North Fork John Day Rafting Trips
The North Fork of the John Day (NFJD) is a scenic and relatively un-crowded river located in the northeast corner of Oregon, to the west of its more popular but similar neighbor, the Grande Ronde. While the North Fork is named as if it were a tributary of the main John Day, it is actually the larger river in terms of volume. Rapids are generally class II with a few corners approaching class III.The put-in for the "Dale to Monument" section is about a ¼ mile below the confluence of Camas Creek, with trips usually taking out 41 miles later at the improved public ramp at the town of Monument. The NFJD is a great beginners river or easy-going family rafting trip, or just a nice opportunity for a weekend shake-down cruise in the spring. This section of the NFJD is blessed with many low, flat benches and bars, along its entire length providing plenty of nice campsites with little sign of use. The fairly open terrain is covered with short grasses, sage, and scattered stands of Ponderosa Pine. Hillsides are fairly open, allowing hiking up to the high ridgelines in almost any direction from camp. Meadows reach down to the rivers edge in many places. The scenic vistas are of countless basalt columns, towers, rim-rock, and basalt strata formations, culminating in the impressive Johnny Cake Mtn near the end of the trip.