Good well organised trip by a bunch of very friendly knowledgeable guys. Well informed pre trip briefing. Highly recommended!

This was my 1st time to go water rafting with my daughter, and I had FUN!. Our guide Chelsea was very experienced and knowledgeable on what we should do and when. I would definitely recommend it, especially if it's your 1st time. Experience of a Lifetime! I would do it again and I'm 65 yrs old!!

This was our first time white water rafting anywhere, and glad we chose NOC to get us going! Facilities were clean and organized. The experience was enhanced by our guide, Andy, who made the trip even better by his jokes and positive attitude. Everything was safe and way more fun than we expected (even the bus ride to the drop off point was a good time)! Highly recommend for anyone.

My partner and I had a blast rafting down the upper Pigeon River. The crew is comical and friendly and check in was very easy. The bus ride to the the launch site was very quick and getting into the raft and into the river was not as chaotic as expected with all rafting companies launching at the same times. Noah, our guide was very knowledgeable and outgoing. Overall, we had a great time and would definitely come back! Thanks so much!

We had a blast. Our guide Chelsea was funny and kept us safe while going through the rapids. Would definitely recommend this trip.

The poses my boys did as they got their pictures taken on the water. The scenery was beautiful and the experience was fun! Loved it❤️

Fun! The guide(s) were wonderful and made us feel safe. Hitting the rapids was so fun and exhilarating! Overall, an exciting and fun adventure!

This was our first experience white water rafting and it exceeded our expectations by leaps and bounds. NOC staff was excellent and made the trip one to remember!

This was my second time white water rafting, but first time here. It was my wife's first time ever. We happened to be the only two in the raft besides Dirty Mike. He was a terrific guide. He told us about all the local things we could do outside of rafting as well as everything about the river. The water was flowing slowly today, but enough to get us pretty wet. This company is all about your experience and not the profit. They stopped at one point and let us surf in one of the rapids. We already plan on bringing the kids back. If you have kids under 8, they have a rafting trip for that as well. "Uncle Stevie" promises to have sauce on him next time. Thanx again Dirty Mike

We did the Upper Pigeon trip with AJ and it was amazing! It was our first time rafting and we got quite the rush on some of the rapids. Our pictures at the end were awesome! This was truly the high point of our trip and I would highly recommend it to others.

We were on a couples trip and decided to go white water rafting for the first time. This was a great experience and thrilling activity. Mack was our guide and we all thought he was the best, with a lot of personality, jokes, great stories, and historical and river information that kept the trip interesting. The sign up process is easy, and you can fill out all forms prior to arriving, saving time. They give you all the equipment needed, and offer comprehensive safety training. We all felt confident after this training. The lower Pigeon river offers a great mix of floating, large and smaller rapids, and a beautiful scene for the trip. We were able to jump out at one point for a quick swim which was invigorating. We cannot wait to go again, and we would absolutely use NOC again. Great experience and a highlight of a wonderful couples trip.

First time rafting for our 9 and 11 year old. Our son the oldest gets really anxious and has a tendency to pass out. Knowing how he can react sometimes I was super nervous. But our guide Kaitlyn was awesome with our kids. She gave us safety instructions and flipped our group around in the raft to ensure the safest ride possible. The river was still high and moving fast from the hurricane rains a few days prior. After the first class III rapids I could see the excitement and joy in both kids faces. Our daughter had a permanent smile the entire trip and our son overcame his fear and rafting was one of his favorites from the week. We prepaid for pictures and so happy to have these memories to look at. You need closed back shoes. We all wore aqua socks, but the store has some water shoes to purchase if need be. Thank you NOC for providing a fun adventure! We'll be telling our friends.

Husband and I were on vacation for our 5 year wedding anniversary and decided go try white water rafting for the first time! Im so glad we did this because it was one of the highlights of our trip!! I was a little nervous at the beginning, but the guides are very knowledgeable and reassuring! We had Hayden and he was so much fun, he did a great job making sure we all had a safe and enjoyable time! Thanks Hayden!

