I need input to decide on easy river rafting : between the Nantahala River near Bryson City or the French Broad River above Asheville. I will be staying in Ashville at the Grove Park Inn. Any suggestions would be appreciated such as is one more crowded, easily found etc.Thank you.

Not sure about the rafting but you will just love The Grove Park Inn.

I've been rafting at Nantahala twice (through the Nantahala Outdoor Center, highly recommend them). The river is nice, not too many class 4 rapids if I remember, but a nice experience and an exciting, though on the easy side, ride. The guides are great too! Both times I went as a camp counselor and my kids were 12 years old and loved it. Enjoy!

About five years ago we did the French Broad River trip and thought it was great. Beautiful scenery, and just enough class three (and a couple of four, I think) rapids to make it fun, with enough flatwater in between to relax and look at the scenery; even a spot to stop and take a swim. We had a seven year old (minimum age allowed), nine year old, a couple of twelve year olds, and a fifteen year old with us. They let the older kids take "funyaks", self bailing inflatable kayaks, instead of the rafts, and they had a blast. I was a little nervous about this, but they did fine.

We've gone rafting a couple of times since, on the New River in West Virginia, and on the Animas River southwest of Durango, CO, and found these tame and a little boring by comparison. We're not into dangerous thrills, but we thought that our experience on the French Broad River was just right for us.

I was unaware that the French Broad had any classed rapids, the parts of it I see always look so shallow and peaceful!

Anyway, the Nantahala outdoor center is about an hour drive from Asheville. There are lots of other outfitters in the area, but NOC is by far the largest. I believe their website is NOC.com.

I grew up in Woodfin (just north of Asheville) and can't recommend the French Broad due to what is in it. I don't want to give the impression that it is a running sewer, but I don't think I would want to get a mouthful of the water. I'm hopeful someone will speakup and tell me I'm wrong but there are a lot of businesses and at least one sewage treatment facility near the river. With that said, I know plenty of people who have rafted on the French Broad and even eaten the fish so perhaps my childhood memories are wrong.

The Nantahalla on the other hand is one place I can recommend without reservation (other than being a little touristy). You can get guided tours from some of the outfitters but if you are reasonable comfortable with a paddle, you can go cheap with one of the small "just give me a raft, drop me off, and pick me up" places like the Paddle Inn. Don't let the river fool you though. Although hundreds of thousands of people raft on the Nantahalla each year, someone is killed every 2 to 3 years when their foot gets trapped on rocks under the water.

If you do go on the Nantahalla, you MUST go to Relia's Garden at the Nantahalla Outdoor Center. After spending several hours on the river, you'll be tired and cold and the food at Relia's will be the best you've ever tasted.

Mike Honeycutt

Thank you to all who replied about rafting. Very informative information.