Franklin River Rafting

Book the 8 day Franklin River Rafting trip if the river is what you came for. Book the 10 day Franklin River and Frenchmans Cap trip if you also want to climb tuynti/Frenchmans Cap. The longer trip includes a summit day plus a spare day for weather, and the climb is a serious undertaking in its own right.

It is not suitable for people with limited mobility, for anyone under 14, or for anyone not confident swimming in a buoyancy vest. It is also not for travellers who want a comfortable base each night. If you want Tasmanian World Heritage wilderness without the water, the South Coast Track is the walk to look at instead.

No previous rafting experience is required, but it is handy as this is a full commitment. You don't want to realise you don't like rafting 3 days in. What you do need is a good level of fitness, the confidence to swim in a buoyancy vest if you come out of the raft, and a willingness to take instruction quickly. Two professional rafting guides run every trip, with three to four paddlers plus a guide in each raft, so you are taught what you need as you go. This trip is graded Moderate to Challenging. Expect six to eight hours a day of paddling and portaging, with heavy lifting over rocks around the rapids we do not run. The difficulty changes with the water level rather than with the calendar, so no two trips are the same. It is a genuine expedition, not a day trip with rapids.

The rafting season runs from around late November to March, when water levels and weather are most reliable. Departures are limited and rafting permits for the Franklin are finite, so some trips around Christmas can fill well ahead.

You swim, and your guide gets you back in, which is exactly why we ask that everyone is confident swimming in a buoyancy vest. Your guides run the group through what to do before the first rapid, and every crew member wears a buoyancy vest, a helmet and enclosed footwear whenever the raft is on the water.

You will need to fit enough to paddle 6 to 8 hours a day, climb in and out of a raft repeatedly on steep rocky banks, and carry your own dry bag over rough wet ground during portages. You do not need to be an athlete. Balance and agility matter more here than speed or strength. You will also need to be comfortable swimming in a buoyancy vest.

Swimming and upper-body work in the months before you travel is the preparation that matters most, along with day walking over steep, uneven ground carrying a load. You do not need to be an athlete, but you do need the fitness for six to eight hours a day of paddling and lifting rafts over rock.

We raft rapids up to grade 4. Anything graded 5 or 6 is inspected from the bank and portaged — the rafts and all the gear are carried around it. That rule applies on every departure, regardless of who is on the trip.

If you have never rafted, the scale means little, so here is what it feels like from inside a raft. Grade 2 is moving water with small waves and an obvious way through - you paddle, you get wet, you are never in doubt. Grade 3 is bigger and busier, with waves breaking over the bow and rocks to steer around; the guide is calling strokes and you are working. Grade 4 is powerful and technical, a drop you have to enter in exactly the right place, where the calls matter and everyone in the raft has to make them together. Grade 5 and above is water we do not run with passengers, which is why we walk around it.

On the Franklin the grade of any given rapid changes with the water level, so the guides read the river on the day rather than working from a fixed list.

Water level is the single biggest variable on the Franklin. High water makes the river faster and the rapids bigger but the portages shorter; low water means more time carrying rafts over rock. Guides adjust the route and the daily distance to the level on the day, which is why the itinerary is a guide rather than a timetable. In extreme conditions a trip may be held, rerouted or shortened for safety.

Portaging means carrying the rafts and all the gear overland around a rapid that is too dangerous to run. On the Franklin it happens most often in the Great Ravine, where the river drops through a series of rapids in a narrow gorge. It involves lifting, scrambling over wet rock and working as a team, and it is the physically hardest part of the trip.

We supply the raft, wetsuit, paddling jacket, helmet, buoyancy vest, a 65-litre waterproof gear bag, all group camping and cooking equipment, and every meal on the river. You will need to bring a sleeping bag rated to -5°C (23°F), a self-inflating mat, thermal layers, a headtorch and river shoes.

Portaging and being wet all day. Lifting a loaded raft over boulders in the Great Ravine is the hardest physical work of the trip and it happens on days three and four, before you are used to it. Very few people say the rapids were the problem. You will be wet for most of each paddling day, and south-west Tasmania can deliver cold, rain and wind in any month of the season. We supply the wetsuit and paddling jacket. You will need to bring warm layers and an appropriate sleeping bag to keep warm overnight and while off the river.

You’d be surprised how much food you’ll eat after a day’s rafting. Our guides are experienced when it comes to preparing meals in wilderness locations. Lunches usually consist of vegetable wraps with hams, chicken or salami, while evening meals can vary from curries, stroganoff and pastas. Desserts include improvised apple pie, and even a chocolate mousse if you’re lucky! Start your day with a hearty porridge or muesli, with snacks throughout the day including fruit and nuts, muesli bars and some fruit. All types of dietary requirements are catered for, including vegetarian, gluten free, lactose free, nut free etc.

Every meal is provided from the first night on the river to the last morning and these will be cooked fresh in camp by your guides on the riverbank. There is no resupply during the trip, so everything you eat is carried in the rafts from the moment you push off.

Shoes with soft, grippy soles that you are happy to soak all day. Dunlop Volleys are our specific recommendation — they grip wet Franklin bedrock better than most technical footwear and they drain. Avoid sandals, wetsuit boots and hard-compound soles, which slip badly on polished rock.

We will camp on riverbank beaches, in rainforest clearings and under long rock overhangs. Named camps on our itinerary include Coruscades inside the Great Ravine, Rafter’s Basin by Interlude Creek, Newlands Cascades, Blackman’s Bend and Sir John Falls on the Gordon. All camping equipment is supplied.

There are no toilets and no facilities of any kind on the river. We carry a portable contained toilet system and remove all solid human waste from the catchment on every trip, without exception. Washing is done in the river, with no soap or detergent.

We run it ourselves. Tasmanian Expeditions is a self-operated brand (part of the World Expeditions Travel Group). We use our own guides, our own rafts, our own safety equipment, and no third-party operator between you and the river. Our group ran the first commercial descent of the Franklin in 1978 and has run it every season since.

It is a condition of booking a tour with us, and your responsibility to ensure that you are adequately insured for the full duration of the tour in respect of illness, injury, pre-existing medical conditions, death, loss of baggage and personal items and cancellation and curtailment. You must provide evidence to Tasmanian Expeditions that you have obtained personal travel insurance. You must ensure that your personal travel insurance covers all of the activities you expect to participate in.

We suggest asking your pre/post tour accommodation about car parking or there are secure carparks in Launceston where you can pre-book a spot.

There is a COMPULSORY pre-departure briefing at 1pm on the day before departure in Launceston, where equipment is issued and fitted, you meet your guides and you pack your gear bag. Attendance is not optional — plan to arrive in Launceston the day before at the latest.

The trip finishes back in Launceston at approximately 5pm on the final day. Do not book onward flights or connections for that evening. The last day depends on the sail out from Sir John Falls and the drive back from Strahan, both weather-dependent. Book onward travel for the following day.

There is no mobile reception anywhere on the river. Guides carry emergency communications equipment and a group first aid kit on every trip, and both guides are trained for remote-area response. Evacuation from the Franklin is a serious undertaking, which is why the trip is graded the way it is and why the pre-departure briefing is compulsory.

Unfortunately there are no charging facilities on this trip. We recommend bringing extra batteries or solar chargers for your phones. To conserve battery power on your mobile devices, turn your phones into flight mode.

You take only what fits in the 65-litre waterproof gear bag we provide. Everything else stays behind, and excess luggage can be stored with our team. Leave a set of clean, dry clothes in your stored bag for the trip back. After eight days on the river it is the most appreciated item you will pack.