Wenatchee River Rafting - High Water
- Spring & Early Summer- Leavenworth to Cashmere/Monitor, Class III-IV
- 14 miles - 4 hours, April – Early July
Wenatchee River rafting photo gallery
We offer Wenatchee River rafting trips from spring until late summer and conditions differ between the early time period and the latter. Early in the season white water rafting on the Wenatchee river occurs during the spring melt-off of the snow-pack in the Cascade mountains which produces high water volumes in the rivers and for the Wenatchee is the time of the season for the Class 3 and 4 rapids and the biggest waves and longest “wave-trains”. Mother nature is unpredictable so the exact dates of the peak water flows are not known until we are in the thick of it, but generally we experience high water from early May until early July. Definitely your best choice for an exciting introduction to whitewater rafting. A trip for the beginner or experienced rafter who wants to experience the thrill of rapids. The Wenatchee River perks from Tumwater Canyon and spills into the Columbia River Valley: always at the foot of the towering Cascades. You'll shoot exciting rapids, then relax while floating through the fertile orchard country side. The trip is typically sunny, with a bit of serenity and plenty of action. The Wenatchee River is a perfect trip for groups large and small, couples or an entire family and one that is certain to make you a whitewater advocate.
We rendezvous at Leavenworth on our exclusive private park-like riverside location where we have parking, shade trees, changing rooms/bathrooms with real flush toilets, riverside picnic tables for catered BBQ, tubers launch, and ease of finding us on Hwy 2 at Milepost 102.
The Wenatchee River has fun easy going waves and rapids and is not too far away at the Bavarian village of Leavenworth in the Eastern Washington area which is warmer and sunnier in spring and summer than western Washington. It is for these reasons is our most popular river rafting trip. We have usually around 8 paddlers per raft plus the guide in the back of the raft. Everybody gets to participate and paddle the raft. Kids as young as 5 or 6 years of age can go but the majority of the participants in each raft should be teens or big kids or adults so the raft has paddle power. We raft from our private parking/launching/meeting place Leavenworth to Riverfront Park in Cashmere. It is about 12 river miles and we hit about 12 - 15 rapids depending on the water flows at the time of your trip and the nice gap between rapids makes this a "forgiving" river with plenty of time to rest, recover and catch your breath between the whitewater rapids. At the low water moderate river rating time of the summer we raft from up above leavenworth in the Icicle Valley down to our location where you meet us by the Wenatchee River.
Wenatchee River Instructions
Address where we meet:
10860 Highway 2
Leavenworth, WA 98826
Directions to the River
Traffic Warning: There is a bridge replacement, cliff and slope stabilization, and rerouting of Highway 2 causing delays; those planning to travel to Eastern WA along Highway 2 should allow extra time due to possible delays. Alternately, we recommend taking the I-90 and Hwy 97 route from Cle Elum to Leavenworth.
We'll be meeting for the Wenatchee River trip at a NEW and easy-to-find location. Just head to Leavenworth and you will find us on the east end of Leavenworth (the Wenatchee side) on Hwy 2 just across the road from Mile Marker # 102. To get to Leavenworth take I-90 to the town of Cle Elum and take exit # 85 and follow signs to Hwy 970 and 97 North over Blewett Pass to Hwy 2. Go left on Hwy 2 and just as you reach Leavenworth you will see Mile Marker #102 and we are across the highway from it. Also, you can get to Leavenworth going east on Hwy 2 from I-5 in Everett and follow Hwy 2 to and through Leavenworth to Mile Marker #102and turn into the parking area.Use our detail map which is not to scale as well as a Washington State Road Atlas for planning and aiding your drive. We’ll have your wetsuit/booties waiting for you from our “rolling rental shop” (no presizing needed!) so just show up with a swimsuit or T-shirt/running shorts (something that can get wet) under your street clothes and we’ll take care of you from there when you get signed in.
Lunch
We provide everything you could possibly want for lunch on the river whether carnivore of vegetarian. Our caterer prepares a scrumptious and varied array of food including BBQ’d meats, burgers, dogs or veggie burgers, fresh vegetables and dip, melons and fruits, breads, chips/salsa, and water or lemonade to drink. No alcohol is served. If you have special dietary needs just let us know and we'll be happy to try to accommodate you. The morning trip meets at 9am, goes rafting and finishes with the BBQ afterwards - and for the 1pm trip come hungry at 1pm for the BBQ then rafting later in the heat of the day.
Due to the highly contagious and dangerous nature of COVID-19, we think it best as a precaution and courtesy to our river rafting trip guests to no longer offer the food portion of the trip. Safety is paramount on river rafting trips both on the river and on shore.
Lodging
Take a look at the Wenatchee Lodging page for a list of hotels nearby.
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