The owners and staff are incredible. They all made this experience a trip of a lifetime. Everyone was very knowledgeable about their craft, the area and eager to show off their river. Safety was top notch. I've told my friends about this gem and now I can't wait to come back and bring them along! read more

Took my father, son & nephew on the narrows raft trip. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly & fun! Was affordable, beautiful, exciting & clean fun for everyone! Thank you & we will definitely be back! read more

Cheat River Outfitters - Cheat River Narrows Trip - Tours Near Me - Albright, West Virginia

First class experience! Lots of fun, happy to say the teens (daughter & her cousin) had a blast too. Cloudy with scattered rain turned out to be perfect weather- we had the river to ourselves! Water & air temps in the 70's, comfortable for the teens to take a nice swim during a calm stretch between rapids. Our guide Meghan was awesome and calm; and her love of the river really showed. (She's rafted our western rivers, and rivers all over the U.S.) Rapids were fun, Class 3's on the Cheat Narrows were nicely run, we would definitely do the higher classes or the single rafts for more adrenaline... this was a fun afternoon and with our capable guide a good experience for the kids! If you already enjoy rafting consider the longer course and bigger Rapids :) Because of the weather, folks must have stayed home, but that allowed us a personal experience with the whole crew focused on us: The Saftey Boater was JC. The Photographer was Bootsie with Kevin. Great photos. Kudos to the bus driver to the site, and the office staff on the logistics. Office dogs were a hit too! Helmets and gear all looked new & well maintained. A few helmets have GoPro mount bases on them already, bring your connectors. (I just tied mine to my vest) read more

See all

First time with cheat river outfitters. Decided to put a last-minute trip together with the family for memorial day. Alex and Chris were very good guides and it was a wonderful experience for the whole family, several of whom had never done any rafting before. We will return and highly recommend these guys ‼ read more

So much fun! Lakelin was our guide, and we did an easy trip with our 10 yr old. She loved it! Beautiful water and scenery, and you can pause to swim. Don't miss it! read more

Fun trip. People were great. Excellent instruction. Would do it again.

Second year going white water rafting with cheat river outfitters. They are a great bunch of people that take pride in there job and safety for all their rafters. River was lower this year than last year. But still was an awesome time. So if your looking to try out white water rafting for the first time I highly recommend using cheat river outfitters. Great time and awesome experience and the price is affordable. read more

My husband and I took our first whitewater rafting trip with Cheat River Outfitters last week, on the Cheat River Narrows. He was fine; I was beyond terrified to go. I am NOT an adventure person and the release form terrified me. When we arrived, I interrogated the poor woman at the desk about the chances of terrible things happening, the water level, the water speed, etc. She was patient and kind and so friendly that I decided to be brave and go, and I'm SO GLAD I did. It was GREAT. Honestly one of the most fun things I've ever done. Our guide, Richard, was knowledgeable, hilarious, and also incredibly friendly and showed us how to "anchor" ourselves in the boat as well as what to do if it flipped or we fell out. Having that knowledge made me feel much safer. Everyone in our boat (us and another family) had a great time and I can't wait to go again. read more

CRO is a laid back company with class act guides that will guarantee a great time on the river. They are small enough that you feel like you are with family or a group of good friends. This also allows them to be flexible when the need arises (ie weather or river conditions forces a change in plans). We also appreciate that CRO has good gear. The rafts are in great condition and the life vests lack a certain funk that is common among other outfitters. We had one of the best guides, compared to all other trips and companies we have used, this weekend on the Upper Yough. We'd like to give an extra shout out to Jeremy. He's a fun guy but above all, he was so calm and collected under the more hairy moments. We felt completely safe with him. There are two only drawbacks we'd like to mention. There was not a photographer on the Upper Yough even though we were told there would be one. The last trip we took with CRO on the Cheat Narrows had a photographer but there were very few good photos. They were all too blurry. The second was the bus. It was completely falling apart. read more

We were disappointed by the low water and "rapids" this time of year. Not their fault though. Go when waters are higher. We've been white water rafting on too many rivers to even consider this comparable. Didn't even seem like rapids. Go in Spring. Wish we would have known cause we wouldn't have wasted our time and money on this excursion this time of year. read more

Cheat River Outfitters was the best white water rafting experience I've had. The guides are highly knowledgeable and enjoy educating their tours on the technical aspects of the sport. Ninja was my guide and he displayed a level of expertise that made it clear I was in good hands. Sam was also very helpful. read more

Professional organization that takes your safety seriously. We had a great time. We arrived apprehensive and left joyfully. We plan to go every year now. I recommend the Cheat Narrows trip if you have not gone white water rafting before. The guides are professionals and fine human beings. The equipment we used looked better then what other groups from other companies were using in my opinion. Everyone was very nice, I did not run into a single snotty person. read more

people were good had a lot of fun!! The river was down a little bit , gonna come back in spring time !!!

