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It appears David B & I will be heading to OKC this evening to go and celebrate and hopefully play at the new whitewater park. Lots of fun to be had tomorrow from 11 a.m – 7 p.m tomorrow.
Anyone else going?
Regardless, I will report on the rapid goodness!
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Hey all!
The Riversport Rapids whitewater park in Oklahoma City was more than we imagined it would be. For a 7 hour drive, you get a safe place to try some bigger water. At the grand opening, the Olympic Trials #RoadtoRio for Whitewater Slalom were going on in the competitive channel.
While the recreational channel was open to recreational boats ( kayaks, duckies and shredders allowed ) and the Riversport’s rafts (no private rafts allowed).
Cost:
For $19, private boaters play all day – paddle up to the conveyer belt, go through the 1600 ft long recreational channel and if you want more paddle back up to the conveyer belt. If you have family that wants to jump on a raft, get an all access pass for $49 which includes a zipline across the Oklahoma River as well.
Skill/Water
At the level I saw, I don’t recommend it to newer boaters. They had 5 pumps running, a guide stated that the flow was about 1000 cfs. A good roll and excellent edge control are really needed to have a great time. If that’s not you, I recommend getting on a raft and asking the guide to step it up – you will be surfing in no time.
Fun fact: Each pump circulates 82,000 gallons per minute!
The rapids range from Class II-IV and the eddies are not for sitting in long as the water is continuously circulating. There was safety staggered throughout the course and stairs in several places where boaters could get out/get in. Of course, the rules of the river apply if you swim – feet up in front of you. Those blue blocks creating the rapids don’t feel so good.
Surf Spots
There are great surf spots throughout the park, but the best spot is away from the main section right under a spectators bridge.
We will be returning for sure!
Here is the full original tour for the detail-oriented paddler:
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We went thru OK City on the way out west, and stopped to check out the whitewater venue. It is awesome as Casara said. Didn’t have my boat, plus was there at 7pm just before closing. The course had just 2 or 3 pumps running, and the two big drops/ holes looked pretty awesome.
I ran into a MO boater from KC, Jason Jones?, who was loading his boat after running. He said if there are more pumps running it actually smooths outcome of the drops.
I was impressed with the permanent installation for the gate wires!
someone should have thought of this for St. Louis!
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Hey JW, yep that was me you ran into in Oklahoma. While I was out there they had three pumps running, and according to the guy who was kayaking safety out there, at that level the holes are very sticky. While I was there only the competition channel was open, and it was very pushy. As a novice boater I definitely didn’t feel in control for the first run through. I recently made the southeast beginner trip, and this would rank up there in difficulty with the Middle Ocoee. Also the rapids are fairly continuous at the top of the run. I got rolled over once and ended up getting thrashed around until about 3 Rapids later when I was finally able to roll up. My bonus daughter thought I was going to die as evidenced by the look on her face when I finally did roll up. It really is nice though that you can run through it multiple times, by the end of the night I felt a lot more comfortable running it.
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