Frequently Asked Questions

Guest with a service animal can certainly attend any of Rock-N-Water’s camps, but they need to remain in control of their service animal at ALL times. Our staff will not be able to provide care for or feed a service animal in your absence.

However, many activities at Rock-N-Water are not ideal for a Service Animal, and so you may not be able to participate in adventures such as whitewater river rafting, rock climbing, and canyoneering. These activities are not capable of being accommodating for service animals. Further, they would likely be dangerous and cruel experiences for the animal. Sadly, this would preclude any guest that needs a service animal from being able to participate in those activities. Just like a theme park would not be able to accommodate a service dog on a roller coaster, neither will our camps on extreme activities.

Please give us a call to better understand the activities that you would be participating in, and if it would be a good fit for you and your service animal.

We would really really love to see you adventure with us here, but we understand that the nature of these more extreme adventures might make this not the best fit. Please consider attending one of our TM Camping sister camps with more traditional camp activities and living accommodations: tmcamping.com

Side Topic: We have taken many individuals on the autism spectrum on most of the adventures that we do. Some of them have found it helpful to bring a personal helper along with them, that they already are familiar with, that can help them throughout the adventures. But if they do not need a helper, then a helper is not required.

Yes! Diabetics and insulin dependent individuals can totally come to camp.

We are very excited that you are going to experience God’s creation with us and we want that experience to be great! You will be very physically active at camp, so you will need to be supremely prepared for that huge change. Only you know what you really need and when you need it, but your guide will want to know how you are doing and if you need assistance. By working together, we can get the most out of our time together. Even though all of our guides have medical training, we are not experts in diabetes care and so any information about your specific situation will be very appreciated.

We strongly suggest bringing extra of everything! We recommend you bring plenty of low blood sugar supplies that are compact and can withstand a wet environment. We recommend bringing your Baqsimi or Glucagen and communicating with your guide a plan. Please bring back-ups for anything you are dependent on. There is little to no opportunity to re-supply once you arrive at Rock-N-Water so please take care in your packing.

Finally, before you leave for camp, we encourage you to work with your diabetes care team on a game plan/strategy for managing your diabetes in this adventurous camp environment. We want you to enjoy your time at camp!

The answer to that question varies a bit based on the time of the year and the adventure you are doing.

Depending on the size of your group, we will oftentimes combine multiple groups to do the same activity/adventure during the day, but you’ll still have autonomy.

• Campfire: There will be other groups in camp, but you will have your very own campsite and fire pit for campfire time.

• Group Campfire – optional: We try to have a group campfire once a week (Typically on Wednesday Night). It is an opportunity to gather together as the body of Christ for a time of Skits, Worship, and a Short Message. Your group’s attendance is up to you. It is organize so that if you wanted, you could go for the Skits and/or Worship, and then retreat to your campfire to finish off the night with your own study/campfire. These large group campfires usually give your group the opportunity to entertain or minister to the other youth groups in camp by performing skits, poems, etc.

• Adventures: Other groups will often be around you during the day and out on the adventure. It is not our goal to split your group up or to force others to mix with you, but some rare occasions the sizes of different groups necessitates a little mixing here and there. Please be flexible and talk with your Rock-N-Water Trip Leader if you have concerns.

There is great value to having your entire group together for the duration of the adventure. But there are also some safety, quality, and physical limitations to having everyone together. As much as possible, we seek to keep your group together throughout the entire day, but sometimes we’ll break you up into smaller sub groups.

If you have more than 32 people we might need to split your group into smaller sub groups, but we can easily accommodate as many as 200 people on a single trip.

General Group Sizes on Adventures and Trips

• Outdoor Adventures

  • If you have a small group of less than 5 people, please check out how our individual and very small trips work.

• Whitewater Rafting

  • Rafts typically hold 5-7 people in each boat, sometimes less, sometimes more. Typically if you have a group of 6ish, it will be just your group in the raft. If you have more people we will split your group up into different boats, and as we do that, there is a chance that one of your boats will be a mixed boat with 3-4 people from your group and 3-4 people from another group.

• We can have up to 7 rafts rafting the river in one close group. So if you’ve got more than 50 people, we might raft the river in multiple groups with a little space between each group.

• Rock Climbing

  • We’ll typically split your group up into groups of no more than 8 people per group as we go rock climbing. This optimizes the value of keeping your group together, while balancing that against the value of increasing the amount of time each participant gets to climb the rock.

• If you have more than 32 people in your group, we likely will split your group up with half rock climbing one day while the other half does a different adventure, and then flip flopping adventures the next day.

