Cherry Creek / Upper Tuolumne
Groveland / Buck Meadows · near Groveland · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- July–September (season doesn't start until snowmelt slows enough for safe levels) · Some years limited season · Check outfitter availability
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Commercial permit required. Recreation.gov permit lottery for private boaters — extremely competitive. Joining a commercial guided trip is the practical path for nearly everyone.
What is here
- Activities
- guided-rafting · kayaking
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- 18+ · Strong swimmer required · Guide phone screening and paddler assessment
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- Sierra Mac · All-Outdoors
- Outfitters
- Zephyr Whitewater · Sierra Mac River Trips · OARS
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- The Hardest Commercial Rafting in California
- Class min
- V
- Class max
- V+
- Trip options
- Full day only · Small group sizes · Outfitter-managed only
- Key rapids
- Lewis's Leap (Class V) · Flat Rock Falls (Class V) · Mushroom (Class V)
- Intl tip
- Groveland, the base town for both Cherry Creek and Tuolumne rafting, is 26 miles from Yosemite Valley on Highway 120. A Cherry Creek trip followed by a Yosemite Valley day (or vice versa) covers the highest-intensity points of both California's river and mountain experiences within the same geography.
The guide
Cherry Creek carries a specific reputation in California rafting circles: it is the hardest commercially guided whitewater in t…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Cherry Creek / Upper Tuolumne — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.9341, -119.9087