The North Umpqua River, known for ample amounts of thrilling whitewater and mountain scenery, is an ideal place to hideaway from the world for a few days of fun with your family and friends. On this escape into the Cascade Mountains your group can enjoy two days of splashing, paddling, and enjoying the excitement of the river, floating both the upper and lower sections. For the evening between the two days you are free to stay at one of the incredible lodges, glamping or camping options in the area. Our guides will meet you at the river for the first day of rafting and return you to your vehicle at the end of the day. The second day, the guides will again meet you at the river for another fun day of whitewater.
Day one on the North Umpqua River the group will run the popular one-day section from Boulder to Gravel Bin with numerous class II, III, and even one IV rated rapid. Day two run the less often traveled lower section with a collection of extremely exciting, big wave class III rapids that get the adrenaline rushing. Day two is amazing section of river that often goes un-explored, so on the two day trip you become one of the fewer who see this incredible section of whitewater.
The North Umpqua River area has so many incredible overnight options we are running these two day trips as a “do-it-yourself” overnight. That mean you can arrange your own overnight lodging and we will just coordinate two incredible days of whitewater. A couple of our recommended places to stay
Umpqua’s Last Resort - Small cabins, glamping and RV hookup’s.
The Steamboat Inn - Incredible riverside lodge
Horseshoe Bend Campground - You can reserve campsites online. Do it early as the fill up quick. There are a number of other USFS campgrounds in the area as well.
Due to the permit system on the Umpqua River we only offer a limited number of trips every year so book early as we do book out the whole season.
Trip at a glance
Anyone looking to explore a hidden gem of Oregon and get in some great whitewater.
Dates / Rates
North Umpqua 2-day Trips
Trip Start Dates:
Every Monday, Wednesday, Saturday May 15 to August 31
$349 per person.
This is a “do-it-yourself” overnight trip. So we will take you on the river both days but the single night is on your own. This way you can choose the accommodations which best fit your group. We also highly encourage you to explore some of the unique offerings in the area on your night between trips; things like hiking to Toketee Falls and the Umpqua Hot Springs.
Detailed Itinerary for this North Umpqua Multi-day Trip
Day 1: Meet your guides at Gravel Bin Boat Launch site between 9:15 and 9:30am. Your vehicle will be left in the parking lot and you can ride in our van up to the put-in.
Day one starts off with a bang and puts you in some perfect warm-up class II+ or III white water. This is where you will hone your inflatable kayak skills of weaving around boulders and riding over waves, or bring your rafting team into sync as you prepare for the bigger rapids in a paddle raft.
After a riverside lunch prepared by the guides, it will be time to head back out for the white water packed half of the day. The afternoon on the North Umpqua is filled with class II, III and one class IV rapid hiding in the middle. After paddling through rapids like the Froggers, Amazon Queen and Pinball, your raft team will feel ready to take on any white water you can find. In the late afternoon when your knuckles are white and your smile has become a permanent fixture on your face, the group will reach the takeout and your vehicle.
At the takeout you can load in your vehicle and head to Steamboat Creek falls for some swimming, relaxing and jumping into the deep pool below the falls or you can head directly to your camp or lodge for the night. This is also a great time to head up to Toketee falls or the hotsprings.
Day 2: Meet your guides at the pre-arranged put-in on the North Umpqua river for another day filled with crystal-clear water, big waves and fun with your group. The day typically starts off at Bogus Creek with plenty of exciting morning white water, including Wright Creek and Bathtub rapids. You will quickly notice that the rapids on day two are a bit bigger than day one and the excitement level has jumped up a notch or two. This is a thrilling section of river. Another riverside lunch will lead you into more class II and III rapids, such as Cliffside and the guide favorite, Island. Upon arrival at the takeout the guides will shuttle you back to your vehicle and you can head to another night explore the amazing area around the Umpqua.
Where to Meet Orange Torpedo Trips
For this trip we meet at Gravel Bin Boat Ramp: On Highway 138 about 1 mile up river from the Steamboat Inn. We meet here around 9:15 AM.
Accommodations
Umpqua’s Last Resort - Small cabins, glamping and RV hookup’s.
The Steamboat Inn - Incredible riverside lodge
Dogwood Motel - Nice little hotel
Camping
The North Umpqua River corridor is strewn with incredible camp grounds.