• Canyoneering

  • We’ll typically travel through river canyons in groups of 10-40 people per group. It’s common to have another group join you for canyoneering days.

• Depending on the canyon we visit we might need to split your group into smaller groups if you have more than 32 people.

• Team Building

  • If you have a larger group doing team building, throughout the day we might split you into smaller groups of 32 or even 16 people per group for parts of the day so that each individual has a great day and doesn’t get overlooked in a sea of people.

• Service Projects

  • If you have more than 32 people we might distribute your group between multiple projects during the day.

• Living History Field Trips

  • If you have a minimum of 80 people, then you will likely have the trip to yourself. If you have less than 80 people, it is common to have one or two other schools join you throughout the trip. We can easily accommodate a single school of 150 people (students + parents) on a single trip. If you have more than 150 people we can talk about options for everyone to come on the same day compared to the option of splitting into two different days.

• As we travel through the different activities of the trip, we’ll typically do so in groups of up to 20 people per group. If there is another school with you, at least one group of 20 will be a mix of two schools. Often times we find added value to the overall quality of the trip for students if each smaller group of 20 is a mix of students from each school.

One reason why camps are a place where students often make life changing decisions is that it is a place away from home. In addition, we have found that the longer and the more a student leaves their lifestyle at home, the more clearly they can see themselves — almost as if they are looking in from the outside. This doesn’t need to be an unpleasant experience. In fact, it can be naturally integrated into a refreshing adventure where students are mostly unaware of the limitations until their lifestyle is restored.

In order to minister to campers in this way, we have intentionally shaped Rock-N-Water to be completely different than what students experience at home. And though this is only one of our goals, we believe it is becoming an increasingly important experience for today’s youth. You may notice this philosophy behind some of our rules, preferences, and the way we share our camp. We anticipate that you will appreciate the effort and the effect – at least by the time you get back home. Thanks again for trusting us with your youth. (To those of you who will only visit us for a day or so, thank you for helping us contribute to an atmosphere that is more obviously productive in youth who are staying longer.)

You can read more about our educational objectives here.

Yes, we can take you on most of our adventures on the weekends as well as on weekdays. However, there will be a $15/person fee for each day we do an adventure on the weekends. We really encourage you that if you are able to adjust your schedule to be active with us on a weekday instead of a weekend, we think you’ll be glad you did.

The locations we visit also tend to be a bit more busy on the weekends than they are on the weekdays. So if you are able to be with us on a weekday, not only will you save $15/person, but you’ll also have a higher quality trip.

Rafting year round is an amazing thing that we are able to do on the South Fork of the American River. However, off season trips from October through May have a few added costs that we incur during those months. Therefore we charge an extra $15/person for any rafting trips that we do during those months.

FYI: Wetsuits are included at no extra cost during any rafting trip when trip quality or safety would be improved by doing so.

At other camps a high quality week long experience can range from $500-$600 to over $3,000 for a single week of camp.

These higher costs at other camps are usually due to the cost of maintaining extensive facilities and sometimes due to unnecessary extravagance or excessive profits.

Rock-N-Water’s camps are designed to make each student’s day at camp a phenomenal one. We know how relevant and fun real adventures in God’s creation are for today’s students so we have intentionally limited our facilities, for a simple/rustic experience, and we dedicate funds toward the high costs of awesome adventures that immerse students in God’s life changing creation with Christian guides who are highly trained professionals.

The optimal age and minimum age varies by adventure, so please see the specific adventures you are interested in for details.

Some activities are limited to high school or older, but in general most of our outdoor adventures are optimal for students as young as those entering Middle School or Junior High School in the Fall.

Not all ___ Year olds are the same

Obviously, some kids are more physically capable, self-aware, or mentally ready than others. The “optimal” age ranges listed below are general guidelines. A given adventure might be fine for a kid younger than the optimal age, while another kid might not be really ready for it until they are a little older than the idea age. However, the “minimum” ages listed are typically firm cutoff age limits. Be aware that under some conditions (including but not limited to: weather, river flow, participants, the specific guides working that day) we might even turn away students that are the minimum age or even a year older. If we decide that it is not safe for a participant to come on an adventure, an adult will need to stay behind with them, and both of them will of course get a refund for the adventure they missed out on.

If you have any concerns, please give our office a call (1-800-738-0555). We’d love to talk with you about your specific concerns and help make the best plans possible.

• Team Building

  • We don’t do any high ropes elements, so even a 6 year old could do most of our team building activities. However, the larger the age range of the group that you bring, the more difficult it will be for us to provide you with team building games that optimally challenge every individual within the group.

