High gas prices and low water levels – sounds like a recipe for a rough season for river recreation.
Not so, says Carl Haussman, owner of Sacramento raft and kayak seller Adventure Sports.
With high gas prices curbing long-distance trips, more people are staying closer to home. That has meant a successful year for local rafting outfits like Adventure Sports on El Camino Boulevard.
"Rafting season has been huge this year" on the American River, Haussman said. "Our raft sales are up about 30 percent" from last year.
Haussman, who opened Adventure Sports 18 years ago, cited a number of factors – social, environmental and economic.
• A "more family-oriented river," due to increased law enforcement and more restrictive liquor laws, Haussman said.
• River levels. "As water levels go down, more people go to the river. It calms down, the flows aren't as fast and people feel they can handle it," Haussman said. "For the river, traffic's probably gone up 30 to 40 percent."
• Fuel prices. "A lot more people are staying home," Haussman said. "(Rafting) requires no gas. More people are recreating at home. The river's a great resource."
"People are finally observing what we have here," he said. "Before, they wanted to go to Tahoe or Donner (Lake). Now, more and more people are saying, 'We don't want to drive all the way up there.' "
Specific numbers weren't available, said John Havicon, supervising park ranger at the Sacramento County Department of Regional Parks, but the department has collected more in entry fees this season than in previous years, suggesting that more people are visiting the river, he said.
The south and middle forks of the American River are among the most popular stretches for whitewater river rafting in the state, said Diana Haslam, a manager at All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting.
The family-run Walnut Creek-based outfit has led raft tours along the American and nine other California rivers since 1962.
The river's appeal is its accessibility and its variety of challenges for rafters of all skill levels, Haslam said.
"On the south fork, you can be 8 or 80 – it's a very playful river without it being overwhelming. There's the sense of getting away from it all, but you're still 30 minutes from a major highway," she said.
All-Outdoors will conduct tours through mid-October and has yet to compile its sales numbers for the season, but said its rafting bookings have been solid, helped in part by European tourists taking advantage of lower cost travel to California.
At American River Raft Rentals on Sunrise Boulevard at the American River, "We've been doing fine," said owner Dave Hill.
With drought conditions draining Folsom Lake, more people are seeking out the American, he said.
But Hill estimates this year's sales are down about 5 percent from last year, citing a slow start to the rafting season after a wet May, a mild Memorial Day weekend and a smoky early summer produced by the north state wildfires.
Still, "in Northern California, there's an awesome opportunity for rafting," said Haslam of All-Outdoors. "People do this because it's a family activity or a group activity. This has a lot of appeal for people and there's a great memory-making aspect that people want."
Call The Bee's Darrell Smith, (916) 321-1040.
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