nenana raft adventures - day tours

Had a super fun time rafting with these guys. Really cool whitewater and scenery. Got the old adrenaline rush going with some big waves through the canyons. Guides were fun, the Denali scenery was nice to enjoy in between rapids.Would totally recommend to all. Kinda made our whole weekend trip up to Denali. Also stayed at there on-site cabins. They were comfy and good value. Nice walking distance to all the local restaurants and shops.

Given dry suits but my feet leaked. The guide was professional and we were safe. We traveled with two elderly men and it was a safe trip. The guide gave some information about the trip but was polite and interesting. The river was the scenic trip so rapids were very small and easily crossed. Unfortunately, no wildlife seen as I had hoped. The river was not nearly as exciting and I was very cold. The worst part was having to walk up the steep road to the vehicle with two elderly men when I could only feel one toe....but I get to say I had a glacial facial. Would have been a lot more fun on the rapid side and in warmer weather and only God controls this weather thing.

Courtney, our tour guide, was on her last trip of the season. How do I know this? All she did was talk about herself for two hours. So I took a raft trip down the Nenana River, BACKWARDS, listening to this 24 year old just yap on and on about her life and her experience. I could not wait to get off the river. Worst experience of my 13 days in Alaska

My name is John White. I am the president and founder of Nenana Raft Adventures. First of all, we are taking these accusations very seriously. We do, however, need additional information to be able to properly handle this situation as effectively as possible. There has been no date specified of your raft trip, nor names or physical descriptions of the individuals involved. We ask that you get back to us via e-mail with a full account of the incident at info@raftdenali.com. After some research into our records we have not been able to find a party under the name of Stacy Murkowitz (party of five) in our reservation books, nor do we have any signed release forms with those names indicating participation in one of our rafting trips. There are four different raft companies in Denali, and it is possible you went with one of our competitors. In your review, you stated you saw two of our staff ejected for misconduct from the establishment where you were eating. That establisment , The 49th State Brewery is owned and operated by a former head guide of Nenana Raft Adventures. For legal reasons, most establishments with a liquor license keep a logbook of all “ejections”, so as to document the circumstances under which intoxicated guests are asked to leave. The owner of the restaurant has asked his staff to research those records and at this time, has no found no records of any of our staff being ejected in the manner you describe. In years past, if a member of our staff were involved in such misconduct, he would call me on my cellphone and the matter would be dealt with in summary fashion. It has been years since we have had such an occurrence. He indicated that he cannot recall anyone from our company having been ejected from his establishment during the 2014 seasonIn the event that this review is found to be truthful, the individual(s) involved will be subject to disciplinary action .I wish we could run perfect raft trips. But in the rafting business, as in any business, there are instances where staff misconduct occurs. Having guided on this river for almost 30 years, I have found that when customers are upset, they contact us, usually directly by phone, and usually within 24 hours.This review has accused us of serious, potentially criminal misconduct. And to put it bluntly, the evidence is coming up short. Every guest who rafts with us fills out a release form with their individual name, address and phone number. We keep detailed employment records as required under Alaska State law. At a minimum we request that this reviewer give us the date of their raft trip. That's all we need. From there, we can cross reference release forms, employee work logs and other forms and documents we keep as part of our business records, and quickly figure out who the individuals are. Whether they be drunken culprits---or--falsely accused.As it stands now, based on our initial research, there is no record of these people rafting with us either in our reservation system or release forms.The restaurant owner has no recollection of any member of NRA staff being ejected for the entire 2014 season.The alleged incident occurred in June, but the reviewer just rendered their one and only review several months later, on september 3 . Given the seriousness of these allegations, we are at a loss to explain why they didn't contact us directly, and/or post this review in a more timely fashion. Unfortunately, reviews such as this one that can do serious damage to our small, family owned business. There is a real dark side to Trip Advisor in this regard. Up to this point, We have overwhelmingly good reviews on trip advisor. Our sister raft company, the Chugach Outdoor Center has a five star rating. Our staff behavior standards are the same at both companies. We do not knowingly employ people that exhibit this kind of behavior. Safety is our number one priority. Period.Lastly, in the event that this is a false posting, bear in mind that libel, while difficult to prove, is very expensive once it is proven. We are taking this allegation seriously at two levels. Most important, is that individuals such as those described in the review have no business working as river guides. If these allegations are true, I'll publicly apologize. I've lived in Alaska for 40 years. ALOT of people know me. An apology such as this will be painful, but necessary.If however these allegations are found to be a pre-meditated, malicious attempt to harm this outfit, I promise I will get you into court in front a judge and jury, and the issue will be solved in a formal legal setting. Sincerely, John M. White IIIPresident, Nenana Raft Adventures, Inc.www.raftdenali.comemail: info@raftdenali.com