• Rafting

  • The industry standard for Class III whitewater rafting is that participants are a minimum of 8 years old. However, it is not until kids are typically about 11 or 12 years old that they start becoming active participants in the raft (versus just along for the ride).

• For Class IV white water rafting, we require participants to be entering 9th grade in the Fall, and to have had recent (within the last few months) Class III rafting experience. For those 18 years old and older, no recent rafting experience is necessary (but it can improve the quality of your trip).

• We limit participants on our Class III Inflatable Kayaking trips to those entering 9th grade in the Fall or older.

• Canyoneering

  • Some of our canyons can be done by students as young as 8 years old, but 11 years old is a more ideal age for most of our canyons. There are also some canyons where a 6 year old could hike along with the group for half the day, but then take a shortcut back for the second half of the day. Some canyons are limited to those around 14 years old and older.

• Rock Climbing

  • The hike to and from our outdoor rock climbing location can be a bit exhausting for campers of all ages, but once we reach the climbs even a 6 year old could thoroughly enjoy and participate in a day of climbing. Often times we will do some advanced canyoneering in the afternoon heat on our rock climbing days, and that part of the adventure is more ideal for students about 11 years old and older.

• Backpacking

  • It’s about a 5 mile hike in to our basecamp, and each participant is typically carrying a backpack weighing about 20-30 pounds. We find that most students entering 6th grade or higher are able to thrive on this trip, even those not in perfect shape.

• Service Projects

  • Our service projects are typically broken up into a half day of outdoor physical labor, and a half day of relational time spent with the elderly or disabled. Typically optimal for those entering 6th grade or older.

Our 49er Fun Gold Rush Living History Field trips are optimized for 4th Grade students that are currently learning about the California Gold Rush and the history of California during their current school year. These trips also work great for those in 3rd and 5th grade too.

Older Students

As students get older, they might begin to feel that our playfulness of pretending to live in 1854, and not knowing what cell phones are, might be a little too childish for them.

Younger Students

For younger students, the fast physical pace that we maintain on the trip might wear them out (it already pushes many adults).

Exceptions

Having older or younger kids on a trip can not only impact the quality of the trip for their parent, but also for the other parents and students around them.

With that said, each school, at their discretion, is allowed to bring 1 student each year that is outside of the 3rd through 5th grade age range. If you would like to bring more than 1 student beyond the 8-11 year old age range, please consider signing up for one of our Multi-Age 49er Fun Field Trips. We don’t change the programing on these trips, but we do allow you to bring as many kids of any ages as you wish.

Students under the age of 5 years old on 49er Fun trips can come at 30% of the regular price of the trip. Please call/email us to sign them up with your trip.

While we can accommodate most food allergies and dietary restrictions, if you have food allergies and/or dietary restrictions in combination with being a picky eater, then you might want to bring some of your favorite foods along just in case. However, you may find that camp is a great opportunity to try new foods. Food tastes more amazing after a long day of fun physical activity in the outdoors!

If you have one of the eight common food allergies (Peanuts, Tree nuts, Milk, Egg, Wheat, Soy, Fish, Shellfish) we will have safe food options for you as needed. However, we do serve many of the above foods at Rock-N-Water, so please check-in with the cook when you arrive, especially if extra cautions need to be taken (e.g. if we need to be careful about cross-contamination).

If you have a food allergy, please let our office know in advance so we can better prepare for you.

And then when you arrive at camp, please check in with the cook shortly after your arrival at camp so we can best serve you.

We provide all the food and snacks that you will need. If you have food allergies or dietary restrictions, please let us know in advance. We typically can meet most dietary needs without you needing to bring your own food.

We provide all the food you need. We’ve even planned out snacks to ensure that you not only don’t go hungry, but that you have enough energy to enjoy your entire trip.

If you do bring any snacks for the car ride, please leave them in the vehicle for the ride home (we are not in bear country – your vehicle will be safe). Bringing snacks to you campsite will not only attract small animals, but also typically results in campers snacking right before a meal, not eating the full meal, and then being dangerously hungry later on.

If you are ever unable to satisfy your hunger during a meal, please tell our cook.

If you are ever hungy outside of meal time, please tell your guide. They would love to provide you with a free, healthy, time appropriate snack.

You can expect enthusiastic staff to greet you and kick things off with a game or skit. You can expect an all outdoor facility. We have all the comforts of modern electricity and plumbing but we strive to keep things as rustic as possible so that your students can experience the outdoors to the full extent possible. Sleeping outside can often be a big part of the adventurous fun that students never forget.

