This review will focus on the overall experience and the Intro to Whitewater experience. First off,…read moreANYONE can do this trip, do not bother with the beginner trip down the river. Unless you are medically unfit, you can do this. Exceptional customer service sums up the team at Jim Thorpe River Adventures (aka LOC). They are extremely well organized which makes for a great trip. Everyone from the moment you enter LOC until the very end was polite, professional and wanted to make sure you have a great time. Some tips to follow: you only need to arrive 15 minutes before your group time, this allows ample time to get situated. Buy their pre-made lunch, it is well worth the 10 bucks, bring extra water on the raft (especially in the summer). Use the bathroom before you get on the bus (and be quick). They give you a dry bucket for your lunch and items, yes you can bring your phone in a dry pouch. Wear a hat and a sun shirt, it is hot and sunny, without much shade. Jump in the water when you have the chance !! If you are a "full figured" person it will be difficult to re-enter the raft, be aware. The trip down river is very safe and well organized. The guides are VERY safety aware ! If you are nervous and listen to them, the team will get you down the river without a hitch ! A few suggestions: don't go on a busy holiday weekend, it can get crowded on the river, the safety briefing takes a long time and you a sitting in the sun (remove your vest and drink water), during July and August I would imagine the water is very low and slow (if it is a dry summer)...best only if you want to have a relaxing rafting trip. Overall, a bunch of fun. The entire family had a great time.

We booked the Intro to whitewater for my son's birthday, it was so much fun!! We were out for over…read moreabout 4 hours. It was so much fun! There was 6 of us and we had our own boat. We will definitely Be back. Staff was amazing! My son said Lindsay was the best and made the adventure that much better. Would highly recommend!

The guides gave a thorough safety and intro talk before our drive to the launch…read more once on the river they guide you as to which side to stay on. It is important to stay on certain sides to avoid bigger rocks and your team has to work together. there are simple showers but you need to supply your own towel, soap and shampoo. We were a group of older adults and had a great time!

We had an amazing time rafting down the river with tour guide Rob. Highly recommend to anyone.read more

Knowledgeable Convenient…read moreFriendly My wife found LOC for a family trip and booked ahead. When we arrived, we were warmly greeted, given our paperwork, walked through our choice of bikes, and given both a map and a very thorough overview of the recommended bike route to take - each staff person we spoke with seemed friendlier than the last! My family of four took bikes out along the D&L Trail from Lehighton to Mauch Chunk, enjoying the scenery, the camaraderie, and some laughs, all while well-equipped from LOC. The Center itself is chock full of new sturdy Specializeds for your riding needs - both mountain bikes and cruisers. The facilities were also equipped with commodious bathrooms/changing facilities not only for cyclists, but for the Jim Thorpe River Adventures and Northeast PA Kayak School that share the building. We paid $140 for our rentals - four bikes, two helmets (and four bottles of water) for six hours. Well worth it for a great riding tour. Recommended!

Booked with 3 friends for the white water rafting excursion. Our booking time was for 9:20AM and we…read morearrived accordingly. The center is very clean and organized inside, upon using the restrooms we noticed changing stalls and shower stalls so we were looking forward to getting a quick rinse and ability to change on the way back. There wasn't as much instruction as I would've liked being that we were the first time slot but we eventually found our way to paperwork. Afterwards, again no instruction until as more people arrived we decided to head outside where it seemed the buses were. Then we were instructed about getting our life jackets, paddles and buckets (for bailing and holding our food). Then again we proceeded to wait around with not much information, finally we were moved to yet another waiting area where we exchanged in our waivers for a bus pass. After all this, we waited some more (never being explained why all the waiting was happening, ie people being late, things being set up, etc). Finally, a member of the staff came to give us all the details we'd need for the adventure ahead, considering it was a pretty spread out space with plenty of people there wasn't a microphone or loudspeaker of any sort so it was difficult to hear majority of what the staff member was saying. Once this all finished we were directed to buses (yellow school buses with small seating IMO). As we head out we are told it will be about a 40 minute ride to the river. By the time we arrived at the "docking" area AGAIN little instruction. We didn't make it into the water until 12:30! Throughout the trip we were never able to hear what the main guide was saying and even though there were guides all around, they also didn't repeat or share whatever the guide had said. We also didn't have any idea if we would have a chance to dock for lunch or if we were expected to eat while rafting because no information was provided until 10 minutes before we stopped for lunch. The "cove" where we did dock for lunch wasn't very comfortable but it got the job done. The rest of that part of the trip was great. Once we returned to the center and put back all our stuff we went to use the changing rooms and the shower stalls had handles on the shower head that were very difficult to reach unless you're like 6' tall. I even tried standing on a plastic chair to reach and they didn't work anyway! It would've been nice if there was a sign to know beforehand and not risked it by standing on that chair. I also checked all the other shower stalls and none worked. Overall, while I thoroughly enjoyed the rafting experience I would choose a different establishment just due to the sheer lack of information at many points and the time spent with no idea of what was happening..

