Kananaskis Whitewater Rafting

The tour starts at the Chinook Rafting Base at 1:30pm (meet time 1:15pm) and finishes at 5:30pm, approximately 4 hours. This includes a short drive to the river and 1.5 to 2 hours on the water. There is currently option for 8:30 am start as well.

The tour includes 1.5 – 2 hours on the river (including a 20 minute river float to finish up), a professional river guide with each boat, an optional river swim and free professional photos. All safety equipment including clean and dry wetsuits, wetsuit booties, fleece, spray jacket, life jacket and a helmet is provided. The tour winds through scenic views of the front range of the Rocky Mountain Ranges and occasionally we see wildlife such as osprey, bald eagles, deer and bears. The Nakoda Lakeside Lodge has clean port-a-potties and ample free parking.

The meeting point is at the Chinook Rafting Base, located on Highway 1A approximately 25 minutes from Canmore and 45 minutes from Banff and Calgary. Detailed driving directions are included in your booking confirmation. There is ample free parking at the riverbase and you will be brought back to your vehicle at the end of the tour.

Please wear your swimsuit under your clothes and bring warm clothes and a towel in a bag for after the tour. We also suggest bringing a toque or hat for colder days, to wear under the helmet. Your belongings can be stored on the bus or in your own car while you are on the river. You can wear sunglasses/glasses as long as these are secured with a strap or piece of string, and contact lenses are usually okay if you are comfortable swimming with them and tell your guide. Sunscreen is great on a hot day for any areas not covered by the wetsuit, but avoid putting it above or near your eyes. You can bring your own waterproof camera or GoPro which can be secured with your own chest harness or on a helmet with a GoPro mount, but we are not responsible for loss or damage of your equipment.

Anything else! It isn’t recommended to bring your camera and rafters aren’t permitted to wear their own wetsuit or to wear anything that could cause a hazard while on the tour.

When you are making your reservation please let the agent know and they will check with the rafting team. On the day please bring any medication you may need and inform your guide of any medical conditions.

Every guest needs to sign a waiver form. This is a condition of participation before any adventure activity in North America and worldwide. You’ll receive a waiver in your inbox after booking. If you would like to review the contents of our waiver form prior to booking, please use the links below to access a read-only version. These versions are for your review only, upon booking, you will receive a fillable version to complete. Participants must read and agree to the terms and conditions of the waiver, before we can take you on our white water rafting trip. Please complete the waiver 24 hours before your trip starts. If you choose not to sign the waiver, you can contact us to receive a full refund. Preview Adult Waiver: Here Preview Child Waiver: Here

No rafting experience is necessary, and we provide a Professional River Guide with each boat who will explain and demonstrate paddle, safety and emergency techniques. This includes dryland safety instructions and practicing paddling on the river before the waves. This tour is ideal for anyone that has never rafted before or does not know how to swim, as the rapids and river are not as strong as the other tours. On the day please inform your guide if you are a non or weak swimmer.

You will go through class 2 & 3 rapids during your tour, which is ideal for families and first time rafters. Wondering what the rapids classifications mean? Check out our Whitewater Rafting Rapids Classification Guide.The tour is run by Chinook Rafting who have been operating whitewater rafting tours as a licensed company in the province of Alberta since 1983 and all of the rafting guides are trained in Swiftwater Rescue and First Aid & CPR. What this means for you is that they are confident that they can manage, not eliminate, the risks today to offer you an exciting and fun day on the river, creating as safe a framework as they can, given what we are doing. However, it is important to remember that we are not on a track, this isn’t Disneyland! The fact that we’re not on a track adds excitement to what we’re doing, but it also adds inherent risks.

There is a 24 hour cancellation policy, which allows you to change, cancel, or refund your booking up to 24 hours prior to your tour (or up to 7 days prior for group bookings).

Tips are not expected, but are certainly appreciated. If you think your guide did a wonderful job and would like to indicate that with a tip, it will be graciously accepted.

You can search for photos based on tour name and date in our photo gallery here .