Yesterday was probably hands down the most fun I have ever had! We signed up for a dam release white water rafting on the Savage River through Cheat River Outfitters. My friend Michelle and I were scared because this was our first time. We were lucky enough to get JC as our guide and he was awesome. We shared our raft with two others guys- son and father. JC had us working as a well oiled machine. We actually did the run twice which was awesome. The second time I nearly left the raft but JC caught me just in time. Seriously even though there were a few times I was thinking this is nuts; it was such an awesome experience. I believe that JC made it even better because he was so great! Definitely recommend the company and would gladly do this again!!!! Sooooo cool!!! read more

See all

My friends and I came here during the 4th of July weekend and had a blast. We reserved spots over the phone before we drove here and then paid individually at the front desk. Before boarding the bus to head over to the river, we received a safety briefing and signed waivers. Then, we put on life jackets and helmets before boarding the bus. Even the bus ride to and from was entertaining, our guides made a lot of funny, albeit corny jokes. The river was actually very low the day we went, so it certainly wasn't as many waves, whitewater, or drops as a typical Class 3 would have. I've done Class 3-5 before and this was a very tame Class 3. However, it was still a lot of fun. My boyfriend and I ended up being the only ones in a raft with a guide, and the rest of our friends did duckies. It worked out perfectly, as our raft + guide was the mama duck and the other duckies followed us. Our guide was awesome; he was super friendly and was all about safety. Just rafting down Cheat River, soaking up nature, and seeing the sights of the environment around us was really enjoyable. The trip was about 6-7 hours long and came with lunch. We all stopped on a bank and other staff had brought lunch to us (sandwiches, apples, chips, etc). It was $54.95 a person for the morning trip. I think it's about $5 cheaper if you go in the afternoon. Cheat River Outfitters also offers rock climbing, caving, paintballing, and some other activities. read more

We came with a group of 6 and had a great time. I struggled with paddling and kind of drifted off in my own little ducky, but the guides were extremely helpful and patient. I got the hang of it and still ended up having fun. The guides were friendly and fun. Also, you can rent wet suits for about 10 bucks so make sure to do that if it's chilly out. read more

It was my first river raft adventure. We had a blast with level 2 to 4/5 rapids. Crew was great and very good at what they do. Kept us safe and had great views all the way down on the Narrows run on the Cheat River! read more

What a great adventure, Ninja was our guide down the river. He gave us all kinds of technical expertise in rafting and water movement. Even let us do fancy raft tricks that blew my mind. Recommend everyone visiting goes water rafting. read more

Cheat Narrows River Rafting trip for 2 families total of 4 adults and 5 kids ages 13 to 8. We went end of July with the hopes of getting slightly lower water levels to keep the trip calmer. After doing some research, reading a lot of other reviews, and speaking with our guides, we hit the water level jackpot at 750 Cubic Feet per Second measured at the Albright West Virginia river gauge. The river level is not controlled by a damn and water levels will fluctuate with a few days of heavy rain. 750 CFS seemed to be the perfect level for the adults who had rafted a few times 20 years ago but are now old and crusty and kids who were first timers. At this level you will see mostly class II rapids with 3 or 4 class III rapids. With kids under 13, I am not sure I would go if the CFS were 1000 or higher..... Just my UNprofessional, UNtrained opinion. There is some danger in anything you do and rafting is the same. We were at the beach last week and had to deal with very strong riptides all week. The riptides we got caught in scared more than this rafting trip. My family is all very good swimmers, the kids are athletic, and listen well to instruction. We had the absolute best time with the river at 750 cfs. Our 13 year olds and 2 adults did the duckies, two other adults and smaller kids did a raft. We did the afternoon trip so it was not scheduled for a lunch so I have no opinion of the food service. Sam was a huge help on the phone with answering questions and getting us scheduled. Chris who checked us in and was the trip photographer was great! Took some nice pitchers. Our raft guide, who I forgot her name, she was absolutely the BEST! She was the lead guide on our 3pm trip on 7/21/18 This experience was exactly as expected and better. The business check in building is a "rustic" facility on the hill side across the street from the river. The life jackets, helmets and rafts were all in great shape. There was a 15 min bus ride to the launch site. Not sure if I would take the bus on cross country road trip, but it got us to the launch site and then back to the business. The staff are full of "bad" jokes that are family appropriate. Whatever you do, DON'T book the economy trip! You'll have to call and ask Chris about those details!! Lol..... Had such a good time my kids want to go back in August if we can. read more

We went whitewater-rafting a couple of times in the past with other companies, so we sort of knew what to expect for this trip. We had originally booked the trip for May, but because of a family health problem, we ended up rescheduling the trip for August. I appreciate that the staff quickly and thoughtfully responded to my emails and allowed me to reschedule, even if it was for a less expensive trip and I would lose money. We showed up 30 minutes early for our morning rafting trip, but unfortunately a large group of other customers showed up 40 minutes late. We had to wait around for them. Once we got out to the river, we saw that the guides were knowledgeable and friendly, and they safely rescued several people who fell out of their rafts. The time of year was the end of summer, so the water level was low, and we had to use duckies for individual people. I had fun, but I recommend going rafting during the spring or early summer when the water levels are higher and you can be in a large raft with other people. Halfway through the rafting, the entire group stopped on the side of the river and ate a lunch of sandwiches, chips, apples, and lemonade. Our rafting ended up going past the end time by a couple of hours. Of course, an afternoon group of other customers looked very upset that their trip was starting so late. ***Tips to other customers: Show up on time or early. When the guides tell you to stay in your rafts, do not get out or goof off. Keep a distance from other rafts, or you risk causing traffic jams and people falling out of their rafts and getting injured. Do not loudly sing songs on the bus. Etcetera. read more