My name is Melissa Schatz, I recently did a rafting trip with your company for my honeymoon with my husband James Morgan on August 19th. I was extremely nervous about doing this trip. I am not really a big thrill seeker, but my husband gets me to do things that I thought I would never have done. Our rafting trip was outstanding. Not only was the trip gorgeous down the river, but the guides are what made the trip worth while. I was immediately at ease after knowing my guide was Dingleberry. I had never laughed so hard. Besides making the trip amazing, Dingleberry was very informative about the river, cannon and wildlife. We were next to the other raft that had the guide Pop Tart in it. The camaraderie between Dingleberry and Pop Tart was so much fun. They had my husband and I laughing the whole trip. We both were disappointed when our trip ended. My husband was so happy that I had enjoyed the trip and again it was due to the fact of the outstanding guides your company has. The guides clearly went so far above and beyond their duties, our trip would have not been the same without them. Thank you for this great experience and memory!Melissa Schatz and James Morgan

The trip was great and the company provided extensive clothing and rubber suits, so the only thing that might get wet when going through rapids is your face, but it is invigorating called a glacier facial! Don't miss the opportunity to experience this safe trip.

A large group from my church traveled to Alaska this past July. We rafted on the Nenana River with Nenana Raft Adventures and also stayed in the three mini-condos that they have on premises. It was a really great time, and I'm happy that we worked with this company.We rafted two paddle rafts, which is a really fun time. I had rafted several times before, always on oar rafts, but now that I've paddled I don't think I would go back to oar boats. It is much more fun and exciting to paddle. Our guide was not only a good raft leader, but he was funny and friendly and contributed a lot to the overall enjoyability of the trip.The mini-condos were clean and in good condition, seeming new construction. Not having a full kitchen, we had to plan meals out intentionally to make good use of the provided gas grill, especially since the grocery options in town are expensive and limited. We stayed two nights, so the cooking situation wasn't an inconvenience, but I think it would have been for a longer stay. The location of the mini-condos was excellent. They are enough out of town that you can avoid the majority of the tourists and the hubbub they bring with them, but still close enough to enjoy the amenities the town offers. The mini-condos are right on the river with a beautiful view of the mountains and easy access to Denali Nat'l Park (walking/hiking trails into the park are right across the highway). The location is very convenient if you also plan to raft. The mini-condos will comfortably host 4 people, maybe 6 if there is not much luggage.I will definitely use Nenana Raft Adventures for future rafting needs. The owners John and Judy were very helpful and happy to offer a good deal to our large group. I really recommend this company.

My friend and I booked the aftrenoon Paddle Run. Sara at the desk was very helpful!! It was an overcast day and I was little worried I would be too cold. Once thier you sign the waivers then head to the back were there is bench seating. Once their they introduce you to all the guides going out at the same time, which all have funny nicknames like Poptart ( our guide) & Carrott top etc. We were told to wear pants and layers and two pairs of socks and make sure we had no jewerly that would tear the Dry Suites. I suggest also bringing a beanie and gloves ( gloves that are made for water, they do sell them there). We then took off our shoes and put in a bin to met us after our trip. Dry Suites were given out next and you put them over your socks then they give you water shoes to wear over the Dry Suites. Helemts and paddles were next then off to rafting which is a bus a ride staright across the street lol. Paddle Run was so much fun and a good work-out, I was actually warm in my Dry Suit except for my feet ( I should of worn both pairs of socks). I was happy I didn't have to paddle the whole time because I wouldn't of made it. At the end they have your stuff waiting for you along with Photos they took. Then you Bus from Healy back to Denali which is about 20min. I loved this Adevnture, ask for POP-TART!!!

