Pioneers in Adventure Exploration
Earth River Expeditions was founded on three core principles:
discovering, pioneering, and developing exceptional river destinations,
delivering the safest and highest quality river trips in superlative locations, and
protecting threatened rivers and watersheds.
Throughout the company’s 36-year history, it has explored and developed river trips on the Magpie in Quebec (1989), the Futaleufú in Chile (1990), the Primrose in the Yukon Territory (1998), the Ventana in Patagonia (2015), and the Bordali in Patagonia (2025), all of which are part of the company’s current offerings.
“Earth River made an expeditionary first raft descent of the Futaleufu and figured out how to safely navigate it. They have since turned the Futaleufu into an outstanding adventure destination for rafters.”
—New York Times
Discovering a new river is only the first step in the trip development process. It often takes years of effort to turn a destination into a high-quality, world-class experience. For example, the Futaleufú was not considered commercially viable for rafting when we began offering it in the early 1990s. However, careful preparation and planning, state-of-the-art equipment—much of it custom-made for the Futaleufú—and, most importantly, accomplished, mature guides with a pioneering spirit made it possible. By the time the next outfitter began offering rafting trips on the Futaleufú years later, Earth River had already set the industry standard with established secure routes through the rapids, high-water cutoffs, and detailed safety protocols.
Equally important as recognizing what makes a great trip is understanding what does not. Earth River has conducted over two dozen first descents and river exploratory expeditions throughout its history. Most of these did not lead to the development of commercially viable trips. On our first descent of Tibet’s fabled Po Tsangpo, we were enthralled by the world-class whitewater, extraordinary culture, and otherworldly Himalayan scenery. Unfortunately, a few months after our maiden trip, a landslide dammed a tributary, creating a large lake that made access to the river uncertain and unsuitable as a reliable destination.
Despite the challenges and low success rate, we are always in search of new rivers to share with our guests, so we are thrilled to announce the discovery of a new river in Patagonia, Chile. This year, our world-class guide team—Ty, Cade, Tommy, Teal, and Mo Mo—along with a few intrepid clients, successfully completed the first descent of the Río Bordali, a stunning turquoise Class IV wilderness river born from a glacier in Queulat National Park. Not since Earth River’s first descent of the Río Ventana a decade ago has a river trip of this caliber been discovered. We will be offering this trip in March of 2026.