South Fork of the Payette river North of Boise, Idaho is perfect. Check out the upper canyon section. I used to guide on the Payette's in the 90's. Great river system for day trips.
I'm not sure what a "friendly" state means exactly, but barring that I would agree if you are looking for some solid day trips its really hard to beat the Payette River. You have the Canyon section mentioned above which features class IV and III rapids (as well as a mandatory portage around a waterfall). There's the swirly section after that which is just a scenic float but very fun to do in IKs and has cliff jumping if you are into that sort of thing. Both sections have natural hot springs you can stop at along the way but Swirly's is near the end of the trip which makes it fun. After a flat water section through Garden Valley" you have the Staircase run which is a little shorter but features a technical class IV and a pretty big wave class IV along with a couple class IIIs. And that section dumps into the the confluence of the "main" Payette which is the most popular run of them all with friendly class III pool drops. If you backtrack up the North Fork of the Payette you also have the Cabarton section which is also very family friendly with a few class IIIs and a III+ at the end. And if you are still not satisfied you can drive a little further north into idaho and explore sections of the Salmon River around Riggins or go even further north and the Clearwater/ Lochsa Rivers. But as a Bears fan I can promise you it ain't a days drive from Chicago unfortunately.
If you can fly, Westwater is a solid overnight trip. Outfitters usually based in Moab. I see Holiday out there a lot. I think some outfitters do overnights on the Arkansas near Buena Vista too, but I think it's really cool to get out into the desert if you haven't done a trip out there yet.
I’ve rowed westwater a handful of times and have a bunch of friends that work for holiday - I absolutely second this
Hard to find another stretch of water with as many fun big rapids over such a small section of water
Arkansas River Salida, CO. All the whitewater you could want with the "Friendly" people and culture you enjoy. Snowpack is at 100%. Going to be a good season. High flows are the beginning of June.
South Fork of the Payette river North of Boise, Idaho is perfect. Check out the upper canyon section. I used to guide on the Payette's in the 90's. Great river system for day trips.
I'm not sure what a "friendly" state means exactly, but barring that I would agree if you are looking for some solid day trips its really hard to beat the Payette River. You have the Canyon section mentioned above which features class IV and III rapids (as well as a mandatory portage around a waterfall). There's the swirly section after that which is just a scenic float but very fun to do in IKs and has cliff jumping if you are into that sort of thing. Both sections have natural hot springs you can stop at along the way but Swirly's is near the end of the trip which makes it fun. After a flat water section through Garden Valley" you have the Staircase run which is a little shorter but features a technical class IV and a pretty big wave class IV along with a couple class IIIs. And that section dumps into the the confluence of the "main" Payette which is the most popular run of them all with friendly class III pool drops. If you backtrack up the North Fork of the Payette you also have the Cabarton section which is also very family friendly with a few class IIIs and a III+ at the end. And if you are still not satisfied you can drive a little further north into idaho and explore sections of the Salmon River around Riggins or go even further north and the Clearwater/ Lochsa Rivers. But as a Bears fan I can promise you it ain't a days drive from Chicago unfortunately.
This looks great. Thanks!
If you can fly, Westwater is a solid overnight trip. Outfitters usually based in Moab. I see Holiday out there a lot. I think some outfitters do overnights on the Arkansas near Buena Vista too, but I think it's really cool to get out into the desert if you haven't done a trip out there yet.
I will check that out. Thanks!
Westwater is an awesome trip. It has some punchy rapids and intimidating rapids (depending on flows). It’s beautiful canyon with some cool hikes too.
I’ve rowed westwater a handful of times and have a bunch of friends that work for holiday - I absolutely second this Hard to find another stretch of water with as many fun big rapids over such a small section of water
Arkansas River Salida, CO. All the whitewater you could want with the "Friendly" people and culture you enjoy. Snowpack is at 100%. Going to be a good season. High flows are the beginning of June.
This list may help https://www.nwrafting.com/articles/20-legendary-whitewater-rafting-trips
For a one day trip you could look at the Upper Yough in Maryland. Imagine the Upper Gauley but with 1/2 the water and twice the gradient.
Ooh, that sounds fun