This one of the best activity during our recent stay at Denali National Park, Alaska. We were four people in the family, including my non-swimmer wife and two daughters. We took the 8.oo am raft, and every one of us were very satisfied at the end. I decided to share my experiences with you guys to address few of my concern before starting the trip, safety. This tour peoples are really very professional and taken safety very seriously. The pilots, John and Chris are excellent, hope I remember their name correctly. The price includes wetsuits and helmets, you may need to get a pair gloves if water is to cold. For safety, an additional empty raft goes along with the rafting team and also the company bus with 3-4 people watches the rafters from the road which runs along the river. They took us through few great rapids, it's great fun. It's 15-16 mile trip and it start very close to the park.

Traveling with a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 teens) and we picked the class 1 float trip (6-10 p.m.)where we paddled. We went down the Nenana River with our guide who told us about the geological formations- he was awesome. Booking the reservation was very smooth and quick, they provided drysuits which were of high quality, and transportation to the put in site. This was appears o be a well run company with a focus on safety (and fun as well). A tip: Get the Northern Lights or Alaskan Toursaver coupon book. You will get buy one -get one free coupons in it and we used one on this trip (awesome- got 2 free out of 5!). Next time we'll do the Canyon Run with the same group. Enjoy!

I did my trip in late May 14. The river level was not high and therefore the rapids were not as severe as I expected, but it was still great fun and provided some wonderful scenery. John was an exceptional guide (and owned the business) who had long experience on the Nenana and other rivers. He was able to share and keep all of us amused with these experiences while steering the raft which he did with considerable expertise, e.g. he was able get people wet if he wanted to (that included me), but was also very considerate to some of the elderly folk in the raft who did not unnecessarity get wet. I was able to get some great Go-Pro video shots while trying to hang-on and despite frozen and wet feet the dry suits did their job well. I have done other rafting trips that had more challenging rapids, e.g. rafting the Colorado through the Grand Canyon, but this was a completely different experience and still very enjoyable. If you want even more excitement then leave your trip another month when the water levels are higher. The length of the trip surprised me - we reached a bridge where I thought we would be disembarking only to find we were only half way through the trip. By pure coincidence we met John's sister and family at a restaurant in Anchorage. They were all in shorts and T-Shirts while we Aussies and Kiwi's were rugged up in coats and beenies. They breed them tough in Alaska! They were a lovely family and very friendly and helpful as we found most people in Alaska. My trip was booked through Holland America lines. I had originally booked the paddling trip but there were not enough adventurers on that day to fill up the raft. I was tossing up whether to do the guided version (single paddler) but was very glad that I accepted. It was a great experience and throughly recommended.

Our first time to white water raft. Itvwas awesome. Our guidevwas fantastic. He ness very knowledgeable about tbe area. Thevscenery was indescribable. Would do this again

Mike was an extremely knowledgable guide and our safety was a high priority. We felt that we were in good hands which made our rafting trip very enjoyable. What a nice way to spend our anniversary.

We booked this excursion through our Princess Cruisetour, and opted for the guide to paddle and we just sat in the raft. It is probably more thrilling to actually paddle yourself, but I was nervous I wouldn't have the strength for it, and wasn't comfortable with my kids doing it. We enjoyed the guides humorous but thorough instructions prior to getting in the raft. Our guide, Patrick, was great--he had a great laugh every time my 14 year old daughter screamed when we went over a rapid and got splashed by the cold water. The river does have silt carried down from the glacier, and I can attest to that having caught a few mouthfuls during this run. I do wish we wore long sleeves and long pants because the wet suits did not fully protect against the cold of the water, or from getting wet, as I found out at the end.The scenery is beautiful but the ride in the raft was less thrilling than I expected. Unfortunately, a gentleman did fall out of another raft which was the scariest part of the trip, but he did exactly what we had been taught and his amazing guide responded very swiftly getting him out of the water very quickly. My heart went out to this man for falling in but we respected his privacy. Glad to have experienced this rafting trip but I think it would be more thrilling to be paddling yourself.

I am booking my third trip with Nenana Raft today! The staff has always been a fantastic to the family and I. The Gorge run is spectacular, the first time was extremely swift second time not as fast; but since we were the only ones to book the paddle trip the staff had extra guides go along with us tso as not to have to cancel. It was good because they were really able to explain how the river changes due to snow melt and run off. Worth the trip and the money.....