Best Family Adventure Vacations

ROW offers the best outdoor family adventures including our legendary family rafting trips, family biking, family canoeing and more. An outdoor family vacation set in nature creates high quality, uninterrupted time together.  Get unplugged and turn off your cell phones, leave behind the laptop and focus on life with your loved ones. Nature is a great healer and we've seen firsthand how sharing an outdoor adventure strengthens bonds and deepens relationships, creating what we call "Family Magic."

Peter Grubb and Betsy Bowen, founders of ROW and parents of two, have carefully crafted family adventures that offer plenty of fun and activities for each family member. Without life's daily distractions getting in the way, your family will connect deeply, engage with each other and find life full of smiles. Many of our family adventures are family-only trips. This ensures each family will have plenty of new friends to share the experience. Please read our special letter for mothers, from Betsy Bowen.

Family Rafting Trips

Family Rafting Trips

Family Magic - Salmon River Canyons, Idaho:

Our five-day trips on the last 51 miles of the Salmon River are idyllic escapes to a land of hot sun, warm water, huge sand beaches and fun, family-friendly whitewater. These trips are exclusively for families with rafters age five and up. Trips are staffed with ROW's signature, River Jester,TM who leads nature-oriented games and activities for kids of all ages. Parents and grandparents can choose to join in the fun, or spend time together comfortable knowing that their children are well-cared for by our professional staff. Our goal is to support a worry-free, healthy and supportive environment where everyone can find their voice and feel safe to share, laugh and explore.

Snake River - Family Rafting in Hells Canyon, Idaho:

Each summer we offer several family-only and family-friendly rafting trips on the Snake River. Bordering Idaho and Oregon, the Snake boasts big rapids, spectacular scenery, superb fishing, extensive hiking trails, and an amazing richness of natural and cultural history. The Snake is Ideal for rafters age 7 and up.

Rogue River Rafting, Oregon:

ROW's Oregon rafting trip on the Rogue River, renowned for its scenic beauty, intermediate rapids, and green-forested canyon, offers a perfect blend of thrilling whitewater experiences and riverside lodge accommodations with private rooms, guided hikes, and wildlife sightings, making it an ideal adventure for all ages and preferences.

Clark Fork River Rafting - Montana Whitewater Day Trip:

For those short on time, this single day whitewater rafting trip is a great way to spend time with your family in nature. Paddling together, you raft through a stunning canyon of purple and pink rock. Raft-tossing rapids, but plenty of time between to jump in and swim. Rafters age 5 and up are welcome.

"This might be our favorite family vacation ever. It was great. All of it. I gush about it regularly to all of my friends with kids. I love adventure and I love being with my kids. This trip provides both. And it felt like a break, like an actual vacation, because there were amazing people engaging my kids, feeding them, teaching them to fish and playing games with them while I paddled a kayak through a rapid or sat around a fire and enjoyed some adult conversation. We slept outside the tent under the stars a couple nights and went barefoot on the beaches. We all loved the food. And the beautify was breathtaking. It was worth every penny and I can’t wait to do it again. Book this trip. You’ll be giving your whole family a gift."

- Shannon, Family Magic Rafting Guest 2020

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Family Biking Trips

Family Biking Trips

Idaho Rails-to-Trails Bike Tours: 

Bike the Trail of the Hiawatha and Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes on a four or five-day guided bike tour!  These are lodge-based tours that travel through eastern Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana featuring the region’s finest “Rails-to-Trails” including the legendary Trail of the Hiawatha and Route of the Olympian.  Learn about the area’s natural and cultural history from our talented guides while pedaling together through forests and along rivers and lakes.

International Family Adventures

International Family Adventures

Galapagos Family Vacation:

Our one-of-a-kind Galapagos trip, includes camping on island beaches, and allows a small 12-person group to visit sites off the main tourist routes. We sea kayak, hike, and a camp on the Galapagos Islands during this family adventure. ROW welcomes guests 5 and up and is happy to arrange family-only departures.

Peru Family Vacation:

There are few places on Earth that hold such an allure and mysterious ancient world as does Machu Picchu, Cusco and the Inca Trail. Tell the kids they will no longer only know this wonderful area from book and picture... ROW Adventures has a family adventure for them to experience it first-hand.

Baja, California Sur Mexico Family Vacation:

Baja is the perfect destination for family vacations! Sea Kayak Adventures, sister Company to ROW, offers sea kayaking, whale watching, hiking and cultural tours in Baja with many excellent options for families of all ages. 

God's Pocket Sea Kayaking, British Columbia:

Embark on a week-long kayaking tour in God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park, an archipelago praised for its wildlife diversity and Jacques Cousteau-rated cold water scuba diving, with the exclusive God’s Pocket Resort providing creature comforts, gourmet dining, and a tranquil retreat after thrilling days of kayaking, hiking, and wildlife watching in the pristine wilderness.

family smiling on a riverside beach while whitewater rafting in Idaho
family safari in Africa
A boy sitting out the zippered door to his tent while camping
A dad and his two sons on a red raft smiling together
family sitting in a circle looking at a book together in the sand in Baja California Sur
Husband and wife smiling on their bikes with helmets and sunglasses on
Family on tour in the Galapagos Islands on a volcano
family on hiking tour in Peru
Two brothers under the age of 10 smiling while on a hike together in Idaho
kids playing on the salmon river in idaho
kids riding bikes on hiawatha trail in Idaho
Family on a guided Galapagos Islands tour
A mom and daughter in a tandem sea kayak in British Columbia
A couple smiling and holding drinks while standing in the sand in front of whitewater rafts floating in the Salmon River in Idaho
travelers in the Galapagos islands
A kid sliding down a red whitewater raft that was turned upside down
family smiling on a riverside beach while whitewater rafting in Idaho
family safari in Africa
A boy sitting out the zippered door to his tent while camping
A dad and his two sons on a red raft smiling together
family sitting in a circle looking at a book together in the sand in Baja California Sur
Husband and wife smiling on their bikes with helmets and sunglasses on
Family on tour in the Galapagos Islands on a volcano
family on hiking tour in Peru
Two brothers under the age of 10 smiling while on a hike together in Idaho
kids playing on the salmon river in idaho
kids riding bikes on hiawatha trail in Idaho
Family on a guided Galapagos Islands tour
A mom and daughter in a tandem sea kayak in British Columbia
A couple smiling and holding drinks while standing in the sand in front of whitewater rafts floating in the Salmon River in Idaho
travelers in the Galapagos islands
A kid sliding down a red whitewater raft that was turned upside down