If you’re looking to plan a family river vacation out West, the Rogue River in southwestern Oregon is one of the finest experiences you can choose. The wildlife viewing is superb and the river canyon is absolutely beautiful. It will remind you of the Buffalo River’s lush, narrow corridor, only with larger, more engaging rapids.

Selected by Congress as a Wild & Scenic River in 1968, the Rogue lives up to its expectation as a pristine wilderness destination. You’ll feel miles and miles from nowhere and gorgeous scenery is waiting around every bend in the river. It’s no wonder that National Geographic Adventure magazine (see news article) recently ranked the Rogue as one of the country's top river rafting adventures.

As for whitewater action, we agree with outfitter Echo Trips: the Rogue is a wonderful rafting river for families and beginners, yet it offers enough whitewater excitement for teens and river veterans.

Some of the highlights of our 3-day trip included countless wildlife watching opportunities: numerous osprey and bald eagle swooping down for fish; salmon soaring through the air as they gallantly tried to overcome rapids in their quest to return upstream; and black bear ambling along the mountainous shoreline. We also enjoyed visiting Zane Grey’s cabin, which was so intact and well preserved that you expected the famous author to open the front door and say hello any moment.

We highly recommend Echo Trips for your adventure as the company’s ownership and staff have a deep, genuine affection for the landscape, as well as the guests they serve. Safety, top guides, interesting interpretive, protection of the resource, and wholesome, family-friendly adventure were hallmarks of our experience.

The Rogue may be a long way from Arkansas, but to us it was worth the few extra hours of travel time for the privilege of exploring this iconic American waterway.

So, Is This Stuff Reliable? The opinions and recommendations in this blog posting are founded on the actual been-there-done-that experiences of Mike and Rhonda Mills. We are not compensated in any way for saying positive (or negative) things about these places, outfitters, things to do, restaurants, etc. This posting reflects the genuine opinions we formed at the time of the experience. We hope you find the information helpful in planning a future river adventure.