Emma is Awesome! Even if this river was one of the calmer ones that I've done, she made it fun for us! She kept the girl vibes strong, and we wouldn't have wanted anyone else! The river is half the fun, your guide is the other half. They can make it or break it, and she certainly made ours. Well organized, easy to schedule and fill out forms online, and clear instructions. We felt set from the get-go. I'd recommend this for any first-time WWR for sure. If you want some more adventurous rafting, they do offer higher rapids at another location. read more

See all

What a fantastic experience on the white waters of the Namtahala. The guides are entertaining and know the 8 mile stretch of the river like they back of their hands. Our guide Josh, was so informative and personable and her really knows how to guide. When you paddle as little as we had to, you know your guide is good. Now Great! Thanks again Josh. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

See all

Jake was a great guide! We were a group of 7 ranging in age from 15-52. Everyone had fun, even when 2 fell out about halfway through. Jake felt so badly, but they two girls who fell out (17 and 18) couldn't stop laughing. I highly recommend this company, it's a long trip for what you pay. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

JP is the bomb. Great experience. As a first time rafter felt totally safe and in great hands. Would 100 percent recommend.

An excellent river trip from start to finish! Their hub and instructor was clear, thorough and hilarious! Our guide Scotty was safe, adventurous and competent keeping us all in the raft while hitting every fun spot on the middle Occoee River! It was a blast! read more

If you're on the fence about doing it, just do it! I was nervous at first because it was my first time rafting but we didn't paddle nearly as much as I thought we would have had too. I was thinking id be exhausted and sore after. I wasn't. Haha it's a good time going down the river. They take your photo at the most intense part so that's why the photos are all kinda intense. Listen to the all tips they send in your confirmation! DONT BRING YOUR KEYS. (The have hooks for you to hang them while you raft) a party in our raft arrived a few mins late and lost their keys because one of them fell in... WEAR SHOES. (Your feet are keeping you in the raft you shove them under the seat in front of you. They know what they are doing! The guides are great. Updates because of Covid -You have to wear a mask when checking in and on the bus. But on the river, you don't. The store is closed but they have a selection outside so you can look around. We got a Tshirt and patch. I even fell into the river and still recommend 10/10. the guides are quick to get you out. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Outside check in and shop. Bus to take you to the river - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

Five star all the way. Such an efficient and friendly crew! Nick was our guide and was not only a pro at what he does but a great guy to get to know. Shout out to Ana too who was hilarious and the strongest woman ever! We had a blast celebrating our birthdays and enjoying the beautiful Nantahala We will return read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rolling Thunder - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

We had so much fun. Our guide Josh made our first rafting adventure informative and fun. We hadn't planned for this stop on our trip, but we were so glad we veered off the road, and they had room for a couple more. read more

Such fond memories to be back on the river after 60 years. Wonderful experience with Rolling Thunder...our guide Owen was outstanding.

We had an absolutely fantastic time on the Nantahala River yesterday. Amar was our river guide and she was amazing! Funny and informative, while skillfully directing our raft through the rocks of the river with unbelievable dexterity. An absolute pro and incredibly fun to be around. Thanks for making my first visit to the area spectacular and giving me a new love of river rafting. Next up, the Ocoee! read more

Our first family rafting trip was a hit. "Wiggy" our guide was great and made the trip enjoyable. (Best of all, he helped us all stay IN the raft.) The Nantahala River is beautiful and a great experience for newbie rafters like us. Just watch out for the roller-coaster-ride of a bus trip up river. :) read more

We had the best time on this trip. Our guide was Elijah and he was absolutely amazing. I would highly highly recommend this trip to anyone, even with small kids. Thank you so much Rolling Thunder for the amazing trip and for placing us with Elijah. read more

My family and I had a wonderful time going down the river with our guide Tanner Wiggins. He was a great guy to share knowledge about the river. Take a break from work and spend a afternoon riding the river with the Rolling Thunder Group. Go Wiggy Go! read more

What a fantastic experience we had with Rolling Thunder! All of the guides and staff were welcoming and made the trip down the river awesome! Super kid friendly as well!! read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

See all

Best Rafting Company on the Nantahala!!! I Look forward to going every year and NEVER disappoints! Nick and his team are professional, fun and the absolute best at what they do!!! Don't hesitate to spend a great day on the river with Rolling Thunder if you get the chance!! read more

