Crab Apple Whitewater

Nice place… Fast Rapids… Family owned… Would recommend…
Maine is well known for their Rapids… Give this place a try!

We had the best time on the ½ day family raft trip with our 8 and 9 year old kids. Our guide Katie was incredibly engaged and answered what must have been a thousand questions about rocks, ducks, and boats over the course of the 4 hour trip.
The rapids were just enough to excite the kids; otherwise it was a peaceful, beautiful float down the river with nice stops for snacks and swimming. We’re excited to do another leg of the river next year!

Went on the Monroe Dam Section trip last week. Had a fantastic time. These folks have it down, from parking your car to fitting your lifejackets to the surprisingly decent cookout at the end of the trip. All the staff were very well trained, professional and summer camp counselor friendly and enthusiastic. I hope to make this an annual event!

Took the kids (11, 9 and 6) «funyaking». The older ones were on their own and the 6 year old was with me in a double. Overall, it was a fun day on the river. While the water was moving, you can hardly call it «whitewater». We never had any incident that would have put us even close to falling in and I was not worried about the kids on their own. Even the younger kids that had a hard time keeping the kayak straight, got to the end within a couple of minutes of the first kayak. A few times, we got stuck as the water level can get fairly low. Having the CAW team meet you 5 miles into the 8 mile stretch of river with a granola bar and a drink, is a nice touch and an internal check for how you are doing.
The only reason I took a star away, is that it took 1:45 Hrs to get us into the water. We got there early to ensure we don’t miss the 1:45 PM departure and were promptly suited up with life jackets and helmets. All our valuables and accessories were locked in the car. But there was a large group of kids from Boston College and they took their time to get ready. By 2:15 PM, they kept coming in, munching on their lunch sandwiches and oblivious to the fact that they had to change into their bathing suits and get life jackets. The CAW staff should have dispatched the non-​BC folks on their own rather than have us sitting around for 1.5 Hrs with a life west and helmets on before taking the bus up the river. the long wait was very frustrating and took a good chunk of fun out of your day.

We had an awesome time with Frank, Cody, and the whole CrabApple crew last weekend! We went on the Monroe Bridge whitewater section and it is one of the best we have been on. Our guide Frank was very experienced and knowledgeable about the river. He was super friendly and made the trip a lot of fun. I would also like to give a shout out to Cory who also went out of his way to make sure we had a great experience. From check-​in to check out, the whole operation is very smooth and well organized. I would highly recommend this outfitter and especially the Monroe Bridge experience. There are easier sections of the river to raft on, but bigger really is better when it comes to whitewater rafting. We had so much fun that we are already planning our next whitewater trip with CrabApple!

Could not be happier with my experience at Crab Apple! For context, this review is in regards to the Deerfield Monroe Bridge Trip they run.
The whole team was excited and fun to be leading our trip from the time we pulled in the parking lot until we headed back home. Frank (one of the owners) appears truly passionate about the experience of the rafters, and making sure all who show up are safe and having a great time.
Our guide, Cody, was top notch. He quickly learned the strengths or our crew, and was able to get us into each rapid in the most exciting but safe fashion. We hit some MAJOR waves, were able to do some great surfing, and on the «down time» between rapids he was personable, taking time to move throughout the raft and interact personally with each of our crew.
Rounding out the trip with a great BBQ and slideshow of the action was a perfect way to wrap up the day. Highly recommend using Crab Apple if you plan to raft the Deerfield.

My friends and I had a lot of fun rafting on Saturday. Most of us were first-​timers and Cody did a great job keeping us safe and having fun. We will definitely be back!

SO fun! My boyfriend and I purchased a groupon for the 3 hour funyak trip and it was a blast! We’re both in our mid-​twenties and while most of the people in our group consisted of families or younger teenagers, the trip was really fun for everyone of any age.
Even though it rained during our trip down the river, it made our journey that much more epic. I would definitely recommend renting one of their wetsuits if the weather is cold as you’ll be outside for up to 3 hours. Don’t be daunted by the 3 hour trip. For the most part you can float and let the current take you downstream. There are just a few dead areas that you have to paddle a bit.
Additional note, staff is SUPER friendly and gives great tips about how to paddle and how to maneuver around rapids and rocks.

LOVED this place so much last year, I’m headed back in July.
The staff/​guides are so much fun, and safety is their priority.
The lunch break is great, make your own sandwich, salad, brownie dessert.
In all, just good fun!

*belated review*
Summer 2011, my friends and I (mostly first-​timers) went white water rafting down Deerfield River (10-​mile Fife Brook Section with class I, II, & III rapids). We chose this trip because the other trips weren’t available that weekend, boo.
While it was a great intro to white water rafting, I found it to be quite boring and slow-​paced… I mean, my grandma would have probably survived this trip. I guess that’s why it’s called «Family Trip.» The only exciting part was the Zoar Gap Section (class III rapids) where we finally saw «white water» and that lasted only a few minutes. Feel free to bring your small belongings (i.e. sunscreen, drink, waterproof camera) onto the raft.
Special props to our river guide Al, who was super laid-​back and seemed knowledgeable about the river. He really put effort into making the trip more interesting for us. We did all the paddling obstacles and stunts, i.e. smashing into big rocks intentionally to create big splashes… yep, we’re cool. Also, we were the only raft to pop a wheelie that day — pretty badass. Al even wrote us a personal thank-​you postcard in the mail. Don’t forget to tip your guide!
I have not visited other outfitters in Mass. (Zoar and Moxie), but I would recommend Crab Apple because they were very welcoming, organized and efficient from beginning to end. Plus, they served really good deli and brownies at the picnic lunch.

