We found adventure on the RIVER!

Did you know your son will go rafting his first week at Camp Carolina? Yep! Every single tribe  (Newts, Pups, Dogs, Manders and Huggers) goes rafting! Our younger boys head out to the French Broad. The French Broad is the third oldest river in the WORLD and starts just down the road from Brevard, in Rosman and is a grade 2 with some 3 rapids (out of 5) and is incredibly scenic. The Pigeon River is where the older tribes go (Manders and Huggers) and is a fast paced and exciting river with grade 2-4 rapids.

Campers go in a raft with their cabin. Rafting requires teamwork and communication and provides cabins with shared experiences, challenges and funny stories to really bond the group as a cohesive team-very important for living in a cabin together!

The Rafting Trip begins at breakfast where the entire Dining Hall echoes with “Let’s go Rafting!” or “Newts outta camp” chants pumping up the tribe for their adventure! A quick debrief about what to pack from the Head of Rafting and the boys are packing and loading up on a bus for the trip. On arrival-we need to fuel up for the adventure! Cold cuts (with fresh baked bread) are usually on the menu before each raft guide leads the cabin through a safety briefing. How to hold the paddle correctly, how to secure yourself in the raft, how to paddle correctly, what happens if you fall out and what is the correct “white water position” if you do swim. Then it’s time to hit the rapids! There is usually time for a play-sliding down the rafts from a small bank is popular as is “pirates” in the slow moving swimming holes. After around 2-3 hours on the water the boys are thoroughy tired and once warmed up on the bus there is rarely a camper not fast asleep for the drive back to CCB.

Who guides the rafts? Our staff! We run a 5 day raft guide course for around 15 of our staff (plus the entire white water team) who go through a rigurous course to determine if they are able to be signed off as a raft guide. There are always white water staff on every trip-with their Level 4 kayak instructor course as well as their Swift Water Rescue course. We outfit the entire trip-we own the rafts, paddles, splash jackets, helmets and PFD’s for our campers to use.

Worried you will miss out on this adventure? We aim to always send a photographer on every raft trip so you will be sure to get some epic snaps of your son, with his cabin, rafting down either the mighty French Broad or Pigeon River!