Roadside Family Rafting Opportunities Abound in Alaska

Eagle River

For the family float trip, Eagle River just North of Anchorage is hard to beat. Drive up Eagle River road about 12 miles following Eagle River upstream until you get to the visitor center. From there you can either portage about a mile or backtrack about 5 miles (recommended) and access the river from a parking and rest area. The river runs next to the road. The raft pull out is at Briggs Bridge and it is about a 7-mile float. The water here is all class 1 and runs silty under normal summer conditions. It is truly a beautiful trip and you can blow a whole roll of film in a hurry on the surrounding mountains. If you are an accomplished rafter you can continue through Briggs to the class 3-4 whitewater and take out at the Glenn Highway.

Kenai River

Everyone knows where the Kenai River is. How many of you have rowed it? It is truly a gem among gems. Large gravel bars provide easy family crash landings. Let the kids throw rocks into the water until their arms fall off. The Kenai offers some whoopee water. Well, that’s what my kids call it. When they go through it they say, whoopee! Start at the bridge at Cooper Landing if you want a little taste of white water, class 2-3 and float either to The Russian River ferry or continue the 2 hours down to Jims Landing. The whole trip takes about 4-5 hours but I always make a full day out of it. Float right by all the combat fisherman and wave at your mother-in-law as you go find your own unoccupied gravel bar.

Little Willow

Get in your truck and drive toward Fairbanks and just north of Wasilla you will find a river that crosses under and occasionally over the highway, called the Little Willow. This Class 1 float takes about twelve hours. You will float in crystal clear water right into the gray water of the Big Susitna River. From there you will continue to float to the mouth of the Willow River at the Willow State Campground. You can’t miss the pullout because there will be fisherman lined up as far as the eye can see. Simply have your freeloading neighbor that you brought along pull your raft up the slough to the raft pull out and you’re done. The nice thing about this trip is that you cover a lot of river and that is important during the salmon run to get your kids into the fish.

Remember rivers are dynamic and incidents do occur, so always wear your PFD and require all persons in your raft to wear one as well. Help keep Alaska’s rivers clean by picking up your trash and covering your fire pits. Just think, for the price of dinner, you and your family can enjoy Alaska as very few have seen it…..from the river.

author website: visit | author bio