Tributary Whitewater Camp

The tents were beautiful, had the necessities, and cute little lights. Super close to the river and absolutely beautiful.

Michael B.

3 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· September 2022

Camping and rafting!

Tent ·

I would describe our stay at Raft California Camp as a peaceful glamping experience by the river. Upon our arrival, our host got my husband and I checked in, then gave us a tour of the available facilities and amenities (canvas tent, outdoor kitchen/dining area, propane fire ring, bathroom/shower facility, picnic tables, gaming area, etc.). During our sojourn at Raft California Camp, we lodged in one of ten canvas tents on the property. The tent was well-maintained, and provided for a comfortable, relaxing stay. On the exterior, a spacious adjoined deck with chairs, a table, and solar lighting created an ideal space for leisurely lounging and star-gazing. Inside, cozy cots and camping mattresses could accommodate up to four adults being lulled to sleep by the sound of the river. The entire Hipcamp runs parallel to a class 3 river, and great swimming holes are found on property. My husband and I were not able to take a rafting trip on this occasion, but Raft California Camp would certainly have been a beautiful place to enjoy some amazing water-borne recreation. If you’re looking for a great place to spend time in nature that everyone in the family will enjoy, Raft California Camp would be a fantastic spot to spend a relaxing weekend with loved ones. Thank you for sharing your riverside Hipcamp with us. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our time here!

Virginia P.

153 reviews

Recommends

· July 2022

Tent · Group trip ·

Great site for a big group!

Megan G.

2 reviews

Recommends

· May 2022

Fun!

Group trip ·

Amazing location for adults and kids!

Alex C.

2 reviews

Recommends

· July 2021

Group trip ·

Amazing site. So we’ll suited for our group of 25 with a mix of adults and kids ages 3-18. Kitchen set up is a great addition and the short walk to the swimming area kept us cool during a hot week. Some of our group booked a last minute raft trip and the hosts were very accommodating and everyone had a great time. We would definitely come back.

Robin D.

6 reviews

Recommends

· June 2021

Highly recommend

Group trip ·

We LOVED our stay at the raft california hipcamp site. The pictures don’t do it justice. We had about 20 people, 10 tents and there was plenty of space to not have tents right on top of each other. I loved having the sound of the river especially at night. For some, it felt a little loud while sleeping but ear plugs did the trick so if you’re sensitive to that type of background noise you can camp further from the river and/or being ear plugs and it should be fine. The kitchen with running potable water made group meals and keeping clean so easy. I know some reviews say the flush bathrooms and showers are far. I’m pregnant so I was worried about it and let me just say they really were not far - I should know I visited them A LOT. Maybe a 3 min walk from camp. With a headlamp at night it was no problem. Having a non porta pottie option made such a big difference to my comfort. The swimming area that was nearby was perfect for cooling down, watching the whitewater rafting people float by and lounging on inner tubes. The wheelbarrows to cart stuff to and from the cars were great. Yeah it was a short walk with a small hill so it required a little work but hey, it’s camping - shouldn’t it be at least a little bit of work? We had a great time and would love to come back. Hosts are amazing and went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed.

Jessica W.

5 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· October 2020

Group trip ·

Jenny is a wonderful and accommodating host whom I had great communication with. The site is huge (bigger than photos can give you an idea of), with a few access points to the river, plenty and sunny and shady areas, tons of room for activities, and it has just enough amenities to keep you and your party comfortable.

María M.

6 years on Hipcamp

Mixed feelings

· August 2020

Group trip ·

We are a group of families who normally go camping together in Yosemite each summer, but this summer our reservations got canceled because of COVID :( We were thrilled to find this place! Originally our full group of 25 planned to join the trip, but several families dropped out because of COVID concerns and we ended up with a total of 14 people. The site was plenty spacious for our smaller group, but with 25 people - as originally planned - it would have been REALLY tight, especially if people are social distancing. The site is a long stretch of land that borders the river. It's really nice to fall asleep listening to the water at night. There's a small "beach" area that's about a 1-minute walk from the site where you can swim or float in the water. The check-in time (4 pm) seemed really late to us, so we asked if we could possibly check in any earlier. The hosts were super nice about it, but told us that they needed to clean the site thoroughly before we checked in, as there was another group checking out that morning and they wanted to clean in between groups. We were grateful and relieved to hear this because of COVID! However, when we finally checked in, the site was actually pretty dirty :( While the trash and recycling had been removed, the surfaces of the kitchen area were covered in dirt and grime. There was moldy bread in the cupboard, along with food left from previous groups. This was disappointing and frankly also a little scary because of COVID. The bathroom situation was also not great. There's a Porta-Potty that's fairly close to the campsite, plus a bathroom that's shared with MANY other people. The Porta-Potty was VERY full. We wondered if the cleaning schedule perhaps was not adequate for the number of people using it? The bathrooms were never empty and sometimes were full of people not wearing masks. Aside from the cleaning concerns and the bathroom situation, we had a great time. The hosts were responsive and very nice. The site itself was great. All in all, it was a really nice 4 night trip.