I took a trip with my kids and we had fun except my 10 year old got waterboarded during a part of the trip called "surfing". They should have known she would be submerged and had her move back from the front of the raft. I would give them the benefit of the doubt and a better review except I recommended them to my friend with the caveat to decline the "surfing" portion or have her youngest child sit away from the front of the boat for that portion. My friend scheduled a trip for her family the following week but she got sick and had to cancel. NOC required a covid test to refund. NOT COOL. The moral of the story is AVOID.

This was our first rafting experience and it was wonderful! We decided on the Lower Pigeon float and it was perfect! Just enough waves to keep us entertained without being too much for our younger kids. Our guide, Josh, was excellent. He was very friendly and a great instructor. Every staff member we encountered was friendly and knowledgeable and we felt very safe during the trip. I really enjoyed the comradery between the guides and other rafts as we made our way down the river. We had a great time trying to splash those in the other rafts with squirt guns, our paddles, or old milk jugs which served as make-shift buckets. I'm also very happy with the wonderful pictures we got of our trip, it's definitely worth the extra money! Overall, it was a great experience!

We had a great experience with NOC white water rafting as first timers. We had to drive approx 1 hour from our hotel in Pigeon Forge, but it will be the same for almost any company as they all go down the same river. The pricing is fair and the trip is long so you definitely get your money worth. They start off with a short educational video and some good humor before you hop on a bus and head over to the river and have some fun. Our tour guide was Noah. He was super friendly and had lots to share about the river and the surrounding area which we enjoyed. They have a short stretch of river where you can hop out of the raft and just float in your life jacket. The pictures came out great and were reasonably priced. Don’t forget a towel and some dry clothes. They have some rooms to change in once you return from your trip!

My husband and I took our 4 daughters ages: 10, 12, 12, and 13 on the Upper Pigeon rafting trip with NOC on the first week of May 2021. As we had never been white water rafting before, I spent a lot of time researching reviews and comparing companies. We wanted a family vacation for our girls that was not full of artificial experiences, like rides or amusement parks. So even though I am no helicopter mama, I was very nervous (inwardly) for what I had signed us up for as I have grown very fond of these lovely people! I agonized over whether to do the Lower or Upper Pigeon trip. Even on the day of the trip, I was ready to walk away from it if the people at NOC did not give me the warm and fuzzies with the safety of my children. As we arrived, it was raining and we were concerned about the weather and I was so close to chickening out. What we were about to do with our kids seemed very surreal. The leader of the tour spoke with us and addressed my concerns as a nervous mother very sincerely. We decided to go for it and dressed in our splash guard shirts and watched a safety video under a tent with the other patrons. The video gave specific instructions on how to assume a floating position should you fall into the water. You must never try to stand up. Also, it explained how to be an active participant in your own rescue. While this was vital information, it did not ease my anxiety! Then we met our guides. Kent was a 16 year river rafting veteran and he came over and spoke with us. He probably noticed my crazed-mama-eyes and he was very calming and reassuring to us. On the bus ride over, he even came and spoke with my husband and me directly about our worries. We told him that if it was possible, we would prefer a cautious but fun first rafting experience with our girls over a wild one. He totally reassured us. To my surprise, my 2 daughters wanted to be in front of the raft. He taught us how to lock in our toes so as not to fall out and he continually vocalized what he was doing and why. He had to make so many decisions. It was astounding. Kent made our ride! He was so caring and thoughtful and capable. The ride was life-changing. It really takes a team effort to river raft and it was such an incredible moment for our family. We saw other tour companies along the way and I was so relieved that I chose NOC over the others. All our guides were so experienced. I can't recommend Nantahala Outdoor Center enough and I can never thank Kent enough for keeping us all safe. This ended up being the highlight of our trip to the Great Smoky Mountains! Kent, we hope to see you next year! FYI: if you are driving to the Upper Pigeon outpost from Pigeon Forge, do NOT take the directions from Siri. We went through parts of Tennessee that I'd like to never see again. It was quite scary, tiny roads through the back hills. Scenic is not a word I would use. Stick to the highways!