Photo Credit: Kenai River Rafting

Alaska Rafting Tours

Alaska Rafting Tours  (:46)

Floating down the river, you hear the rush of water approaching. Suddenly you see them: the unmistakable caps of whitewater. Before you know it you're in the middle of the rapids, holding on tight as water splashes all around. You spin and speed down the raging tides, white-knuckled yet smiling from ear to ear. Or perhaps you'd prefer to skip the rollercoaster ride and relax on a gentle float through a silent stretch of pristine Alaska wilderness, as nature goes about its business.Whether you choose a whitewater adventure or a scenic float trip, visitors will enjoy their time on the water, regardless of age or ability. These trips are some of the best ways to connect with nature in Alaska. You're outdoors, away from motors and exhaust, working closely in concert with the water. Because of our massive glacier runoff and rainwater drainage, Alaskan rivers serve up more adventure than most anything you'd find in the Lower 48—from the Kenai Peninsula's Sixmile River to Denali's Nenana River.

There are so many amazing adventures to be had in Alaska. So why should you go Alaska whitewater rafting or calm water rafting?

It's Remote

Alaska rafting puts you right in the middle of nature, giving you up-close views of Alaska's wildlife.and its unique topography. Glaciers have carved U-shaped valleys and channels that move swiftly through the landscape. It also gives you an up-close look at wildlife.

It's Easy

Even a first-timer can experience advanced Alaska whitewater runs. Because of the high level of professionalism and experience in Alaska's river guides, you needn't have gone rafting before to enjoy it.

It's Cheap

Dollar for dollar, rafting is one of Alaska's best values. A basic 2-3 hour Alaska whitewater rafting trip or scenic float could cost between $50-85, versus $175 or more for a 1.5-hour flightseeing trip, or $450 or more for a full-day bear-viewing safari.

It's Historic

Rafting was used by those trying to make it upriver to the goldfields at the turn of the century. Sure, today's rafts are made of advanced vinyls and not the hand-hewn log rafts of yesteryear. But people moved through the country by water looking for gold, to go hunting, or to migrate to new, richer areas. And it's easy to imagine yourself as a pioneer while traveling this way.

How-To Tips

When planning a rafting trip, make sure you pick the right style for you. There are two basic types:

  • Whitewater rafting: Sometimes akin to a rollercoaster ride: Calm water followed by raging tides. You'll be white-knuckled but smiling from ear to ear. (Don't worry—even first-timers can handle it, and your guides are experienced.)
  • Scenic Floats: Sounds mellow, and it is. Relax on a gentle float through a silent stretch of pristine Alaska wilderness, as nature goes about its business. The emphasis is on wildlife viewing.

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Skagway View All

Kayak around a scenic lake or take a scenic raft trip through a bald eagle preserve

Season: May - September $99+ 2.5 - 6.5 hrs

With bald eagles, bears, and gor­geous scenery, as well as fas­ci­nat­ing cul­ture and his­to­ry, these tours out of Skag­way and Haines offer an up-close expe­ri­ence with insights from knowl­edge­able local guides. There are sev­er­al options, includ­ing wildlife and nature tours that focus­es on find­ing and learn­ing about wildlife, a pho­tog­ra­phy tour where you get the chance to enhance your pho­tog­ra­phy skills, raft­ing, and some fun sight­see­ing tours  ...more

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Girdwood & Kenai Peninsula View All

Explore the Kenai or Sixmile Rivers, only 40 minutes to 2 hours from Anchorage

$139+ 2+ hrs

Six Mile Creek is one of the most famous — and most chal­leng­ing — white­wa­ter runs in the entire state of Alas­ka. Your heart will be pound­ing and your mus­cles burn­ing as you pad­dle through rapids called Big Rock Drop,” Suck­hole,” and Let’s Make a Deal.”

Season: May–September $119+

Dis­cov­er Alaska’s scenic gem, Portage Val­ley — just an hour from Anchor­age with Glac­i­er City Raft­ing & Hik­ing. Offer­ing small-group tours guid­ed by knowl­edge­able locals, and explore glacial lakes, snow-capped peaks, and wildlife.

Season: June 1 - Sep 15 $849 per person

Expe­ri­ence the wilder­ness of the Chugach Nation­al For­est from sev­er­al dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives. Com­bine a heli­copter ride, alpine hike, glacial lake tour, and train ride all in 9 – 10 hours! It’s one big and bold Alas­ka tour de force with Chugach Adventures.

Season: May 10 - Sept 15 $200 per person 3 hrs

Join Flow AK on a back­coun­try adven­ture with expert guides as you nav­i­gate the nar­row canyons and chal­leng­ing rapids of Six Mile Creek. With small groups and per­son­al­ized atten­tion, you’re sure to make new friends and unfor­get­table mem­o­ries. Just a short dri­ve from Anchor­age, this excur­sion is not to be missed!

