The newly restored Wild and Scenic Upper Klamath River is home to one of the most beautiful and exciting summer day trips in the West and our extremely unique, active, and comfortable 2-day whitewater adventure. It is a whitewater playground and gives rafters a front row seat to a quickly healing river after the historic Klamath dam removals. This is the river Momentum got its start on and we are so excited for the next chapter of the ‘Upper K’.
Momentum’s first commercial rafting trip was on the Upper Klamath and it is one of the two rivers that made us choose Ashland, Oregon as our base. We have added many other rivers and adventures to our offerings, but Ashland is still our home and the ‘UK’ will always be an integral part of our trip offerings.
This is especially true after the historic dam removals in 2024. Our award winning Upper Klamath Safari Camp is perfectly located to allow us to explore a restored Upper Klamath – combining the ‘old’ with the ‘new’ for one of the most unique trips in the U.S.
The same guides that guide our trips throughout the West and abroad run our Upper K trips – guides with years of experience on many of the world’s most difficult whitewater rivers, and guides that truly enjoy sharing the outdoors and their outdoor experiences with others.
Find out more about the Klamath Dam Removals:
Rafting The Klamath River After The Dams – Find out more about the largest dam removal in history >>
In 2024 four dams were removed from the Klamath River – the largest dam removal in history. The Klamath River now runs free from Keno to the Ocean – with 44 miles of reservoirs, diversions, and sections trapped in between once again a free flowing river.
Stretching from Southern Oregon into far northern California the section known as the ‘Upper Klamath’ cuts a steep and sometimes imposing path through the volcanic rock of the Cascades. It, along with the Columbia and the Pit, are the only rivers that managed to hold their course as the Cascades were formed. But it is a wild course and, newly restored and freed, a river runners playground.
In the spring there are options for big water runs down the traditional ‘Hells Corner’ stretch and in the summer the Upper Klamath offers a staggering 30+ miles of steep technical whitewater that stretches from above Hells Corner to the newly freed and very imposing Kikacéki (Wards) Canyon. And tucked between and after the whitewater are two beautiful and more mild sections through the ancestral lands of the Shasta Nation that includes the old Copco and Iron Gate reservoir footprints.
We offer a huge range of trip options on the Upper Klamath and all trips jump off from our home in Ashland Oregon. From short scenic trips that allow people to experience the restored Kikacéki (Copco) Valley and Iron Gate stretch; to spectacular high adventure 1-day trips (including Kikacéki Canyon); to our high adventure class IV+ 2-day Upper Klamath River Safari that combines an award winning backcountry camp with the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ for one of the most unique trips in the United States. All are done with our signature style, attention to detail, and handcrafted quality and offer a ‘front of the boat’ seat to the historic restoration of the Upper Klamath River.
