White Water Rafting in Cody, Wyoming: Running the Shoshone River Below the Canyon
Published
- River
- Shoshone
- Grade
- Class II–III
- Where
- Below the dam
- Season
- Summer flows
River rafting Cody WY means the Shoshone River below Buffalo Bill Dam, in the stretch running out of the canyon past the town. It is the most accessible outdoor activity here, which is most of its appeal.
What the water is like
White water rafting Cody Wyoming is not a remote or committing river trip. The runs are close to town, take part of a day, and are within reach of people who have never been in a raft. Families make up a large share of the traffic through the summer.
The whitewater is Class II to III, the band that is genuinely exciting without requiring anybody to have done it before: big enough to soak a boat, small enough to take children on. Anyone looking for serious whitewater is in the wrong part of the state. Anyone looking for a half day on a real river with no prior experience is exactly who this water is for.
What the grades actually mean
Class II is moving water with clear channels and waves big enough to slap a boat. Class III adds drops that need a line chosen in advance and a guide calling the strokes out loud. That is the whole range on this river.
The number is not a fixed property of the water, though, which is the part most people miss. A grade describes a river at a given flow, and this flow answers to an irrigation schedule: the same rapid can be a solid III in June and barely a II by late August. If the grade is what you are choosing on, ask what it is that week, not what it says on a brochure printed in the spring.
The rapids have names
The drops are named instead of numbered, and the names are worth listening for on the briefing: Colter’s Falls, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Little Big Drop.
They are also a fair guide to what the river thinks of itself. None of those names belongs to anything that would trouble a competent boat, and all of them are delivered by a guide with a straight face, which is part of the entertainment.
Two rivers, one season
What is running depends on the month, because the two stretches are fed differently. The North Fork above the reservoir is snowmelt water: it comes up hard in late spring and is usually finished by early July. The canyon below the dam is released water, so it holds a usable flow long after the snow is gone and can run into September.
The character of the water changes through the season for the same reason. What the river is doing on any given week below the dam has more to do with irrigation demand than with recent weather, and early season generally carries more water than late.
The practical version: early in the season you have a choice, and later in the season the river makes it for you.
How it fits a visit
A half day on the river leaves the rest of the day intact, which makes rafting one of the easier things to slot into a Cody itinerary. It pairs naturally with an evening at the rodeo, and it works on days when the high country is closed in and the mountain drives are not worth making.
Which stretch you end up on, and what to bring, is a question for the outfitters. If the red rock is the draw more than the rapids, the canyon run is the longer of the two and the one to ask for.
Common questions
Is there white water rafting in Cody, Wyoming?
Yes, on the Shoshone River below Buffalo Bill Dam, close to town. The whitewater is Class II to III and the named drops include Colter's Falls, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Little Big Drop.
How difficult is the rafting on the Shoshone?
Class II to III, which is the band that is exciting without requiring experience. Anyone after serious whitewater is in the wrong part of the state; anyone after a half day on a real river with no background in it is exactly who this water suits.
When is the rafting season near Cody?
Through the summer, but the useful question is which stretch is running the week you arrive. The two are fed differently, the answer moves month to month, and the outfitters track it daily. Ask them, not a calendar.
Does a rafting trip use up the whole day?
No. A half day on the river leaves the rest of the day intact, which is what makes rafting one of the easier things to slot into a Cody itinerary. It pairs naturally with an evening at the rodeo, and it works on the days when the high country is closed in and the mountain drives are not worth making.