North Umpqua River Camping Information
Flying In
The closest commercial airport is in Eugene, Oregon which is about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Roserburg. If you fly into Eugene you will need to rent a car and meet us at the Windmill Inn in Roserburg.
Typical Weather
Southern Oregon is known for its great summer weather.
Averages are:
Averages are:
- May · High (F) 71 Low (F) 46 Avg. Rainfall 1.82 in.
- June · High (F) 78 Low (F) 51 Avg. Rainfall .92 in.
- July · High (F) 86 Low (F) 55 Avg. Rainfall .44 in.
- August · High (F) 86 Low (F) 55 Avg. Rainfall .57 in.
What to pack
On the River
- 2 swimsuits or shorts and top (cotton not recommended)
- Sports sandals or hard-soled wetsuit booties (ideally something that does not come off when swimming)
- Synthetic paddling gloves (only if kayaking and even then not required but they do help with blisters) - Available at our shop
- Polypro, synthetic or hydro-skin shirt (nice for mornings and chilly days - Not required but can be comfortable) - Available at our shop
- Water Bottle (1 liter) with carabiner - Available at our shop
- Waterproof sunscreen - Available at our shop
- Sunglasses with croakies or chums strap (consider bringing two pairs)
FAQs
Please find all reservation and cancellation policies here: https://www.orangetorpedo.com/reservation-policies/
We strongly encourage all customers to purchase travel insurance through travel guard to help protect your travel investment against the things that come up in life. It’s a small additional price for the comfort to know that if something comes up (illness, work change, etc) you will have the ability to recover your significant travel investment. Get a Travel Guard Quote Here.
On this trip you will be required to sign an acknowledgement of risk form.
As on most of our trips we offer a variety of river craft to choose from. Orange Torpedo Trips is best known for inflatable kayaking with 80% of our customers choosing this as the way to go down the river, but on this trip we offer 3 types of river craft on this trip. Watch the video to learn more about our 3-boats.
Orange Torpedo
Learn to paddle your own inflatable kayak (Torpedo). We have guides in Torpedo’s teaching you how to paddle and leading you through the rapids in a 4 to 1 ratio. If you happen to fall out the guides have you out of the river in seconds. 45+ years of doing it on the Rogue River and tens of thousands of satisfied returning customers prove that it is extremely fun.
Paddle Raft
A more traditional type of rafting, paddle rafts are a great way to go if you still want to do some work, but think the torpedo is just a little to much. Work with a team of your friends paddling the big boat through the rapids as the guide sits in the back to help navigate.
Oared Raft
Hop on an oared raft and ride in luxury. This is the relaxed way to travel. If taking in the scenery and letting the guide do the work is how you vacation then hop on board. This is how kids 4-11 years old will usually travel.
An Orange Torpedo is our custom-designed inflatable kayak. We have brought our 45 years of guided inflatable kayaking experience into our partnership with world renown raft builder SOTAR to introduce an industry leading high performance, beginner friendly inflatable kayak which we exclusively use.
It is very uncommon on the North Umpqua that rafts flip but anytime one is boating on a class III or IV river it is certainly possible. It is more common (while still un-common) that someone falls out the side of the raft while in a rapid. In this case another participant or the guide will work to quickly pull the swimmer back into the boat. We cover what to do in this situation in our pre-trip orientation at the put-in.
Gratuity is certainly appreciated but by no means required. At the conclusion of a trip please just give any gratuity to the head guide who will divide it evenly among the crew. Standard restaurant gratuity percentages have started to be the norm for the outdoor industry.
Yes, but with some limitation. If you start in an inflatable kayak and decide quickly that it’s not for you. We will get you out of the kayak. If you start in a raft and decide you want to kayak, we cannot always guarantee that ability. Based on what people tell us they want to do we pack a specific amount of equipment and bring an appropriate number of guides for a trip. Sometimes that does not leave much room to add kayakers mid-trip. People will often be willing to switch out throughout the trip, but if someone signs up to tackle the river in an inflatable kayak, we want to make sure they have chance to paddle the entire trip if they want.
As on all OTT trips, this trip requires a 30% deposit. The remaining balance is due 30 days before the trip launches. Upon making your reservation you have the option to set up your credit card to automatically run the balance on the due date.
Orange Torpedo Trips was founded on the Rogue River in 1969 by rafting visionary, Jerry Bentley. Within just a few years OTT had spread to numerous rivers throughout the Northwest including the Klamath River, the Main Salmon River and Snake Rivers.