Upper Pigeon River: Whitewater Rafting Smokies Vacations

A vital part of holidays in the Smokies, the Pigeon offers the nearest whitewater rafting adventure to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • NOC Pigeon Outpost - The Pigeon River is the closest and most popular whitewater adventure for travelers staying in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. Splashing wave trains and bouncy hydraulics make this a fun trip for both first-time and experienced rafters. The trip provides nearly-continuous Class II-IV rapids like Lost Guide and Accelerator…
What's Included
  • All necessary river gear and equipment provided by NOC.
Location
NOC Pigeon Outpost
Hartford Road
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(27 Ratings)
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Coladyroadwarrior
Aug 26, 2024
Sarah is a top notch guide - We enjoyed our time on the Upper Pigeon with guide Sarah, who was also the lead guide / trip coordinator / narrator. She had a giddy for what she does for a living. The Upper Pigeon is short but sweet. NOC guides ensure you when fun and stay safe.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sarah
Aug 18, 2024
Rafting with Teens - My husband, my kids (11 and 15), and I went white water rafting for the first time with NOC on the Upper Pigeon River. We loved it. Our guide, Sarah, was fun, personable, and professional. The company is focused on safety and we all felt comfortable. The rapids were better than I expected and we would definitely take this trip again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
2thdoc33133
Aug 9, 2024
"Great Rafting Trip, Guides and Outfiter" - We've been whitewater rafting in many places across the USA, including the Nantahala with this same NOC outfitter. Hartford is a "blink and you'll miss it" tiny town, but you'd never think that, if you saw the NOC facilities there. We were impressed with the large spread, check-in area with table to fill out paperwork and store, as well as the bath house for after rafting showering and change of clothes. They have a small theater where they review all the essentials, take all questions and even show a short tutorial video. Their guides are all very energetic, knowledgeable and clearly love their jobs. Mark was our guide and he was terrific. The equipment is all top notch and they go all out to accommodate their clients. The runs we did were fun, but there were many challenging ones. That said, kids and novices can still safely take this trip. We've used NOC twice before in 1997 and 1999, and this third time was just as good. I highly recommend this excursion and NOC.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rosanne_b
Aug 8, 2024
Great Experience! - Kaitlyn was a wonderful guide—great conversation and excellent at navigating the rapids. Overall, the trip was really fun... I wish it were a little bit longer... It took about 1 hour in total. A half-hour more would have been perfect. Very well-run and professional company. I highly recommend it.
Review provided by Viator
Jeremy
Jul 29, 2024
Excellent trip for kids and timid rafters. Absolutely AWESOME guides - We went on this trip as a first time trip for our 9&10 year olds and a friend who had never rafted. We have rafted plenty in Colorado so comparatively I think their rating system has lower standards their level 4s were not scary at all. But……. We had a blast, look at the pics and see our kids faces. They were able to raft and I was not scared they would fall out, like I was before the trip. 1. Location - beautiful. About 55 min easy drive from pigeon forge. 2. Facilities- just fine. The bathroom changing center was very large with a lot of parking. They organized the flow of traffic and rafters very well. Guides: the main guide Anna was sooo funny, knowledgeable and clearly a good leader. She and her team were in sync and that made their many jokes land well. Our guide Taylor from Tampa FL was so funny and attended to us very well. She knew we wanted the rapids and didn’t skip a single one. She made sure to try to get each of us on the boat equally wet ( although the front seats definitely got the most). LOVED THIS TRIP! I can’t say enough at how safe I felt my children were which would be the main reason I would t raft. Thank you to the wonderful guides for our awesome experience
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Passport17574450832
Jul 17, 2024
Great adventure! - Amazing experience! Two seniors and two teenage gradsons enjoyed Upper Pigeon River witewater rafting with this company. Highly recommended! Will do it again. Well organized. Our guide, Chelsea, was amazing. We felt abosulutely safe. We lerned a lot. Kids want to go back asap
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Arlene_a
Jul 14, 2024
Great family adventure - All of it. Great adventure Catlin was a great guide made it very fun kids were afraid about going but after wanted to do it again there was nine of us and it was great family adventure I am seventy two. And everybody help me It was fantastic
Review provided by Viator
Traveldrei
Jun 1, 2024
100% amazing fun, friendly and awesome - First and foremost let me start off by saying I was completely terrified to do this. The second we stepped onto the property, I knew I was going to love it. Super friendly and welcoming staff. Our guide Andy was 100 million times fantastic. I can not thank him enough for being so fun. He really loves what he does and it shows. I recommend this location for a great time and for fast fun humor!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Klhornfeck
May 28, 2024
Amazing Day on the Pigeon River! - What a great experience! I was able to do both the lower and upper Pigeon River in one day. Every staff member at NOA was personable and knowledgable. I not only had a fun time riding the rapids, I also learned a lot about the river and the history of this beautiful area. Ask for Elisabeth, Sarah or Keaton - wonderful guides! I’ll definitely be back!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
David_w
Jun 9, 2024
Upper Pigeon Forge - Well oiled machine. Spent about an 90 minutes in the water. Staff and guides are professional and friendly.
Review provided by Viator