Amazing experience for our family of 6 (ages 10-adult). We had a fantastic time and everything was smooth -- from booking for a same-day trip on the phone, to check-in, shuttling, and rafting the Nantahala with Daisy. We loved it all and would highly recommend!! read more

Had an incredible time with out guide Moon. Enough adventure for my boys to have a blast but safe enough for mom to feel relaxed enough to enjoy herself. Moon had a ton of knowledge and stories about the area. Highly recommend. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Weeeeeeee!!! - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

My wife and I are locals and rented a "mini-me" and went unguided down the Nantahala...a great experience with great service! We'll be back (for a third time)! read more

Just had a great ride down the river. Our Host Morgan was wonderful fun and good guide. Getting to and from was fast and professional. Great time. And great price too. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Boom - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

Best summer activity! Guides are fun and engaging. We always go white water rafting here. You can go guided, guide assisted, solo. The rafts can hold up to six people and the guide. They provide the raft, oar, and life jacket. Prices are cheaper here than most places. You take a bus up to the start and then the bus takes you back as well. They have photographers at the final stop and they get some good action shots. You can get a flash drive of the photos for pretty cheap. It's a pretty long drive to get out there but that's due to the mountains and river. Great summer activity for groups! read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

Highly recommend for a good time on the water! Staff was friendly, fun and knowledgeable. Two adults and a thirteen year old boy were well equipped with the Mini Me size raft. Went without a guide and it was exciting but not terrifying. There are nice and relaxing lulls between rapids. Again, I would highly recommend this group to anyone looking for a rafting trip! read more

Came here one of he days on our week honeymoon. Staff was fun and very interactive. The trip was fun and un-rushed. Will us this place again. read more

Took the family this past weekend and had the best time! 2 hours on the water, (which is cold even in August) is about perfect! Everyone was great and the price was right! read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

See all

Love the location of the camp! Great experience! All the staff were genuinely friendly. Can't wait to come back with my friends and family! read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

I took my teenage daughter and two of her friends to Bryson city location to enjoy their birthdays. We had a fantastic time. Isabell was our guide and she was fantastic. She had a lot of knowledge about the area. Also shared what it was like to be a tour guide and how fun it is as a summer job. She was adventurous with us and made sure we had the best time. We will definitely try the Oconee location for the higher rapids. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Celebrating teenagers birthdays - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

See all

Well run operation and everything was prompt and clean. The River was a chilly 48 degrees so you may want to wear rain coat and longer pants even on a hot day. We loved our guide Wiggie who knew a lot about the area and kept us safe, and we enjoyed every second of our experience! To top it all off they had warm showers at the end. We'll be back soon!! read more

Wow! Rolling Thunder and our guide Moon, made our trip absolutely memorable! We can't wait to return and conquer the rapids again. We're definitely stepping it up a notch next time. Highly recommend this company!! Oh we can't forget Santa, who shuttled us to our starting point. What a guy!! read more

See all

There was 4 of us that decided to take in a rafting excursion over the Labor Day weekend. The company had a lot to offer. Different rafting intensities to times offered. Since we had a first timer in our group we chose the do the one for young and old (less challenging) later in the afternoon. 3pm. It was a beautiful 2 hour trip down the Nantahala River. The water is around 45 degrees and the later the day went I was getting chiller with every splash. (But it was worth it). It s a good one to chose for beginners, young children or seniors. Our guides name was Priscilla and she was excellent! Very knowable about the river and surrounding area and a passion for what she does! Loved her hat too! We had a great time and look forward to doing it again very soon! read more

A fun, exciting experience for my group, 4 adults, 4 kids (7 and 9). Our guide, Jake (Shaggy) was very knowledgeable about the the river and the scenery around it. He was also fun and great with the kids! The river was adventurous enough for the kids, but calm enough that the parents were able to relax without worrying about the kids. The best part, aside from the adventure on the river, was the efficiency of the crew, once we got out of the bus at the drop in spot, it didn't take more than 5 minutes to get everyone in the group in the water and on their way. This was a group of 15 boats and at least 60 people. For those unsure of getting a guide or not, the nicest thing I noticed about this company was no raft was left behind, even those without a guide. The company made sure that all rafts without a guide were not in the back of the group. While on the river we saw another raft from a different rafting company stuck on a rock with no one from that company around to help them. This should give anyone who wants to try rafting on their own peace of mind, knowing that the guides from this company will not leave you behind! Overall, a great trip, perfect for those trying rafting for the first time or just looking for a more "relaxing" river rafting trip! read more

