Magic Falls Rafting

Nine of us rented two cabin tents for two nights. These cabins don’t have doors but just a screen and a curtain. We were there on a cool night (40 degrees) so the cabins were cold inside. There’s no firewood on site so we picked up dead trees around the premise. Each fire pit has a grill grate which is a nice perk. And even though the website says the cabins are equipped with electricity, there’s one lamp hooked up to an extension cord hanging off the wall so don’t expect to charge all of your phones overnight (unless you want to bring a power strip but you may need to ask first).
We chose Kennebec over Dead river because it was slightly cheaper and less aggressive and we didn’t want to take the 45 min. bus ride from the site to the river. We also had two newbies as well. In hindsight, we should’ve chosen Dead river. We were there the first weekend in May and while it was a lot of fun, half of the 13 mile river run was just floating around. Not that exciting. As a reference, Kennebec starts with Class 3 – 4 (higher the class, bigger the rapids) then ends with Class 1, whereas Dead starts with 4 – 5 and ends with 3 – 4 so it’s a much more exciting river than Kennebec.
Our guide Mike, was excellent — friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. In fact, all staff members were super friendly and helpful. Tips are encouraged so bring cash even though the site accepts all forms of credit cards. We gave him $ 5 each.
The BBQ meal provided after the rafting was excellent. Choose chicken or fish over the steaks. Most of us opted for the red meat but they were all overcooked and full of fat with very little seasoning. My friends’ chicken or fish were so much better in comparison. The meal also comes with rice pilaf, coleslaw, bread/​butter, and a dessert cake. All were delicious.
Overall, we had a great time but my main complaint was the facilities. There’s just one toilet for mens bathroom and two coin-​operated shower stalls. The site had four large groups, mostly men and men who drank all weekend. At one point, some of us were sneaking into womens bathroom to use the toilet. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be there during peak summer season. Ugh! And the shower stall requires .50 to operate the hot water which only lasts 5 min. tops. Next time, we may opt to use our own tents or pay more to stay at their fancier lodge instead.

I have gone rafting four times now with four different company’s but let me tell you that I won’t go to another. company after this past weekend rafting and camping at magic falls. they care about you as a customer not just a number like out her company’s have made me feel. it was hands down the best white water trip I have had to date. Ian our guide was great. I will be back to magic falls again.

I have been rafting with Magic Falls about a dozen times and they go beyond the extra mile to make the experience a positive one. Last year, my car died about 20 miles away and Don drove me and my friends down after out trip and meal was over. This summer, I found myself on an unplanned trip to Maine and called after hours. They set me up with a couple of rooms and squeezed us in for the following morning. Great day, awesome people and a good meal and video before the trip back to NY.
Thanks to everybody that made this trip a great memory!

Just got back from a fantastic weekend at this place. A friend rented their house for 10 of us. Definitely worth it and it fit us all with room to spare. The rafting took place on Saturday morning and they split our group into two. Our guide Chris was a super pro and knows the river like the back of his hand. His control of the raft was jedi-​like and he was able to intentionally toss us out a few times in the slow sections which was hilarious. On a bad toss he rescued our buddy with lightening speed. We signed up for the Multi-​Gorge trip which is a running of the hardest sections of the rapids twice. Definitely glad we did this, the second trip was even more fun, with lots of man-​overboards and some fun swimming down «swimmers rapids». We all had a blast, the river was gorgeous, and our guide was crazy enough where I don’t think we could have even had more fun.
After the second run we went back and were served an awesome home cooked late lunch that had everyone impressed. After a perfect day of day drinking, they took us down the road in a bus to check out some local fireworks. We opted to watch them from the deck of the local bar and we watched an outstanding band. They then shuttled us back to camp where we had a bonfire.
All staff was super friendly and very accommodating and its also nice giving business to a family run biz. Our entire group wouldn’t hesitate to give this place 5 stars, it exceeded all expectations, even for those that had been rafting before. Definitely going to be a yearly trip! For the price you pay, the amount of pure fun you have is a great value.

Magic Falls is not the biggest or fanciest outfitter out there but their family operation does a their own thing really well. They got a very clean and hospitable lodge that is basically a big bed and breakfast. There’s a kitchen although they had some issue with past guests and cooking was off limits (but fridge, microwave and sink use was ok). And they’ve got good friendly staff. Their basecamp also had camp sites and cabin tents. They could use some extra signs to direct folks where to go but it was all pretty close together. The raft trip was well organized and trip was a lot of fun. The guide, Bobby, was great and I’d be thrilled to use his services again. The post-​trip food was surprisingly good with your typical choice of beef, chicken, fish, or veggie. This also came with cole slaw, rice pilaf and dessert. The camp also has an outdoor climbing wall, which was unclear on who could use it or if you can setup the top ropes. The rafting trip was about $ 45 and the lodging was $ 75 for the room.

I went here this past Memorial Day weekend with my boyfriend. We rented one of the 8 person tent type things which was pretty much army style barracks. It was pretty comfortable but it was pretty chilly. We should have brought more blankets. Also, there were 2 outlets in there, which had I known I would have brought some other things. It was great because we were able to have bonfires each night in our own individual spot.
The staff there was amazing. We really loved all the guides (Nate, Cory, Joe, etc.). They all had huge personalities and were really helpful. They gave us great recommendations for where to eat and what to do.
The rafting itself was unreal. I’ve been rafting in Costa Rica and this was totally laid-​back, you pretty much get to run the show.
The day we rafted the Dead river on a high release day with Cory. The rest of our group was all boyscouts so it was a bit conservative. We had one of the scouts fall out on the first rapid and he essentially was hyperventilating until we dropped him on shore to go back to camp with the bus driver. We still hit some great rapids and Cory had control of the raft the whole time, I felt very safe and it was definitely a good time for everyone.
The next day we rafted the Kennebec with Nate, we had a smaller group and we were all athletes so we got to do a lot of really cool stuff. My boyfriends goal the whole time was to get thrown out of the raft (he’s 6’5″ 250lbs) and he fell out 3 times on this second trip. At one point we intentionally flipped the raft and Nate got it right back up. There were a lot of things that Nate said he wouldn’t have done unless we all wanted to and he was sure that we could handle it and he definitely took us for a ride!
We had an amazing time and will definitely be back and requesting Cory and Nate as our guides!

My boyfriend dragged me into the hell that is the deep woods of northern Maine one weekend last summer for what he assured would be a fun time and what I was convinced would be the death of me. He’s been rafting with his buddies for well over a decade now and wanted me to experience the fun. And you know what? Despite my initial reluctance, oh what fun it was. We bunked in the lodge the first night and woke up to home made raspberry muffins baking in the oven. Then we suited up and headed out to the Kennebec river and when I caught sight of the first wave we were headed into, I may or may not have let out a loud sissy scream, but as it splashed over us in the boat, it dawned on me that this was a-​w-​e-​s-​o-​m-​e. After 3 hours on the river, they bring you back to camp and grill you up a massive lunch so you can refuel, and then you go and watch a video they were shooting of you the whole time you were rafting so you can see your «Oh Sh*t» face up close and in slow motion.
This year marked the second time I’ve rafted with Magic Falls and I have, literally, nothing negative to say. Both times we had an awesome guide, both times we hit the best parts of the river, and both times I gorged on baked potatoes, grilled steaks and home made apple cake. They were even nice enough to send me a hand written note complete with the recipe. They’re strict on safety so don’t worry about washing downstream alone, but they won’t treat you like a child, either. If you’ve never rafted, do it — and do it with Magic Falls. I’m already planning my trip for next summer.