North Fork American River
Colfax / Iowa Hill · near Colfax / Auburn · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- April–June (snowmelt dependent) · High water makes Class IV sections IV+ or V · Check flows before booking
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Commercial outfitter permits through BLM. Private boaters: some sections require permit, check with BLM Auburn field office. The North Fork runs free (undammed) — water levels are purely snowpack driven.
What is here
- Activities
- guided-rafting · kayaking
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- 16+ (depends on outfitter and flow) · Paddler fitness test sometimes required
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- All-Outdoors · Whitewater Excitement · W.E.T. River Trips
- Outfitters
- All-Outdoors California Whitewater · OARS (affiliate)
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Class min
- IV
- Class max
- V
- Trip options
- Full day · Long day (some sections) · NOT multi-day commercial
- Key rapids
- Giant Gap Run · Chamberlain Falls · Iowa Hill Section
- Intl tip
- Colfax is a small Gold Country town on I-80 between Sacramento and Truckee. The drive from Sacramento through Auburn and up into the Sierra foothills on Highway 49 passes through the heart of Gold Country — old mining towns, covered bridges, and river canyon scenery that make the road trip as worthwhile as the destination.
The guide
The North Fork of the American flows free — no major dams regulate it, which means its personality is entirely determined by th…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to North Fork American River — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.0935, -120.9546