Learn more about What to Expect when you arrive at camp.

Most rafting companies, Rock-N-Water included, do not require swimming ability for Class III rafting. You will be wearing a PFD (life jacket) which takes care of staying on top of the water. As difficulty increases, some outfitters will require swimming ability for Class IV or V rapids. We WILL take non-swimmers on our Class IV trip on the Middle Fork of the American if they have had a recent Class III rafting experience.

You do not need to know how to Swim!

On all rafting adventures, you will be outfitted with a PFD, or lifejacket, which will give you lots of extra flotation if you end up in, or chose to be in, the river. Chances are, you will not fall in the water at all on any of our rafting adventures, but if you do, the PFD will take care of keeping you on the surface. We take non-swimmers rafting every year, and it is always a great time.

What if I fall out in a Rapid?

Swimming a Class III rapid can be uncomfortable, and even a little scary, but the key is to stay calm and listen to your guide. Your PFD will bring you back to the surface quickly if you swim, and you will have been given instructions on what to do next. We give everyone rafting with us a safety talk before going on the river, which includes all the things you need to know to have a safe adventure. That means telling you how to not fall out, and how to get back in the boat just in case you pop out. On the South Fork of the American River, your guide has swam in most, if not all, the rapids that you will conquer, and can tell you just what to do if you swim. In the end, most swims in rapids are nothing more than some unintentional adventure.

Class IV swims are less likely, but more intense. Swimming a Class IV rapid on our Middle Fork trip is not a pleasant dip in the river, but the same standards apply: If you swim, your first objective is to not panic, and listen to your guide. We will be giving you instruction if you need it, and we will be actively involved in your rescue if you are not able to self rescue (swim back to the boat and get in yourself).

What about your other adventures, Canyoneering and Rock Climbing?

Knowing how to swim is not required for Rock-N-Water’s other adventures either, such as Canyoneering or Rock Climbing. If you will be in a canyon that involves swimming, the guides will be bringing flotation devices for any weak or non-swimmers, and we always bring a few anyway in case someone gets too tired, or there is an emergency. The bottom line is that you do not need to know how to swim to participate in any of Rock-N-Water’s adventures, and it will be no problem for us to accommodate that. We ask about it on our release forms just so that we can be prepared!

Nervous about adventuring in the outdoors without the comforts of home? No matter what time of the month it is, there are a few extra things you can bring to ensure that you can explore the outdoors without worry.

Packing List for the Ladies

1. A Synthetic sports Bra or Athletic swimsuit top – Most of the guides around here opt for a synthetic sports bra instead of a swimsuit since it will be more supportive, more comfortable, and dries quickly.

2. Bottoms – Think athletic shorts or board shorts and the longer the better. These may not make an overwhelming fashion statement but they dry quickly, don’t chafe, and keep our bottoms covered when we are 20 feet in the air climbing a rock face.

3. Extra hair ties – It’s important to keep our hair out of our face and out of equipment as we adventure. Don’t forget to bring a few extra.

4. Extra underwear – At the end of the day, it’s important to be able to change into dry clothes. It’s especially important to be able to change into dry, cotton underwear. We recommend synthetic underwear for under your shorts on adventures and cotton underwear for bedtime.

5. Wet wipes – always help lady adventure guides feel fresh when showers are scarce.

6. Extra feminine products – that you are comfortable wearing. You may not be expecting your period, but bring what you are comfortable with just in case. You will be able to participate in all the adventures, even if it’s your time of the month.

7. Body glide to prevent chafing as we hike, swim and run in and out of the water each day.

Not really.

We expect students to leave their electronics at home. With the normal design of our camps you might be surprised how little they miss their electronic devices. Additionally, most cellular providers do not get signal at camp.

If you’ve got adults (or yourself) needing internet access:

• First consider if you too might benefit from setting your electronics down and/or setting up an auto-reply directing urgent questions to someone else.

• If you still need access, ask your guide and we’ll direct you to a location away from campers where you can access the internet with your WiFi enabled device. We max out at about 3 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.

We love the idea of putting together a Student Packet for devotionals and journaling at camp. But due to the outdoor nature of our adventures, we won’t be able to give you a solid schedule or itinerary of events to include in that packet.

Here are some suggestions for making a Student Packet with a rough timeline or schedule outline:

• Day by Day: Focus on Adventures without specific dates – If you want to have them read Bible verses, questions, or do specific quiet times on specific adventures, then instead of listing “Monday” at the top of the page, list “Rock Climbing Day” at the top of the page.

