Enriching lives by offering Poudre River Whitewater rafting trips for over 43 years!
Experience a Poudre River whitewater rafting trip with A Wanderlust Adventure on Colorado’s only National Wild and Scenic River. A Wanderlust Adventure offers two different half day Poudre River Whitewater rafting trips to choose from. Our beginner to intermediate level Taste of Whitewater Trip is great for first time rafters and families with kids 7 years old and up. Our intermediate/advanced level Blast of Whitewater Trip offers 12 miles of continuous Class III and IV level whitewater. This is our most action-packed trip that we offer. The Cache La Poudre River was made a National Wild and Scenic River in 1986, a title given to the nation’s most pristine waterways. Whitewater rafting on the Poudre offers a unique experience because the river is protected and there are regulations on commercial use. Less crowds provide a more enjoyable wilderness rafting adventure on the Poudre River. The Poudre begins high in the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park along the Continental Divide. Flowing north and east it careens and tumbles down the slopes of the Poudre Canyon until it reaches the town of Fort Collins.
Historians don’t really know how the Poudre River was named but legends tell of a group of French trappers of the American Fur Company traveling through the area in the fall of 1836. They camped on the banks of the Poudre River near the present day town of Laporte. During the night a severe early snowstorm blew through the area and the wagon train was stuck for over a week. The snow was deep and the wagons could not move with the heavy loads of gun powder and supplies they were carrying. The trappers lightened their loads by burying the gun powder and supplies. They called this spot Cache La Poudre, “the hiding place of the powder.” The Poudre River eventually took on this name.