Kendra C.

5 years on Hipcamp

Mixed feelings

· August 2020

Nice for normal times, but not now.

Group trip ·

The site was pretty, right on the water but not exactly as described. Pre-covid it would have been good. They said it was usually big enough for 50 but they were limiting it to 25 due to Covid, which sounded promising - at first. We had 14 in our group and that felt like the max that would have seemed safe to us in the site. We had 7 tents and could have added maybe one more but the kitchen area was too small for 25, and there is only one water source. We were told they needed time to clean between guests so we couldn't check in early, but it appeared that nothing was cleaned. We had to clean the kitchen area, including wiping down dusty and cob web surfaces, cleaning out drains and throwing out old moldy food. Not how we wanted to start our vacation. Trash was picked up once during the week and we were told recycling would be picked up the next day, but it wasn't. The biggest bummer was the bathroom situation. They were very far from our site and were told that we would only be sharing with "rafters." We tried to ask clarifying questions but never got a straight answer and we assumed day trippers. They did not tell us that the rafters were staying in several tent cabins that were much closer to the 2 stall bathrooms than we were. There was one port-a-potty that was closer to our site, but it was almost full when we arrived and wasn't dumped until we were packing to leave. The sign said it was intended for 10 workers for 1 work week, but there were 14 of us 24/hours and day and others were using it too. We should have had another, or it should have been dumped after a couple of days. There were old clothes left in the bathroom the whole time, paper towels ran out a couple of days, and I never saw anyone cleaning either the bathroom or port-a-potty. Plus there were no signs about wearing masks in the bathrooms and several times people walked in without them. It did not feel safe. We also saw several rafts go by with the guides very close to the guests and no one wearing masks. It just felt like they were not taking enough precautions to keep their staff or guests safe. To be fair, the staff were all friendly and responsive and did wear their masks when we reached out. I might go back after we have a vaccine, but for the price, I expected more precautions to be taken.

Heather M.

5 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· July 2020

Group trip ·

The campsite is HUGE! The camp host was really nice and escorted us to our campsite. We had 21 campers and everyone was spread out comfortably with plenty of room for more. There are beautiful spots right on the river to pitch your tent. The kitchen area had plenty of space and was perfect for serving a large party. There is a short walk to the bathroom. The rapids are too fast to swim in near the campsite but you can take a short walk (1-2 minutes) and there's an area with calmer water for swimming. My entire party was shocked by how nice and big the campsite was and we are planning on making this an annual location.

Oliver A.

5 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· July 2020

Group trip ·

I just hope this doesn’t get too popular. Perfect spot for a private camping getaway. Only wish was that the bathrooms were closer to the site.

Daniel D.

5 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· July 2020

Group trip ·

Place is the bees knees!!!! Huge, has all the amenities. 10/10

Benjamin L.

5 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· June 2020

Group trip ·

Such an awesome set up. Right on the river with lots of space for several tents and some camping hammocks. We had access to the kitchen sink which made cooking for everyone so much easier. All the raft guides are so friendly and easy going. Loved our weekend here, highly recommend!

Jaclyn G.

2 reviews

Recommends

· June 2020

Group trip ·

This place was so great. Fit 25 people, we were able to keep our distance. The outdoor kitchen area came in handy and was nice having an area to do dishes, both kitchen and bathrooms were kept clean. Having our own area of the beach to swim and picnic was a plus. Will be back.

Shannon O.

4 reviews

Recommends

· June 2020

Group trip ·

Beautiful spot along the river!

Willow H.

10 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· June 2020

Great Getaway!

Group trip ·

We reserved the Family Riverside Camp and it was the perfect quarantine getaway for our group of 8 (6 tents)! There were other sites that were a closer than we'd have hoped (about 10 feet away) but everyone was respectful in terms of noise, privacy, etc. Pros: - River access is super easy and tubing down the rapids when they were calmer was tons of fun! Highly recommend bringing water shoes so that your walk back up is less painful. - The site, the bathrooms, and other common areas were clean. - The hosts were very responsive once we were on site and had questions. Cons: - The host (understandably) does not allow cars to come down to the site to unload / load. Using the wheelbarrow to bring your things back up the rocky slope to your car was a bit of work. Be prepared! - Kitchen does not have a burner for you to cook with. So we ended up having to use our own. Additional Notes: - There was a propane fire pit next to our family camp site that we understood was communal but the first night of our stay another group of campers felt that they could take it to their site. We reported this to the host and they were great in hunting down the firepit the next morning for us so we could have it our second night.

Nancy L.

