White Water Rafting on the Pigeon River with Smoky Mountain Outdoors

Our family just returned from a Tennessee Family Adventure Vacation that was nothing short of wonderful. In the words of my eight-year-old son, "It was Epic!" We had so much fun ziplining, enjoying Dollywood and Splash Country, hiking and driving through the Smoky Mountains, bonding in the cabin with family over foosball, board games, and ice cream, and this! White water rafting was hands down everyone's favorite adventure.  

There are numerous companies who offer white rafting excursions down the Pigeon River, and each seem to have similar programs. We went with Smoky Mountain Outdoors, which, like the others, offers two rafting options. There are two parts of the Pigeon River to raft. The harder, more adventurous of the two is the Upper Pigeon River, a two hour rafting trip with Class 3 and 4 rapids. We chose the Upper Pigeon rafting trip... and here we go!

We weren't in the rapids the entire two hours. Part of the trip is very leisurely and scenic, and in fact, the children twice got into the water and swam around the raft. The minimum age for the Upper Pigeon River trip is 8 years old. My son was scared the first half of this rafting trip. He got down in the bottom of the raft and waited out the most difficult parts. However, after the first half of the trip, our guide Dane let Carrington sit on the back of the raft with him and call out instructions. I think that gave Carrington a sense of security and he felt free to have fun after that. When the water was calm, Carrington moved to the front of the boat to get a great view of the mountains, water, and trees ahead of us. In the end, he enjoyed the experience. My ten year old daughter loved it, though! She was such a natural and loves the water. This was a great experience for her, as you can tell from her expression below.  

My Southern Virginia Belle Navigating the Class 3 and 4 rapids of the Upper Pigeon River

The other rafting option is a more leisurely rafting trip down the Lower Pigeon River. The minimum age for this trip is 3 years, with Class 1 and 2 rapids. If we had had time, I would have loved to do this trip, as well. Someone in our family said they would be bored on this trip after having rafted the harder rapids, but I would not have been bored at all. As great as the thrill and excitement of the Class 3 and 4 rapids were, the scenery and more relaxing trip on the water would have been appreciated. Mark and I have already decided that next time (I hope there is a next time) we are doing both!

When we arrived, we were greeted at the entrance with paperwork to complete. We paid and left the completed paperwork and car keys in the office/store.  We left everything else in the car. We waited for our party's name to be called while we sat on a large covered porch with picnic tables and a snack bar and grill. There is a maximum of 7 guests per raft, plus the guide, for a total of 8 people per raft. When your name is called, your party is introduced to your guide. We had Dane - he was so nice and helpful and turned Carrington's scary experience into a delightful one.  Our guide helped get us suited up. He even turned my helmet around to the correct side so that I would not resemble a storm trooper.  We boarded a bus with several other rafting groups and headed to the access point on the Pigeon River. As for the rest, the pictures above say it all! 
Tip: If you are planning on taking this or a similar trip, don't take your camera or phone or anything else that you don't want to get soaking wet. Unless you have zipper pockets on your pants, I wouldn't take anything you don't want to fly out of the raft, either. It gets pretty wild. You can leave your keys at the desk. They will attach your name and raft trip number, and you pick those up when you leave. 
Also, wear water friendly clothing and shoes. There are lots of water shoes available online, like these. You can always buy them there, but they'll cost more. This advance purchase will save you some cash that you can spend on the photo CD, souvenir t-shirt, and tip for your guide.  
Thanks so much to Dane and Smoky Mountain Outdoors for giving our family a memorable trip down the Upper Pigeon River! This is one of our family's favorite trips, definitely one for the books!

Are you planning on rafting or visiting Tennessee this summer? Let me know all about it!  Whether you're on the river, in the mountains, or sitting with your toes in the sand, I wish you and your family summer fun and adventure, with a little rest and relaxation sprinkled throughout.  Be safe, stay cool, and enjoy summer!  

xoxo, Erin

Southern Virginia Mom

SoVA Mom Home