Written September 2007We heard how wonderful and scenic it was to raft the rivers around Denali. I found Denali Outdoor Center online and they had great tours down the Nenana River Canyon. We arrived early morning to gear up for our trip and were suited up in full dry suits. We even got helmets since we would be paddling (as opposed to riding the oar boat where only the guide paddles and steers.)
The glacier fed Nenana River is gray in color because of the supended silt generated as the glaciers scrape over the rocks. It is also COLD because it was ice only yesterday! The river wasn't very high, which kept all the rapids in the class III category; the scale goes up to class V but there are none of those in this canyon. We loved the exciting paddle through the ten rapids.
There were a lot of calm areas too and the guide let us go over the side to float if we wanted to experience the cold water. Sure was nice to have that dry suit on!We had great fun riding/paddling through the canyon for two hours.