly Whitewater Trip Adults $75 Youth $65 Season: April to October, Class I, II, III #1 Thing to do in the Northwest* Cyr, Montana Clark Fork River
Private Scenic or Whitewater Full Day River Adventure $760 Private boat trip up to 8 participants, everything provided, Season: April to October Class I, II, III Catered lunch Cyr, Montana – Clark Fork River
Clark Fork River Full Day Scenic Adults $95 Youth $85 Season: late April through October, Mellow gentle rapids, some ripples Tarkio, Montana
Clark Fork River Half Day Scenic Adventure Adults $75 Youth $65 Season: late April through October, Mellow gentle rapids, some ripples Tarkio, Montana
Spokane, Washington Area – Riverside State Park
Upper Spokane River Whitewater Trip Adults $75 Youth $70 Season: April to early June, Class I, II, and III Spokane, WA
Lower Spokane Scenic Trip Adults $65 Youth $60 Season: May to September, Mellow gentle rapids, some ripples Spokane, WA
East Coeur d’Alene – 30 minutes out of town – Blue Ribbon Watershed – Idaho
Coeur d’Alene River Half Day Scenic Trip Adults $59 Youth $54 Season: late April through October, Mellow gentle rapids, some ripples Kingston/Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
East Missoula Montana Area, Famous for the movie: A River Runs through It
Blackfoot River Whitewater Full Day Trip Adults $95 Youth $85 Season: April May and June, Diverse smaller value river featuring Class I, II and one Class III, Bonner MT
Blackfoot River Whitewater Half Day Trip Adults $75 Youth $65 Season: April May and June, Diverse smaller value river featuring Class I, II and one Class III, Bonner MT
Kayak Adventure and Flotilla Trips – 30 minutes west of Missoula on I-90 at our Clark Fork Headquarters
Kayak Adventure Half Day with Lunch $160 Singles $320 Tandems Season: July – October, Mellow gentle rapids, some ripples, Cyr Montana
Family Flotilla River Adventure Half Day with Lunch $550 Base Price holds 4 people + Stand Up Paddleboards, and Kayaks as add-ons for $75 for a true Montana flotilla river day.
Best Day River Trip in the Northwest
Travelers head daily from Missoula, Spokane, and Coeur d’Alene to the Clark Fork River. If you’re looking for a day of fun, excitement and relaxation, join us for whitewater thrills on the Clark Fork River, your world class option 2 hours from downtown Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and 30 minutes from Missoula.
Our river headquarters is located right at the river put in. This is a big volume, big ride river with lots of roller coaster waves and fun class II-III (intermediate) rapids with names such as Boateater, Fang, Cliffside and Tumbleweed. Between the rapids are calm stretches where you may jump in for a swim, or sit back and relax to enjoy the spectacular scenery. Bring the whole family for a day of fun you’ll never forget on the best whitewater stretch in the state of Montana.
Well isolated from any roads, the Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork flows through a deep canyon with dramatic rose-colored cliffs. Between the whitewater sections are calm stretches that are perfect for swimming or just sitting back, relaxing and watching the spectacular mountain scenery pass you by. Warm water and quiet pools between rapids make this a perfect family rafting trip.
When you go rafting on the Clark Fork, you’re likely to see dozens of birds, including osprey, mergansers and, if we’re lucky, maybe some Harlequin Ducks. Deer, elk and beaver are also common. Along the way our guides will share some of the river’s history. Named after William Clark of the Lewis & Clark expedition, the Clark Fork River’s headwaters are in the Beaverhead and Rocky Mountains near Butte, Montana, where the Native American tribes called it the ‘Arrowhead’ River due to a semi-transparent stone found nearby that was used to make arrowheads.
We use 13′ paddle rafts on this whitewater rafting day trip, so everyone becomes a participant. Each raft has a professional guide who teaches you how to paddle. As a team, you’ll navigate the whitewater together. If you would rather let us do the rowing, we can.
We invite you to bring your friends, your church group, club or the whole family for a whitewater rafting trip you’ll never forget.
History
The “Clark’s Fork of the Columbia,” named after William Clark, is a major tributary of the mighty Columbia River. Why didn’t Lewis and Clark take the Clark Fork River instead of their arduous journey over the Lolo Trail? After deciding the Salmon River was too rough and banks to steep they traveled down the Bitterroot River and came to the Missoula Valley. Lewis & Clark debated the best route to the Pacific. With the advice of their Native American guides, they knew they needed to reach rivers and waters with salmon. This would ensure they were on the drainages that eventually flowed to the Pacific. Even though the Clark’s Fork does flow to the Pacific, there were no salmon due to obstructions/falls downstream.
The Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork River was formed during the most recent ice-age, approximately 15,000 year ago when up to 30 miles of ice impounded Glacial Lake Missoula. Water breached the ice dam, and catastrophic floods followed, more than a dozen times, violently creating the spectacular rock formations and the river run at Alberton Gorge. This Class II-III whitewater location in our area is considered a world class family friendly destination due to it’s geological features, scenery, and river features. As far as Northwest river trips go, this is the best day trip we have been on and made it our home decades ago.