So well run. Get there at your slotted time and then do all the things to get ready to have a fun…read moreday - pick up lunch, get wetsuits if it is cold, listen to the safety instructions. Feel free to bring your own lunch - we ordered from them and wish we had brought our own. Make sure you tuck your toes under the seat in front of you because otherwise you will pop out. Our picture at the end only had 3 people because one had popped out into the river. This was on the 6 hour tour. The guides were nice but in an emergency, which we had where two boats emptied their passengers, it was a little hairy. All in all a great day on the river. Super fun!

I have booked with White Water Challengers before and was excited to return because of the great…read moreexperiences I have had in the past. Unfortunately, our recent trip with a group of six was extremely frustrating due to the organization and scheduling. Our original time slot was changed because there were not enough groups, which we understood. However, our new 10:20 time slot was expanded to accommodate additional groups, and we were then required to wait an extended period for a very large group that arrived late. As a result, we did not begin rafting until after 12:15, and the safety review had to be rushed because of the delay. Throughout the trip, our group was repeatedly forced to stop and wait for the late group, who frequently fell out of their raft and struggled to follow the safety instructions. I estimate we spent close to an hour collectively waiting along the river. Even the group scheduled after ours eventually passed us, and we did not return to the bus until shortly after 5:00. I want to emphasize that Olivia, Bailey, Kristen, and Sid were excellent guides and did their best under difficult circumstances. My frustration is entirely with the organization and scheduling of the trip. Additionally, while this was outside of anyone's control, we paid for Class II and III rapids, but the river flow that day was approximately 820 CFS, making the experience much closer to Class I and II. I hope you will take this feedback seriously, as this experience was significantly different from the positive experiences that led me to book with White Water Challengers again.

Eric made this trip truly so much better. Knowledgeable, funny, super kind. More time on the water…read morethan I expected so that was awesome. Can't wait to do it again!!

I had the opportunity to enjoy this tour as a team building event for work. It was wonderful! Our…read moretour guide was very friendly and gave us lots of interesting facts while on the tour. We started off with a nice bike ride and finished with the kayaking. This would make a great family outing or even a fun date! Plus you earn some interesting facts about the city of Bethlehem! Highly recommen.

Myself and my party of 16 had an amazing time on the river thanks to Chamberlain Canoes. The entire…read morestaff is some of the friendliest and most helpful people you'll ever meet. I've done similar trips with other companies and Chamberlain has been the best. We will be using them again. Highly recommended.

They are amazing! I've been going to Chamberlain Canoes in Stroudsburg, PA for over 10 years, and…read morethey've never once let me down. They are a family owned business and are absolute pros - always friendly, always knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about making your river trip fun and easy. From the moment you pull into their huge parking lot, to the moment you're back on dry land, they take really good care of you. They walk you through the route clearly, answer all your questions and let you decide your exit point on the river while you're out paddling. That flexibility is a great option. I look forward to my next paddle!

Three and one half stars but rounding up because of the nice nature views and decent narration…read more A lot of the covered sections of the 3pm last train of the day were already sold out so we went with the open air car. I'll let you know that if it rains on your trip and you're in the open air car, you'll be getting wet and we did in both directions. Not butt wet, but your lap if uncovered will be pretty soaked. The hour long ride was nice and leisurely and although the narrator hyped up a waterfall, it didn't live up to it. He also gave some history and talked about an old hotel that used to be along the line before being burned down. There was an old oil line that now holds fiber optic lines, the rock "tunnel" and some other named curves along the way. The diesel locomotive pulled one direction and pushed the other the way back. On the open air cars, you sit sideways family style on comfortable wooden benches. The car needed some TLC if you looked hard enough but was fine. We did not walk through the standard or first class cars, the snack car, or the caboose. The bars across where the windows would have been were almost reminiscent of jail cells. In the short sections of the ride when it wasn't raining the fresh breeze was quite refreshing. This ride would have been awesome at the right time of the Fall during the changing of the leaves. I bet they raise the prices then. The train offers numerous different themed rides so the experience can a bit different each time if you want to ride more often. For our open air car today, $25 each. So, $100. First Class was $54 each which also got you a "free" drink and snack. I'm sure those seats were more comfortable than the wooden benches. Something fun to do while in Jim Thorpe for the experience.

I spent most of time on the train talking to my family, the view was good, but nothing…read morebreathtaking. It's something to do with others, I presume going in the fall when the leaves are changing colors would be spectacular. They say it's similar to the Swiss Alps, I am not sure since I have never been there. It reminded me of traveling through the mountainous countryside in Japan. As for which train car, if the weather is good I recommend the open air ones without glass windows. The views are the best and you are not pounded with sunlight since there is a top and plenty of trees to protect you.

What a great 2 days this was! Unfortunately, we have to reschedule the river run because the river…read morewas too high, but that means we got a whole extra day of practice! Really looking forward to hitting the river later this month. The instructors were great! They were experienced, knowledgable, patient, and funny. I highly recommend this course for anyone interested in kayaking. Keep up the good work guys!!

Took the 2 day white water kayak class. Had a great time! Instructors were awesome. Well organized…read more Beautiful scenery. Plenty of practice time. Highly recommend.

Please support Casper. Friendly staff and charming son…read more It's nice to see a new business come to our tiny town.....soooooo close to Jim Thorpe but NONE of the parking hassles. Sorry Jim!

From the owner: New and used whitewater kayak sales and sit on top rentals…read more Authorized EXO Kayak dealer