Season: May 25 – September 15 $238+ (Rate Includes Train Ticket)

The orig­i­nal hall­mark trip that got the Alas­ka Rail­road to bring the Glac­i­er Dis­cov­ery to Spencer Glac­i­er in 2002. This is one of the most scenic glac­i­er riv­er trips in Alas­ka and a per­fect float for all ages. Your trip begins with a scenic ride on Alas­ka Railroad’s Glac­i­er Dis­cov­ery train, which runs from Anchor­age, Gird­wood, and oth­er pick-up points along the rail­belt. Enjoy a beau­ti­ful ride down Tur­na­gain Arm and the Plac­er Riv­er Val­ley and  ...more

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McCarthy-Kennicott View All

Single to multi-day tours in beautiful Wrangell St. Elias National Park

$875+ per person 2 - 7 days

Sprawl­ing Wrangell-St. Elias Nation­al Park has huge moun­tains, North America’s largest con­cen­tra­tion of glac­i­ers, and thou­sands of rivers — but just two roads. That’s why tak­ing to the local rivers is such an excel­lent way to explore the park: this oper­a­tor out of McCarthy offers mul­ti-day adven­tures that embrace the rugged won­ders of the park, while keep­ing you com­fort­able enough so that you relax and enjoy it.

Season: May 15 - Sept 15 $95+ per person 2 - 4 hrs

Tak­ing to the rivers is such an excel­lent way to explore Wrangell St. Elias Nation­al park, and this oper­a­tor out of McCarthy offers day trips that let you embrace the won­ders of the park in a com­fort­able, hands-on, way. Both day trips are four hours. One allows you to pad­dle around a glacial lake, relax, and take in the scenery. The oth­er takes it up a notch by float­ing down­riv­er through class 2 and 3 rapids after a brief pad­dle around the lake.  ...more

Season: June 15 – September 1 $115+ 3+ hours

Raft the gor­geous glac­i­er-fed rivers and ice­berg-filled lakes of the Alaskan back­coun­try out of McCarthy, an his­toric town in the heart of America’s largest nation­al park, Wrangell-St. Elias. Going with St. Elias Alpine Guides — the park’s longest-oper­at­ing raft­ing com­pa­ny — is a great way to expe­ri­ence the wilder­ness on every­thing from half-day out­ings to 15-day expe­di­tions. No expe­ri­ence is required, and all food and gear are provided!

Season: May 15 to Sep 15 $215+ per person 4 - 8 hrs

Expe­ri­ence the thrill of try­ing out a new sport: pack­raft­ing. Led by expert guides, you’ll leave from the town of Ken­ni­cott out to the Alaskan back­coun­try, then strap a raft to your back (it’s under 9 pounds) and set off on an inter­pre­tive walk down to a lake. Then unpack the raft and put in the water. You’ll learn how to use and maneu­ver these unique boats in Class I‑II water, and even have the pos­si­bil­i­ty of tak­ing on some Class III rapids.  ...more

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Juneau View All

Relaxing waters with glacier views on the Mendenhall River

$179 3.5 hrs

The focus of the 3.5‑hour Menden­hall Glac­i­er Float Trip is great views of the name­sake glac­i­er, which is 1.5 miles wide, 150 feet high, and the most famous part of the mas­sive Juneau Ice­field that even John Muir once raved about. Glide along the ice­berg-stud­ded lake and scope out the glac­i­er, get­ting up-close views of hang­ing glac­i­ers and tow­er­ing peaks. Keep an eye out for birds nest­ing in the rocky cliffs, as well as otters, seals, black  ...more

Season: June 1 – Sept 15 $749 5 hrs

Expe­ri­ence the ulti­mate Alaskan adven­ture with Above & Beyond Alaska’s Fly-In Glac­i­er Hike & Pack­raft tour! Explore glac­i­ers in a 5‑hour jour­ney, includ­ing flight­see­ing, hik­ing, and pack­raft­ing. Max­i­mum 6 peo­ple per tour.

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Cooper Landing View All

Scenic floats & whitewater trips in Wrangell St. Elias National Park

Season: May 25 - Sept 15 $72+ 2 to 7 hrs

Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­tures pio­neered float­ing the mel­low, turquoise Kenai Riv­er and has oper­at­ed con­tin­u­ous­ly since 1977. Join them for a serene 2‑hour float, or take on a 7‑hour adven­ture, com­plete with fun Class II+ rapids and a cruise through a glacial lake. AWA’s Kenai Riv­er Scenic Float Trip offers a nice intro­duc­tion to the riv­er, tak­ing you along a stretch of the scenic Upper Kenai closed to motor­ized boats. Watch for wildlife as your  ...more

$64+ per person 3 - 9 hrs

Alas­ka Riv­er Adven­tures Kenai Riv­er raft­ing trips are some of its most pop­u­lar and acces­si­ble excur­sions – and are a great val­ue too. Full day trips show­case 19 miles of Alas­ka wild from Kenai Lake to Ski­lak Lake, giv­ing plen­ty of time for spot­ting wildlife, his­toric spots and gor­geous views from all angles. When you have just a few hours, a scenic and serene 14-mile float of the Upper Kenai Riv­er pro­vides a vari­ety of sights, from historic  ...more

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Copper Center View All

Float the remote and scenic rivers of the Copper River Valley. Scenic, whitewater, and multi-day trips available.