• Hour by Hour: Keep things general, even omitting times completely

  • Wake up

  • Breakfast

  • Adventure of the day

  • Dinner

  • Free Time

  • Campfire

You might want to let your parents know that you will be out of touch with the “real” world for the duration of your trip. So “no news is good news”.

Not only do half the cell phones not work around here, but we really hope all of our participants will forget about phones for the short time they are with us. Our office phone is available to leaders if needed

Important Messages can be left at the office number (530-621-3918), but we can’t guarantee how long it will be before we are able to find the individual that the message was intended for. And oftentimes, groups are out of camp away from the office during the day.

We get wet 😊

Some of our best trips have been ones when it rained. Unless safety is an issue, we probably will not cancel a trip due to inclement weather.

Preparing for Rain

If it looks like rain, then pack accordingly. Make sure that your rain gear is easy to access and not buried under the luggage of 15 other people. We have numerous covered areas under which we can find refuge for most of our activities, but plan on being outside and in the natural elements throughout your stay.

Playing in the rain

As a side note, we are aware that in general parents are becoming more protective and less interested in seeing their children experience the outdoors. We believe that it is critically important for students to experience what God has made first hand.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 NIV

Typical Weather Patterns

• April tends to be hit or miss for rain.

• May tends to be mostly dry.

• June through August we’ll typically have just ONE of rain, and that is typically less than a few hours. – Yes, it’s lovely in California.

Where to check the weather report?

Please check out https://www.rocknwater.com/resources/weather/ for current weather conditions. This weather is reported directly from camp in Lotus California. Also be aware that most commercial weather websites and weather apps tend to be grossly inaccurate for our region, reporting “current” temperatures as much as +/- 15°F off of actual temperatures. Seriously, we are not exaggerating.

As a camp in the State of California we are required to ask for the immunization history of minors. However, the state does not require our participants to have any immunizations. Therefore, if a participants immunization history happens to be blank or empty, they will still be able to fully participate in all the adventures here at Rock-N-Water. We just are required to ask.

We have intentionally avoided having a souvenir/snack store at our camp. This is to protect the unique atmosphere we have at Rock-N-Water. We don’t think that selling snacks and mementoes is wrong; we just want students to have a break from their everyday “see… want… buy…” routine.

So aside from money for food on your drive too and from Rock-N-Water, there is no need to bring any extra cash.

Souvenir Store

We have intentionally avoided having a store in order to protect the unique atmosphere we have at Rock-N-Water. We don’t think that selling snacks and mementoes is wrong; we just want students to have a break from their everyday want-purchase routine.

T-Shirts

We can provide T-Shirts for your entire group if you want them, you will need to order them in advance from the office, and it’s either everyone in your group gets one, or no one gets one. So that no one feels like they missed out, if you do get T-Shirts, we will sneak them to you as you drive away, so groups not getting them will not feel sad they didn’t get one. More info about T-Shirts.

Rafting Photos

When rafting, photos are typically taken of every raft by 3rd party photo companies. We have as special arrangement with the best photography company so that all of our rafting customers get full sized downloadable images included with the regular cost of their trip. You’ll get a special coupon code for claiming your photos via email after you return home.

Going out for Ice Cream

While doing a special evening out for ice cream can be really fun for groups, we’ve also found that the process of stepping back into the world of “civilization” can change the atmosphere and attitude of your campers. So in our professional recommendation, it’s better to not celebrate your last night with a night on the town.

However, if you still want to go, check with your Rock-N-Water Trip Leader for directions and instructions on keeping it on the down-low so that other groups in our camps are not affected or aware of your group doing it.

49er Fun Museum

There is a store located at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. We avoid it while touring the park for these same reasons as above, and because we really don’t have the time for everyone to stop and shop. If parents must, they can stop by the park’s store on their way home, but please don’t try and stop in their during the trip.

All whitewater rafting trips with Rock-N-Water now include professional photos from your adventure.

Camping is a great escape from our consumer-driven society. However, many budget-conscious campers faced tough choices about buying keepsake photos. To address this, we negotiated with Hotshot Imaging to include high-quality digital downloads of your rafting photos at no extra cost, all at our already affordable prices.

To Get Your Free Whitewater Rafting Photos

• Visit Hotshot Imaging

• Click “Are you ready? Yes”

• Identify your boat

• Choose “Order All Images”

• Enter Coupon Code: RNW

• Checkout

• Download your images via the instructions you’ll get via email from Hotshot Imaging.