Our company, Adams & Knight Advertising, just had our annual summer outing with Crab Apple Whitewater, for a trip down the Deerfield River. It was a great time, and very well-​organized. All the guides were very personable and capable (they had to be to put up with our group). Besides bringing us down the river safely, they had a whole bag of tricks at the ready — fun things to try, cool experiences, even a crazy water fight at the end of the trip.
My only suggestion would be to upgrade the lunch experience from rather basic deli sandwiches to a barbecue, especially since the place you stop for lunch has grills and is more than equipped for that.

This is the second funyaking trip we did. We had done the first trip last year wn I saw a special on groupon for it. My kids, hubby and I had a blast. When I saw another special for this year on groupon I did not hesitate to buy it. It was raining but we hardly notice the rain with the water fighting, getting stuck on rocks. Will definitely go again.

Summer Adventure at its best.
From the launch, to floating down the river (out of the raft), lunch beside the waterfalls, the water fight, to the giant rapids at the end it was a blast from start to finish.
Can’t wait to go again this August!

I have been here twice over the last month. 1^st trip for the deerfield half day family trip with six children my three age 6, 7 and 9 and my three niece and nephews age 8, 9 and 10 so with six children all very young this was the highlight of their summer. We were friendly greeted as we were pulling in with a crew of guides and it got the kids all excited then we were led to get wet suits and life jackets, helmets on which also made the kids feel cool and excited. They went over all the rules and we were on our way in no time. Kids loved all the songs and dancing on the raft. Our Guide Ben Ben Ben 10 he was so much fun and the kids were crying worried that they would not see him again. Glad to say he left such an impression on them that I brought back my two oldest boys 8 and 9 and we did the all day fife brook class 1, 2 and 3 they had a blast I did not know there was so many stunts that could be done on a raft and the water fight was also another way to enjoy our day. They half way lunch was a lot better than was expected and the kids loved it. They are now begging for more and will have a lot to tell their friends when they get back to school. I also got to enjoy a lot of laugh’s with my kids before they are all grown up on me :). I do not write reviews but wanted to let everyone know what a great trip this is for adults, or for kids of all ages.
Donna from Hingham Mass

I booked the Deerfield River — Monroe Bridge section for my birthday with a group of 13. Here’s how it went: we arrived early to the Crab Apple base on a beautiful Saturday morning and waited while the rest of our group showed up and the staff prepared the equipment. After getting fitted for helmets and life vests and receiving a short primer on river etiquette and safety, we boarded a school bus for a 30 minute ride to the dam.
We were lucky to get two great guides for our boats – Tom and Frank. Frank, who is one of the owners, was super knowledgeable and let us do all kinds of fun stunts like «riding the bull» and the «iron cross» (illegal in 47 states… jk). We ended our run on the river with some class IV rapids which were sick-​nasty and my personal highlight of the trip.
After we got back to Crab Apple we hung out for a bit and enjoyed a delicious BBQ cookout featuring steak, chicken, salmon with side-​salad things complimented by some brownies. All in all it was a great day and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who’s not afraid of cold water and fun.

«Funyaking» is both an active outdoor activity and a family-​friendly one, so in both regards, not the kind of thing I normally ever do. It’s definitely for children, group outings and casual I-want-to-be-more-adventurous-but-it’s-a-process types. I would probably be the latter.
Basically they outfit you in safety gear, give a safety lecture and drop you in the river with a squirt gun and an inflatable kayak. Somewhere in there, there’s a school bus ride and a snack. It’s about as untreacherous as kayaking can possibly be, but you go through some mild rapids, lulls where paddling is very necessary and have some obstacles to avoid.
The most annoying thing that happens is you occasionally get stuck on top of a rock – but the guy who runs things has a lot of useful advice for navigating the river and encourages everyone to help each other out. He also seems to have a rivalry with another boating outfit in the area that is just straight out of a Ralph Macchio movie. If I were other company’s tour leader, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to stand him –but since I’m novice kayaker who drove from Boston this morning, I thought he was great.
The really important thing to remember here is: they have an unforgiving cancellation policy. Make sure you can actually go before you make a reservation, and give yourself enough time to get there. More than 20 people didn’t show up for our trip because of a traffic jam on the Mass Pike.

This is a review of the rafting portion of this outfitter itself and not the event nor the campground. Crab Apple took my group out on the Deerfield River — Monroe Bridge section. They seem to be the largest rafting outfitter for the Deerfield. For $ 94 we got a 4 hour rafting trip with a couple of class II, a couple of class III, and a couple of class IV rapids. Our raft guide was fun and experienced and everything from the bus ride to the rafting was professional. A short break for GORP and a dinner is included. The dinner was good (choice of steak, chicken, veggie burger or salmon along with potato salad, pasta salad, dinner roll, chips/​salsa, and brownies. Wetsuit rental not included in price as I’ve got my own and the outfitter facilities were decent. As with most outfitters, I get annoyed by their soliciting for their photos. $ 17 for 1 photo? No thanks just take me down the river.

A large group of my friends and I went on their level III-​IV itinerary. Everyone was very friendly and was very organized. When we first drove up, they greeted us and let us know where to sign the contract, get our wetsuits and changed. We then met up and was arranged with our guide and got our life jacket and helmet fitted. After everyone was fitted, we took a 30 minute bus ride up to the river and they explained the commends and safety issues.
The ride was great. I guess you can say its my first time water rafting and I have to say it is exhilarating. The guide sure knows what he’s doing. We went through several level III rapids and our last one was a level IV. The rapids aren’t as bad as I thought which is great. I definitely recommend this to anyone who’s interested and if I get a chance, I’ll definitely go again!