Reservations are open for the 2017 Kern River rafting season. Make a booking today.
The Kern River is back in a big way – we will be offering Upper, Lower and Forks of the Kern rafting trips for the 2017 river rafting season. Our license strictly limits the number of trips we can run. If you are planning a group or charter trip, or planning to join us on a weekend, early reservations are essential. Looking for rafting near Los Angeles? The Kern River is the closest rafting option to LA, only 3 hours away! Please call us soon to reserve a date or book online now.
Our Most Popular Kern River Rafting Trips
Full Day Upper Kern
To have an unforgettable experience, join us on our most popular trip down the Upper Kern. Class III and IV whitewater.
Class-V Forks of the Kern
With acclaim from National Geographic and Outside Magazine, the Forks of the Kern is the most exciting multi-day in the country.
Two-Day Lower Kern
This two-day trip covers 20 miles of Class IV whitewater and your family will love spending the night riverside camping.
National Geographic
National Geographic Adventure honored us with the distinction of “One of the Best Adventure Companies on Earth”
Men’s Journal
Men’s Journal named the outfitter of KRO as one of the nine best outdoor guides in America.
Marketplace – NPR
NEW IN 2017: With 12 million listeners, Kern River Outfitters was the feature story on NPR’s Marketplace.
Why Choose Kern River Outfitters for your 2017 Kern River rafting trip?
We are an award-winning outfitter known for exceptional service and running carefully structured, exhilarating rafting trips with a crew of well-trained guides. Our goal is simple: Provide you with a whitewater rafting experience that is so much fun that you will return for another trip.
- Our trips get rave reviews on TripAdvisor, Yelp, Facebook and Google+
Our Rafting Center is just a few hours from L.A – no river is closer.
We have a wide selection of river trips of varying length and excitement. Class II to Class V. From just a few hours to a few days in length.
Our permit allows us to take big groups (and we love solo adventurers too).
We offer free parking at our Rafting Center.
- Our guides are fun, interesting, and family friendly.
We use top-notch equipment, that is carefully maintained.
Our camp has the best placement in the Lower Kern canyon: Day 1 and 2 are evenly divided so you’ll spend the perfect amount of time on the water each day. No short or very long days.
We have three permits on the Kern river and offer river rafting trips on the Upper, Lower and Forks of the Kern.
We offer full day, half day and 2-hour long rafting trips on the Upper Kern. Trips range in fun from mellow Class-II to big thrills Class-V. Our most popular trip is our full day rafting trip, which takes you through some of the best whitewater in Southern California.
The Lower Kern enjoys a long season starting in Late May and running through the summer. A guest favorite is our Two-Day Lower Kern, which features a 20-mile, class III and IV run, with a night spent at our private campground, conveniently at the halfway point along the trip.
Tucked deep down in a remote canyon, “The Famous Forks” is our multi-day wilderness, Class-V run. Featuring back to back Class-V rapids broken up with class III and IV whitewater, this is considered America’s most challenging commercial multi-day.
Blogs by Our Guides
Marketplace on APR – Kern River rafting feature
Marketplace, a radio show by American Public Media, sent reporter Jed Kim to spend the day with us during our guideschool. The episode aired yesterday on NPR. "Massive snowfall brings reprieve for businesses that need [...]
Kern river rafting update – Additional Lower Kern launches added to schedule
Two Day Lower Kern trips are available to book in May. We've been carefully monitoring our snowpack and Lower Kern releases, and have opened up select launch dates in May for our Two Day Lower [...]
“California Braces for Booming Paddling Season”
"Return of the Kern: California Braces for Booming Paddling Season" Word is getting out that this year's rafting season will be one for the record books. Writer Eugene Buchanan caught up with us and wrote an [...]
Trips are conducted under permit issued by Sequoia National Forest. Operations and facilities are operated on a non-discriminatory basis.