Kings River
Fresno / Dunlap / Pine Flat · near Fresno / Sanger / Pine Flat · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- April–July (snowmelt dependent) · One of California's earliest-running and latest rivers due to Kings Canyon headwaters elevation
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Commercial outfitter permits through Sierra National Forest and BLM. Private boaters: no permit for standard sections. Kings Canyon National Park permit required for upper backcountry sections.
What is here
- Activities
- guided-rafting · kayaking
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- 7+ (most trips)
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- Kings River Expeditions · Zephyr Whitewater
- Outfitters
- Kings River Expeditions · All-Outdoors California Whitewater
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Class min
- III
- Class max
- IV
- Trip options
- Full day · Half-day possible · Multi-day with camping
- Key rapids
- Rodgers Crossing (Class IV) · Garnet Dike (Class III) · Banzai (Class IV)
- Intl tip
- Kings Canyon National Park, directly upstream, is Yosemite's less-visited sibling — a granite canyon ecosystem of comparable grandeur with dramatically fewer crowds. Combine Kings River rafting with a Kings Canyon day drive (the park road dead-ends at Road's End in one of California's most spectacular valley settings) for a complete high-Sierra experience.
The guide
The Kings River is the Sierra Nevada's underrated whitewater secret — draining Kings Canyon National Park and flowing out of th…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Kings River — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.7987, -119.1744