3 reviews

Recommends

· June 2020

I can't say enough good things about this campsite. My husband and I enjoyed every minute of our stay. The location is great and the employees are amazing. My only concern was the amount of poison oak overgrowth. I'm pretty sure we were the first campers of the season, so it just may not have been cut down yet. We went on a rafting excursion on our last day here and Tigra was phenomenal. She is so knowledgeable in the history of this area.

Amanda N.

2 reviews

Recommends

· June 2020

Group trip ·

We had a very nice 2 day stay. However, we could not sleep the first night because there was a party camping below us that was celebrating somebody’s birthday and they played music and made noise until late. We could not call host cause our cell phones didn’t have service. They addressed it the next day and second night was great. Hot showers, flashing toilets, there is a sink with dish soap so over all comfortable and the location is beautiful.

Slavica G.

2 reviews

Recommends

· June 2020

Group trip ·

An extremely private, very spacious site right next to the river. Perfect for large groups. We were at campsite 1 and it was a bit of a walk to the bathroom but doable. The site was beautiful and there was a lot to explore around the site. We had adults and young children in our group and everyone had a great time. Thank you so much!

Annisa M.

7 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· May 2020

Great large camp spot

Awesome campsite. Came here with a large group and it was perfect for this. Loved the outdoor kitchen/serving area- the pics don’t do it justice; it’s huge. Bathrooms/showers were clean. Nice little beach to hang on a couple minutes’ walking from the campsite. Would absolutely recommend.

Tyler M.

5 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· September 2019

First round pick!

Group trip ·

Camp 1, or E, I heard/saw both names was incredible! We were there for Labor Day and received at least spots of shade all day. The site fit our 9 tents no problem. Jason, the camp host/manager/check in guy was incredible. Very nice, very knowledgeable, very considerate and a pleasure to deal with. Camp kitchen was nicely equipped and having running water on site was a huge plus. Bathrooms were close and again nicely equipped. Almost certain we will be back in the future!

Lucas M.

6 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· August 2019

Great getaway, but still close by.

Group trip ·

Amazing Host (Jason). Very helpful for our group of 15. We had a great weekend and our spot on the river was perfect. Plenty of tables included, and shade for the kitchen area. Could not have asked for more from this space! Thank you!

Shahriar N.

6 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· July 2019

Easy camping, fun river!

Whoa! This place is beautiful. The whole town (new to me), the American River, and the Raft California property specifically. So, camping at Raft California, you have several options depending on your preference. For larger groups, they have an entire private section along the river where you're left to yourself, away from everyone. That area has a kitchen setup, banquet tables, etc... but still feels like camping. If you brought a tent, there's also plenty of room to pitch one in the more common area. My friend and I came through town on a longer road trip, so we opted for the nicer setup in one of their canvas tents - more of a "glamp" setup, to keep everything extra easy. Inside those are 4 cots, so plenty of room for most families as well. Raft California is also, and most importantly a raft guide company. As such, there are a few people coming and going, employees and tours. That also means they have lots of activities on site, clean bathrooms and showers, picnic tables, etc... basically most of the conveniences of home! On the other hand, they're also do raft tours! I'd never gone down a river outside of NC, so I had to sign up. So fun! The guides are super knowledgeable (gave us information on what it's like from their end), and entertaining. They clearly seem like they're having a great time. The river was incredible, a few times surprising me with sizable waves and drops. Absolutely loved it! I definitely plan on coming back!

Dan F.

64 reviews

Recommends

· July 2019

Great for a group of 21

Group trip ·

We had an incredible time here and the hosts were very kind and available for any questions. The camp was very nice and the kitchen was amazing with a large cover and nice sink and fresh running water. The pictures online don’t do it justice. The walk to the bathrooms with running water is a little far but they also provide portable toilets. We also did the rafting trip which was incredible. We will for sure be back.

Stephanie B.

2 reviews

Recommends

· July 2019

Awesome site

Awesome site. The river setting is gorgeous, the gathering area is super helpful for a large group, and the staff on hand was awesome. Our group (20-25 throughout the weekend) had so much fun!

Cameron M.

6 years on Hipcamp

Mixed feelings

· July 2019

Nice, but loud

The host, accommodations, and views were all great. There was a loud group of people not far from us, they were the only ones making noise that traveled well beyond their own camp sight. I don't mind being rowdy and having fun, but they were excessive.

Brandon B.

6 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· June 2019

Great for groups.

Group trip ·

Plenty of space. Great hosts. Facilities everything you need. Our 9 families all loved our experience.

Gregory R.

4 reviews

October 2018

Busy during the weekend. Great for rafting

Rose H.

3 reviews

Recommends

· September 2018

Group trip ·

An excellent site with great facilities and great hosts. Jeremiah was great. And so was Taylor. Jenny at Raft Office was great and easy to work with.

Deepesh C.

7 years on Hipcamp

Recommends

· September 2018

Group trip ·