Our group of 13 had an excellent time rafting with CRO! Sam was super helpful in helping me book for our large group. Meegan, Laken, Ant, and Dick were our guides. They were very fun and made our first-timers and non-swimmers feel at home on the river. The photos turned out fantastic! He caught all of the action and hilarious facial expressions during the excitement. 10/10 will go back again. read more

We had never been white water rafting before and scheduled a last minute trip with CRO for the Cheat Narrows trip. First of all , when I called the gentleman who answered was very nice, super informative, and very accommodating to our last minute reservation. Upon arriving, the common area of the outfitters was very inviting (p.s. we loved the dogs :)). Our river guide, Ken, was absolutely awesome. He had a great personality and really knew his stuff. The history he gave us about the rivers and surrounding areas, the outfitter itself, and the way he navigated the boat....A++++++. We were so pleased with the trip and had such an awesome time. We will definitely be back! read more

Had a great time today on the Cheat River. Very friendly owner and staff. Our guide was very pleasant. It was a beautiful day for a trip on the river. Only negative was the life jacket I had was humming from the last guy who wore it. If they could let the jackets dry before reusing them it would be helpful. read more

CRO was AMAZING! This was our first time ever rafting and they all did an excellent job of explaining everything we needed to know. Our guide (Tinder) was excellent and we had a blast! Highly recommend CRO. A wonderful experience from our first phone call to the moment we left. read more

While we did have a wonderful family trip, I was incredibly bummed out afterwards when the pictures that they hype you up about during the ride out to the river are $10 per person in your group! I am used to the shocking $25-$35 for photos after an event, seeing as there was 6 people in my party, I do not believe that the pictures on a disc that costs around a $1, max, is worth $60. That is blatant extortion! I get you are a "mom & pop" shop, but holy cow! My family really wanted the pictures, because at that price (over $50 per person to go on the trip, then the $60 for pictures) I will not be going back ever again, so we bought them. Took the pictures home, and I am thinking "Oh wow, 130 pictures?!!? Maybe $60 wasn't bad!" Wrong- maybe 30 pictures are of myself and my family. The rest are of all the other groups who happened to go out that day. I do not care to see other families photos that they refused to pay for themselves, because it was so expensive. Trip was fun, ending was super disappointing. Great guide (Byron, I believe), fun river, just ridiculous prices for "memories" afterwards. read more

Great little Mom and Pop outfitter running some great adrenaline pumping whitewater! Wendy and Paul were great as was our guide Max and the other guides on the trip. We rafted the canyon at spring levels (high water). Decidedly not for the faint of heart! We had a great riverside sandwich lunch in view of a beautiful waterfall, some peaceful float time and a lot of great rapids. The Colosseum rapids were the highlight of our day! We'll be back. read more

We did the afternoon float with Cheat River Outfitters on a day when the water was relatively high for early July - the water was at about 1600 cps, which has a lot of force in the fast rapids. There were two rafts for our group of 8, and my husband and I were on the bigger raft. When we approached the Calamity Rock rapid, the guide mistakenly aimed to go around on the left side, but instead we crashed into the huge boulder sideways, dumping four of the six of us on that raft (the guide and two others were left on it). I was swept under the raft (frightening), then down the rapid and into a swirling eddie that kept pulling me underwater despite that I was wearing a life jacket. Meanwhile, my husband, the guide and the other person rushed past me downstream and went to help the others that had been swept down while I was alone in the fierce hole in front of the boulder with water crashing all around and pulling me in every direction. My husband said it was terrifying feeling completely helpless, far away and seeing me get pulled underwater multiple times. It took a good five minutes to finally kick out of the spot, which then pushed me downstream at a fast speed and the guide on the second raft in our group (who had pulled over to the side past the rapids) threw me a rope and pulled me to the shore. One of the guys in our group dislocated his shoulder and I had a big scrape/bruise on my hip from hitting a rock in the rapid. When I got out of the water, I was completely out of breath from the exhaustion of trying to keep my head above the rushing water and to muster up the strength to kick myself out of the eddie. I share this because I had no idea this class of whitewater rafting could be so incredibly frightening. This was dubbed as a "family trip," with Class III rapids, but it would have been very scary if young children had been on our raft and dumped out. It is not for the faint of heart. This spot was extremely dangerous and I felt like the guide (Jim) could have been more professional. The company gives you a short safety schpiel at the beginning before you start, but they made it seem like extreme circumstances like this hardly ever happen. Yet after our accident, I asked the guides how long ago it had been since someone else had fallen out, and they said two weeks prior. To me, that seems pretty frequent! I do not recommend doing this trip if you have kids under 12 and the water is high. I am sufficiently traumatized and have no desire to ever raft again. read more