Season: May 15 to Sep 15 $150+ 3 hrs to Multi-Day

Explor­ing the rivers of Cop­per Cen­ter, around 4 hours from Anchor­age and right on the edge of gor­geous Wrangell-St. Elias Nation­al Park, brings oppor­tu­ni­ties for every­thing from mild floats to Class III and IV rapids. Since the Cop­per Riv­er Basin is a lit­tle more remote than oth­er areas, you’ll be able to tru­ly appre­ci­ate the wilder­ness as you enjoy a relax­ing day on the water.

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Talkeetna & Willow View All

Calm waters with a view of Denali on the Talkeetna, Susitna, and Chulitna Rivers

Season: May 20 - Sept 15 $99+ 2 hr - Multi-Day

Tal­keet­na Riv­er Guides has offered expert­ly guid­ed raft­ing day trips for over 20 years. Float through the remote wilder­ness of Denali State Park, just a stone’s throw away from Denali Nation­al Park’s wild south side. Choose the two-hour Tal­keet­na Riv­er Nat­ur­al His­to­ry Float Trip, the four-hour Chulti­na Riv­er Raft Tour, or an overnight or mul­ti-day excursion.

Season: May 15 to Sep 15 $99 per person 3 hrs

Go for a relax­ing 3‑hour float trip down gen­tle Wil­low Creek as you take in the gor­geous scenery of the Alaskan back­coun­try. Depart­ing from Pio­neer Lodge, just off the Parks High­way south of Tal­keet­na, you’ll board a raft with up to 6 oth­ers and an expert guide. Then just kick back, or grab a pad­dle if you like: You can expect easy-glid­ing Class I and II rapids on this gen­tle river.

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Denali View All

Calm waters & exciting rapids with gorgeous canyon views on the Nenana River

Season: May - Sept $125+ 3.5 - 5.5 hrs

Feel the thrill of crush­ing through white­wa­ter on the Nenana Riv­er just out­side the icon­ic Denali Nation­al Park. Do it with New Wave Adven­tures and you’ll have your choice of raft­ing trips — you can even decide whether to pad­dle or just take in the beau­ti­ful scenery — as well as oth­er excit­ing options like hik­ing and pack­raft­ing, all great options for fam­i­ly fun.

Season: May 20 to Sep 10 $125+ 3 - 5.5 hrs

Just out­side Denali Nation­al Park, the Nenana Riv­er offers a unique raft­ing expe­ri­ence: The riv­er is big and icy cold, with glacial­ly fed waters. But this raft­ing out­fit­ter based near the Park Entrance offers a soul-warm­ing expe­ri­ence on the riv­er, which makes an excel­lent coun­ter­part to a bus tour through the nation­al park. Choose a quick 3‑hour trip on mild water or splash through some rapids. Or opt for a longer 5.5‑hour run. 

Season: Year Round Custom pricing, contact for rates Half, Full Day & Multi-Day

Raft the pris­tine and scenic rivers in the Denali area with an expert, local guide. The most pop­u­lar water activ­i­ty is riv­er raft­ing, which can range from a scenic float to a more white­wa­ter expe­ri­ence on a class III+ riv­er. For a full day of adven­ture, you can com­bine a trip on the riv­er with hik­ing. Tra­verse Alas­ka also offers pack­raft­ing (each per­son is pad­dling their own small boat), which is a day-and-a-half class, tran­si­tion­ing from  ...more

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Glacier View View All

Amazing Matanuska Glacier views just under two hours from Anchorage

Season: June 1 - Aug 20 $139+ 3 hrs

If you’re new to white­wa­ter raft­ing or expe­ri­enced in shoot­ing through rapids, Lion’s Head makes for an excit­ing white­wa­ter raft­ing trip. You’ll spend 2.5 hours speed­ing down class II, III, and IV white­wa­ter, either pad­dling your­self or hang­ing on as your guide steers the raft down­stream. All the while, you’ll be pass­ing through gor­geous wilder­ness — wide-open vis­tas with mas­sive rock for­ma­tions — where you’ll have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to look for  ...more

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Haines View All

Mild waters through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve

Season: May - September $99+ 2.5 - 6.5 hrs

With bald eagles, bears, and gor­geous scenery, as well as fas­ci­nat­ing cul­ture and his­to­ry, these tours out of Skag­way and Haines offer an up-close expe­ri­ence with insights from knowl­edge­able local guides. There are sev­er­al options, includ­ing wildlife and nature tours that focus­es on find­ing and learn­ing about wildlife, a pho­tog­ra­phy tour where you get the chance to enhance your pho­tog­ra­phy skills, raft­ing, and some fun sight­see­ing tours  ...more

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