Our family just experienced our first river rafting trip and it did not disappoint! Emily, our guide, made our daughters (age 9) trip so memorable! We booked the early session which I highly recommend - the river was not crowded and we were just in time to get the noon sun during our adventure. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. We absolutely recommend Rolling Thunder - we can't wait to be back. read more

We had a blast on the Nantahala River with these guys and gals. Our family (2 adults, 3 teens who have never rafted but have kayaked on multiple occasions) opted for the "Guide-Assisted" trip down the river. So "Guide-Assisted" means that there isn't a guide in the raft with you, but they are close (in other rafts) if you need help. Essentially, you are manning your own raft but you play "Follow the Leader" and see where they go and how they do it. I will say that we had a blast! While we didn't have a flawless trip, we didn't lose anyone out of the raft and we even did it just right to experience the "Bump" at the end of the run. We had such a great time that we are considering doing a trip down the Ocoee while we are still down here. Last nugget of info...the photos. They came out SO good and were priced just right. ($8/photo/digital up to $40 for all) Since we had a blast and I couldn't resist, yes, we purchased them all! We highly recommend Rolling Thunder! read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Rolling Thunder Whitewater Rafting on the Nantahala. - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

For the past 20 years, it has been a family tradition for myself and my three children to go down the Nantahala river every year (non-guided) on MOTHERS Day. Unfortunately, we could not do that this year because of Covid :( they were closed down. My children were all too busy later on this season to go with me, so I decided to take Asher, my 7 years old grandson. He was SUPER excited BUT also VERY NERVOUS,he almost backed out. Even though I am an experienced rafter taking my grandson (by myself) did make me apprehensive. So I asked for a guide that would be understanding of that and help teach him some rafting skills. WILL WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! He LISTEN, He TAUGHT, He was HILARIOUS and TRULY a PERFECT GUIDE for Asher! By the end of the trip ASHER thought he was the coolest person ever :) and NOW is a life time river rat!! ;) THANK YOU WILL!! I'm so very GRATEFUL that he made the experience so comfortable and fun that I'm sure Asher will continue on the family tradition and want to come rafting every year on Mothers Day! :) read more

This is a family fun adventure good for all ages and skill levels. There is absolutely no fear of falling as the rapids are not crazy. In fact it felt like a VIP rafting trip. Our guide did all the work, was good looking and very engaging. Our group of 6, ages spanning from 15-67, had an exciting and very memorable adventure! read more

White water rafting down the Nantahala River was a blast! Definitely a good starter river if it's your first time. You have the option to go with or without a guide. I suggest going with a guide if you haven't taken the river before. There are a few spots and rocks you have to be sure to stay clear from. The guides are great! They really make the trip. Make sure to purchase the pictures! Want to capture the memories. They do let you use a go pro and give you a helmet with a mount. read more

See all

Chose Rolling Thunder for our first white water rafting experience while on vacation. The entire process ran smoothly from start to finish. All the guides were knowledgeable and made sure the trip was entertaining and fun for all. Our raft guide Anna made our trip as exciting, or tame, and we wanted. Could not speak highly enough of our experience and would absolutely recommend to any visitors. read more

Cheese was awesome ! He knew all the history of the river , which we loved ! He knew the river really well! Our family had a blast and definitely will be coming again! Thank you so much cheese! My girls first trip was an success! They are already asking when we can go back !! read more

We had such a great time with our guide Will. It was our first experience rafting and Will kept my kids laughing and fully engaged while doing an amazing job keeping us safe. read more

Rolling Thunder River Co - Nantahala Falls - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Bryson City, North Carolina

Caleb was an amazing tour guide ! Also Nick was very nice and everything moved smoothly!

Fantastic trip on the river today! This is a well-run outfitter with wonderful staff. Bryn was my guide, and he was great - perfect combination of fun and knowledge of the river. I can't recommend Rolling Thunder enough! read more

Great time white water rafting! Our guide, Bryce, was very entertaining and made the trip very enjoyable. 5/5