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Lickety-Split, Lickety-Blaster, Upper Kern or Forks? If you think an amusement park rapid is fun wait until you experience the real thing! Our Lickety-Split and Lickety-Blaster are the two most popular and inexpensive Class 2-3 whitewater raft trips on the Kern River. Both are full of enough excitement to challenge just about everyone, from young tykes to grandma's. Looking to maximize your whitewater adventure? Check out our Class 4 & 5 Upper Kern and Forks raft trips.

Learn To Kayak! Kayaking is a lifelong sport that encompasses many different types of water and paddling. It can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. Over more than two decades, Sierra South has built a reputation as one of the finest paddling schools in the West. We offer quality instruction at all levels. Whether you want to paddle scenic lakes and rivers or stompin' whitewater we can help you to be a better paddler.

Visit the Sierra South River Store! Whether it is a whitewater kayak, recreational kayak, or great looking and functional paddling apparel, or the latest accessories, the Sierra South River Store has the best in high quality paddlesports equipment. Don't wait until the water's gone! Take a look and you'll see it's the convenient way to shop for paddlesports equipment, books and videos. Your secure online shopping source for whitewater kayaks, touring kayaks, paddles, sprayskirts, PFDs, rescue gear, dry tops, wetsuits, kayaking books, kayaking videos, sandals, shorts and much more! All the gear you need on and off the River -- 100% guaranteed*.

Paddling Classes & Climbing Classes! We are proud of our status as the premier paddlesports school in Southern and Central California. We have been teaching classes and offering tours in paddling, climbing, hiking, and camping to thousands of people since 1985. Operating under permit with the Sequoia National Forest, trips are conducted on the Wild & Scenic Kern River, at Isabella Lake, and in the majestic mountains of the Southern Sierra Nevada. We are the oldest, largest, and most experienced paddling school in Southern California. Here are just a few of the classes and recreational activities we offer: Two and three day Kayaking 101 and 201 5 Day Total Kayaking Immersion River Rescue Course Freestyle Roll & Tune-up Combos Rock Climbing and an array of Recreational/Touring Kayak classes! You can sign up for a class by calling toll-free 1-800-457-2082. See Kayaking Classes, Climbing Classes, Camps and Instruction for complete information.

Select Page ---TRIPS & CLASSES--- Raft Trips Kayaking Instruction Climbing Instruction Reservations More Info - Request ---EQUIPMENT--- Online Store Kayaks & Rafts Kayak Comparison Chart Kernville Store New Kayaks on Sale Equipment Catalog ---THE RIVER--- River Overview Kern Flow & Weather River Conservation Photo Gallery Around the Kern ---NEWS--- River Notes & News River Notes Archive The Sierra South Rapid! RiverPhoto Archive Event Calendar Kern River Festival ---LINKS--- Paddlesport Links Search Site Home Page

Don't Miss Out - The Sierra South Rapid!

If you would like to receive E-mail notification of updates to our WWW site, equipment sales, special promotions, and other paddlesports related news and offers, please take a few moments to subscribe to The Sierra South Rapid! Email List, the fast-track to great deals on paddlesports gear.

Looking for the Flow?

What's the flow? That's a question we're always asking, and an important one to a paddler. That's why we've included a number of ways to obtain current flow data on our web site. The near realtime Kern flow data on our web site is provided by the Army Corp. of Engineers, Sacramento District, (COE) web site. The COE is responsible for the collection of data from the gage in Riverside Park, and is the root source of flow data originating from this gage. Their flow data can be accessed a number of ways from our web site:

• Access our NEWS page and click on COE, COE5 or CDEC near the top of the page.
• Access our NEWS page and click on Current in the Flow Snapshot Table in the River Notes.
• Access our LINKS page and click on Current in the Kern River Flow Information section.
• Most major pages (Rafting, Kayaking, Climbing, etc.) have a blue fly-out Menu in the navigation area below the masthead image. If you position your cursor over the blue Menu square, several options will be displayed. Select "River Info," then "Kern Flow Info" and then one of the flow options. (Requires Javascript to be enabled.)
• From our HOME page, and several other pages, select "Kern Flow & Weather" from the pull down page list at the top of the page, and then Current in the Kern River Flow Information section.

Sometimes the COE flow data cannot be accessed and this can be frustrating when you are used to having flow data literally at your fingertips. Here are some options if the COE data is inaccessible?

• Check for flow info in the Ticker message on the NEWS page.
• Check for a River Notes update. We update the Flow Snapshot Table when River Notes is updated.
• Check the Hourly and Daily Lake Isabella data in the Kern River Flow Information section of LINKS page. Note that INFLOW data is calculated from changes in storage and isn't very useful. AVERAGE INFLOW is a better estimate of the inflow.
• Check the "Daily COE Report" in the Kern River Flow Information section of LINKS page.
• Call the SCE Kern flow phone at 877-537-6356.(Note: The SCE Flow Phone is currently out of order and according to SCE, will not be serviced until April 21. According to SCE, the diversion at Fairview is expected to remain at 300 cfs for the remainder of April.)
• Call the Store at 760-376-3745.

General information concerning paddling the various reaches of the Kern River can be found on our Kern River page.