Payette River (North Fork)

Prepare yourself for major whitewater rafting and kayaking with America Outdoors outfitters on the North Fork of the Payette River!

If there is a better river for all-around family fun, we don't know where it is. The popular Payette offers every kind of experience from placid Class I and II water to thundering Class V+ -- all within a short distance from Boise, Idaho.

Some have compared the Payette and its tributaries to the public school system: the Main Payette provides a basic education in whitewater technique; the Cabarton stretch of the North Fork is high school material; sections of the South Fork will earn you a college degree in whitewater; and if you can master the daunting Class V+ waters of the North Fork below Smith's Ferry, you've got yourself a phd in whitewater rafting!

On the North Fork of the Payette lies the popular Cabarton run, a nine mile trip, which features a real sense of solitude, as well as several Class III-IV rapids near the end of the run.

And for the daring experts among us, the North Fork below Smith's Ferry provides 16 miles of non-stop, technical Class V rapids. This stretch wasn't kayaked until the 1970's and was first rafted in the late 1980's. With a gradient of 105 feet per mile, that is certainly understandable!

• RAPIDS: Class III to V+ (Medium to Expert)
• LENGTH: 25 miles