Whitewater Rafting in Maine is a MUST DO

"Rafting is fun!"

That is what river guides shared with us just before going through all of the safety instructions, risks, and dangers of whitewater rafting. Although listening through this safety lecture wasn't exactly "fun," nor did it help ease any inexperienced rookie anxiety, what followed was a core memory we will cherish forever.

By the end of our first whitewater rafting adventure, it became clear to us that "fun" is an extremely underwhelming word when describing whitewater rafting, and those meticulous details of the dos and do nots were purely a (necessary) over precaution. Here is our experience of a day trip rafting the Kennebec River.

First, There Are a Few Options When It Comes to Booking a Guided Whitewater Rafting Experience in Maine

We didn't go with Three Rivers Whitewater Rafting Maine, but it has received a lot of positive reviews, and certainly appears to be a viable option.

If you CLICK HERE, forksarea.com is a great website that has not only aggregated all of the companies that offer whitewater rafting, but also other activities and experiences for every season of the year in The Forks.

Our Whitewater Rafting Experience Was Through Northern Outdoors in Maine

And they (Northern Outdoors) were fantastic. Experiencing The Forks in its entirety is something, as transplants, we will emphatically recommend to anyone who has never been and recommend to revisit for those who have.

From the Bangor area, The Forks is just under a 2-hour drive. Our meeting time for whitewater rafting on Saturday morning was at 0745, so we opted to stay in a cabin Friday night at Northern Outdoors.

If you have dinner at the Northern Outdoors restaurant, 100% get the meatloaf or meatloaf burger. WOW. The cabin, the food (we had dinner and breakfast, and they were both delicious), the staff, even their coffee made this quick 24-hour getaway very enjoyable ... and Mother Nature outdid herself all over The Forks area. I intentionally did not bring my GoPro so I could enjoy the experience, but in hindsight AFTER taking in all the views, I wish I had to try and capture everything. It was ineffably beautiful.

The Whitewater rafting experience is something for just about everyone. I saw kids and adults of all shapes and sizes. There are two lectures/briefs, and the staff are extremely personable while also thorough and professional. They (any guided tour you choose) provide all of the safety equipment, and you have the option to rent clothing to keep you as dry and warm as possible for around $5.

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If you want to bring your phone or GoPro, bring a waterproof case where you can secure it to your body, and also bring the willingness to lose both items forever to the Kennebec River.

After receiving instructions, a paddle, and a vest with helmet, you and your group will load a bus and be shuttled about 40 minutes to the Harris Station Dam (which is impressive architecture). This is where you will launch.

From there, the adventure begins, and without too many spoilers, you will have an incredible first half of rafting that last around an hour. You'll then stop on a beach for lunch (get the salmon) which is all cooked in reusable ware and utensils, have coffee, lemonade, tea and water, and then back to the rafts.

There are roughly 30 minutes of rapids after lunch, and then it's an hour of essentially tubing, swimming, and taking in the beauty of the Kennebec.

We 100% recommend whitewater rafting the Kennebec and thank you Northern Outdoors for an experience we already can't wait to do again.