American River Parkway (Sacramento)
Sacramento (Sunrise to Sacramento) · near Sacramento · Gold Country & Central Valley
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- Summer (May–September) · Reliable dam-controlled flows
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Lower American River through the Parkway — public access. Dam-controlled below Nimbus/Folsom, giving reliable, gentle summer flows. The quintessential Sacramento summer float. Alcohol restrictions and life-jacket rules enforced on busy days.
What is here
- Activities
- tubing · self-guided · kayaking
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- All ages (gentle water; life jackets essential)
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- American River Raft Rentals · River Rat
- Outfitters
- American River Raft Rentals
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- The Urban Summer Float
- Class min
- I
- Class max
- II
- Trip options
- Mellow half-day float (the 'Sunrise to Sac State' classic) · Rentals widely available
- Key rapids
- San Juan Rapids · The gentle drift
- Intl tip
- The American River Parkway is one of the country's great urban greenbelts — bike trails, salmon runs, and beaches right in Sacramento. Old Sacramento's waterfront and the city's farm-to-fork dining scene are the natural bookends to a float day. Follow the life-jacket and alcohol rules — they're enforced.
The guide
The American River Parkway float is Sacramento's beloved summer ritual — a mellow Class I drift down the lower American through…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to American River Parkway (Sacramento) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.625, -121.268