We have excellent ammenities when it comes to rafting the Pigeon River.  Our men and women bathrooms are the best on the river and include showers for freshening up after your rafting trip.  We have plenty of parking for our rafting customers on our outpost premises. 

Our outpost is located on a campground with river access, fishing areas, and even RV hookups. 

Plenty of accessories are available for sale in our outpost if you happen to forget to bring a pair of river shoes, need a wet suit on a cooler than normal day, or would like to purchase shirts or hats or photos to take home with you to remember your rafting adventure.

This weekend was a nice weekend for rafting.  The weather was warm during the day and the water was not too cold.  We did have wet suits for added comfort for our customers.  Several groups came each day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

We did try out our new video Flip and are still working on the process of taking the video from start to finish.  We've worked in several of the rapids and different zooms and angles.  Soon we will have things in order and will have an offering for rafters to take home some video of their trips down The Pigeon River.

This week calls for weather in the sixties so feel free to come by for a whitewater rafting trip in the Smokies.  We are close to Sevierville, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge right off of Exit 447 on I-40.

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Good morning!  Here at Big Creek Expeditions we are geared up for the whitewater rafting season. 

We're exploring the possibility of offering videos of our rafting trips this year.  We just purchased a device called "The Flip", which has an optional waterproof case accessory.  We'll be trying it out this weekend to see how it works.  We'll post our resulting videos online here on our blog, so check back to see how it turns out. 

Even if it does not work out so well, we will as always provide the option for our customers to purchase a photo CD of their groups going through some of the most technical rapids on The Pigeon River.

Good morning, rafters!  This is the second edition of our Morning Mountain Minute. 

We are here today to speak about rafting safety.  Big Creek Expeditions prides itself on rafting and river safety.  Prior to each trip, we run all the rafters through a safety talk.  The talk encompasses things to remember such as:

1. "Nose and Toes" in the air if you happen to go overboard, although your guide will make every effort to keep your group in the boat.
2. Always keep the top of the paddle in hand as you do not want it to hit your neighbor when going through a rapid.
3. Keep your helmet and PFD (personal floatation device) on at all times.
4. Listen to your guide as he will direct you when to paddle and when to relax, shouting out commands like "All Forward", "Relax", "All Back".
5. Foot protection is required. You will need old shoes or sandals that go around your ankle.  FLIP FLOPS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE RIVER.

Additional information can be found on our site on our safety page and our questions page.  Remember that the Pigeon River has several Class III and Class IV rapids.  There are both Upper and Lower Trips.  Upper Trips are more technical and are restricted to those 8 years of age and older and 70 lbs. and greater.  The Lower Trips are suited for younger groups ages 3 and up.

Upper Trip

Lower Trip

I just wanted to provide a quick morning update for the week, our first week we have opened our doors for the 2009 rafting season.  Usually I will provide this update on Monday, but yesterday it was rather chilly out.  A snow storm had blown through the entire southeast and parts of Tennessee received over 6 inches of snow. 

Of course, snow storms don't present the ideal rafting conditions, but the weather forecast is calling for warmer temperatures later in the week presenting the opportunity for some great rafting.  Last week we received our shipment of 50 wet suits in preparation for folks coming to raft the Pigeon River during the months of March and April.  Wet suits won't be necessary for every trip in March and April, but if the rafting rapids are a little chillier than normal as they are this week, you will be comfortable wearing one of the wet suits.  Additionally, our winterized bathrooms have been opened up and we are ready to go. 

I'm going to be at the outpost beginning Thursday all day.  Please call or reserve online and stop by for a trip down the river.  We would love to have your group.

Jon Felderman

1-877-642-7238