Rafting Classes Chicago - Whitewater Rafting 101: St. Joseph River

Whitewater Rafting 101: St. Joseph River

with Discovery Center

TOP RATED

5.0 | 1 review

6 Have Dabbled

ABOUT THIS EVENT

Event Category

Fitness & Wellness

Event Overview

Experience the thrill of white water rafting as you and your friends raft Indiana's only whitewater river, the St. Joseph.

After a short ride from Chicago you join our rafting guides at the St. Joseph. Laugh, shout and have the time of your life as you repeat your thrill ride over and over again. Through the years over 200,000 rafters have experienced the excitement on this special 1/2 mile section of the St. Joseph River. This Waterway draws Olympic winners and National Champions. It is an excellent introduction to whitewater rafting. Whether you come alone or in a group, you can expect to have a great time! After the trip we will stop for dinner and drinks.

This class includes:

- Basic rafting instruction and three hours of access to the best portion of the St. Joseph river, the first one and half hour of which, is reserved for our group only.
- Roundtrip bus transportation
- Rafts, paddles,life jackets and instruction
- A stop for food & beer or soft drink after rafting, & your first beer or soft drink are on us!

Plan to arrive early Sunday (7:30 a.m) for orientation, coffee and donuts. Trip departs from 2855 N Lincoln Ave. Returns approximately 6:00 p.m.

In case weather prohibits rafting, the trip will be rescheduled, there will be no refunds in this event.

What to Bring

Bring towel, & dry change of clothes including shoes with ankle straps (no flip flops)

Minimum age

All ages welcome

Cancellation Policy

Location

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MORE ABOUT YOUR HOST

Discovery Center

TOP RATED

Founded in 1978, The Discovery Center is Chicago's Lifelong Learning Center. As Chicago's largest and longest running independent adult education program, we present fun, stimulating classes by qualified independent instructors who enjoy introducing others to their subjects.

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EXPERIENCE REVIEWS

Giselle S.
Reviewed on 08/04/14

This was our 2nd anniversary shindig, and we had a blast! The trip on the school bus to the river was a bit long, but it was understandable since we don't have white water here in the city! We were complete novices, so we fell off the raft the first time on the river, but then successfully navigated the water three more times after that!

Some things we learned for next time:
- bring a bathing suit, even if you don't fall out- you will get wet
- bring a bandana to keep your hair out of your face, and in your helmet
- when you fall out you're supposed to point your feet downstream and put your arms straight out to catch the rope from the lifeguard. Listen to this. The first instinct is to try to swim to safety but since the current is stronger than most of us are used to, you need that rope off to the side, otherwise you could get hurt.
- there is no live demonstration, there's basically just a do this, don't do this speech, but the point is to figure out the best strategy for your team!
- I usually wear glasses, wore my contacts for this and had no issues (even with my head going under for the fall)
-this is a level 2 far as white water goes, on a scale of 5
-pack snacks, it's a 2ish hour drive there and then another 2 back (the dinner was good!)
- water shoes worked out great for us (listen to the no flip flop rule)
-when the river opens up to the public there is a lot more traffic on the water, and less equipment to go around (rafts, life vests, paddles, and helmets all have to be given back after each trip once it's open to the public), however, if you're not afraid to go in there and grab what you need once the truck comes up with the supplies, you should be able to go a couple more times
-the walk back from the final dock to the equipment area is about a half mile
-your arms hurt and legs will feel like jelly sometimes but it goes away soon, it's definitely a work out!
-it feels like you won a prize each time you navigate the entire course successfully (at least for us!)
-it's basically an adult water slide full of adrenaline and teamwork

We will definitely be doing this again and trying to persuade our friends to join us :)

This was our 2nd anniversary shindig, and we had a blast! The trip on the school bus to the river was a bit long, but it was understandable since we don't have white water here in the city! We were complete novices, so we fell off the raft the first time on the river, but then successfully navigated the water three more times after that!

Some things we learned for next time:
- bring a bathing suit, even if you don't fall out- you will get wet
- bring a bandana to keep your hair out of your face, and in your helmet
- when you fall out you're supposed to point your feet downstream and put your arms straight out to catch the rope from the lifeguard. Listen to this. The first instinct is to try to swim to safety but since the current is stronger than most of us are used to, you need that rope off to the side, otherwise you could get hurt.
- there is no live demonstration, there's basically just a do this, don't do this speech, but the point is to figure out the best strategy for your team!
- I usually wear glasses, wore my contacts for this and had no issues (even with my head going under for the fall)
-this is a level 2 far as white water goes, on a scale of 5
-pack snacks, it's a 2ish hour drive there and then another 2 back (the dinner was good!)
- water shoes worked out great for us (listen to the no flip flop rule)
-when the river opens up to the public there is a lot more traffic on the water, and less equipment to go around (rafts, life vests, paddles, and helmets all have to be given back after each trip once it's open to the public), however, if you're not afraid to go in there and grab what you need once the truck comes up with the supplies, you should be able to go a couple more times
-the walk back from the final dock to the equipment area is about a half mile
-your arms hurt and legs will feel like jelly sometimes but it goes away soon, it's definitely a work out!
-it feels like you won a prize each time you navigate the entire course successfully (at least for us!)
-it's basically an adult water slide full of adrenaline and teamwork

We will definitely be doing this again and trying to persuade our friends to join us :)