We loved our stay in Lake Placid, NY and as we were talking about where to go next I noticed that @adirondacraftco followed us on Instagram. Wait, what? There’s whitewater rafting!? Sign us up! After a brief conversation over Instagram we found out they still had availability, worked a deal for a discounted trip for the 10 of us (still hanging out with Kid Project), packed up and were on our way!

When We Went: August 2, 2018

Ages of Kids: 12, 10, & 8 (8+ is the minimum age during the summer, 16+ in April, 10+ in May)

We love whitewater rafting and have somehow managed to squeeze in a trip every year. Two years ago we ran the Snake River in Jackson, WY and last summer we spontaneously jumped on a trip in Jasper, Alberta. The kids especially were incredibly excited to tackle a third river this year!

Although we’ve run rivers before our friends, the Erickson’s had not. Super fun to get them on their first river and we picked a great one!

The Upper Hudson River Gorge is located near Indian Lake, New York. Its a super small town and most of the adventure seeking guests drive in from Lake Placid – in fact many of the guides for Adirondac Rafting Co. also live in Lake Placid and drive down for work. Not too shabby.

After talking with the guides we found out the smaller Indian River (where we put in) and the larger Hudson river are controlled with a dam release.  Four times a week the dam releases enough water for the multiple companies in town to run whitewater trips. Its called “The Bubble” as the increase of water moves down the river, raising the levels as it goes. Because of the timed release all the companies put in roughly around 10am and ride the bubble down the river.

So, yes. We surfed the dam river bubble.

This section of river has 12 named rapids and ranges from a Class IV in the spring to more of a II-III in the sumer months. Total distances is about 15 miles which is the longest section we’ve ever done!

Check in time was 9am and went super smoothly. We signed a waiver and then got suited up with a life jacket, helmet and paddle. After a brief safety talk we loaded on to the Tiger bus for the short 10 minute ride to the put in.

There’s a bit of a jockeying at the put in with eight different companies running multiple boats. Our guide were awesome – they got us in line and in the water with no problems. It looked that most of the guides between companies were friendly enough but I was especially impressed with the experience level and professionalism of the guides with Adirondack Rafting. We later found out that our guide, Brad, has been down this river about 700 times!

Our first section on the Indian River was immediately fun! My favorite thing about this river is that I felt it was ripply and exciting most of the way. While sections weren’t necessarily classified as “rapids” they were still whitewater fun and kept us entertained.

©Adirondack Rafting Company

Around 12:30pm we started looking for a lunch pull out. The trip includes lunch and it was delicious! Turkey sandwiches, chips, oranges, lemonade and cookies. After a few hours on the river everyone was hungry so we gobbled up our food while perched on some rocks  with a pretty sweet view. Adirondack Rafting company has also partnered with a local food bank to help feed families in need. For every meal they give out on the river, a donation is provided to the Regional Food Bank of N.EN.Y to feed local families in need. How cool is that?

Back on the river! Some of our favorite rapids were after lunch. The kids took turns moving around the rafting and alternating who got to ride in the front or the middle. At one point Brad handed the guide paddle to Sam and stuck him in the back to steer! It was super fun to have Sam at the helm and he did a great job navigating a few of the smaller rapids.

We had plenty of time to play and swim in the water as well. We jumped off Elephant Rock and were also able to surf some of the rapids! Something I’ve never seen or done before. We basically tucked into the overspray of a rock and the kids thought it was hilarious that our boat entirely filled up with water. It was a blast!

Jumping off Elephant Rock

Surfing the rapid

We pulled off the river around 3:30pm and helped load the rafts back onto the bus which was quite exciting as we basically had to throw them up there. As the kids settled back into their seats for the 20 minute drive back to Indian Lake I could see their eyes start to droop. They had an amazing time but 5 hours on the river for young kids is pretty intense!

We are so happy we made the trip down to Indian Lake to river raft. If you are ever in the Adirondack/Lake Placid area its totally worth looking these guys up! I guided some rafting a bit in college and I know there are certain ways to hit rapids for the best ride. Sometimes you go in sideways, sometimes backwards (eek!), sometimes you paddle up river and I love that these guides really know their stuff. I could tell they loved their job and truly enjoy providing an amazing experience for their guests.

Disclosure: Adirondac Rafting Company provided us a 50% discount in exchange for social media posts and a blog post. We are super grateful we got to work with them and highly recommend them as a company. All opinions are our own!