There’s something wildly special about loading up your gear, wrangling your kids, and launching onto a river for a few days of off-grid family adventures. But let’s be real: while many moments will glow, there is also always pure chaos, especially if you don’t pack right.
After many years and many river miles—through sunshine, meltdowns, whitewater, and starry nights—we’ve dialed in our family river setup. This post isn’t about the newest tech or the fanciest raft. It’s about what actually works for multi-day paddling trips with young kids, from our perspective as parents, athletes, and lovers of wild places.
Big-Picture Essentials
Rafts, Inflatable Kayaks, Packrafts or White Water SUPs? We’ve taken all of the above and had all of these on the same trip as us. My advice is to choose what suits your family and the river conditions.
We love packrafts for their flexibility, portability and ability to store easily when we are not using them. They shine especially for when you have to portage or if you are going on a trip where hiking in is necessary. While we have not yet broached the hiking into a river with the kids, when it’s just the two of us, we do this and love not having two sets of boats. Our Alpacka Rafts work for both hike in and family missions. Our favorite Alpacka’s are the Forager and the self bailer Gnarwhal. The Forager fits either two adult paddlers with one kid or one adult paddler with two kids or even three small kids! The Gnarwhal fits one adult and one kid. We’ve packrafted in these configurations for multiple days down class II and III rivers very comfortably. The internal storage of these boats is also MASSIVE. We have fit all of our food, camping gear and clothes for 5 days inside them for our family of 4. Another company that we love is MRS Packrafts, while we have used these mostly for racing, they are also very durable and can hold a ton of gear. We recommend these for more class I- II rivers, as they are not as equipped for white water as the Alpacka self bailer boats for family use. If you go with MRS, give me a shout and I will give you my favorites for family trips!
If you are a rafting family, chances are, you already have your boat and your system down. Rafts can carry a TON more gear than packrafts. So if you are more of a glamper or like to carry everything and the kitchen sink with you, then my recommendation is to either find some friends with a raft (we love having a big raft come along with us!) and plan some trips with them, rent one, or get one yourself. While I love rafts (I was a raft guide for 10 years!), this article is geared towards those that are interested in packrafting trips where you need to go lighter and be selective on what you take and leave behind.
The following is gear that always make the cut, no matter what:
PFDs (Life Jackets): These are of course Non-negotiable for every river trip. For smaller kids, look for ones with head support, crotch straps, and secure buckles. This one from Stohlquist was our favorite for when our kids were babies/ toddlers. For bigger kids- we absolutely love the Astral Otter 2.0. It checks all the boxes for everyone. It’s comfortable, has detachable crotch straps, its very adjustable and has a ton of flotation for bigger water. For adults, we love the Kokatat Hustler Life Jacket for those that love big pockets and high flotation and the low profile Astral YTV 2.0 for those that like simple life jackets that let you move more freely. I personally live in the Astral YTV on all of our river trips because it is super comfortable and I love practicing my rolls in it because it lets me twist and move with more ease.
Dry Bags / Organization Bags
Honestly, we have WAY too many drybags, but luckily they are all different colors so it’s easy to give the boys a “red” dry bag, me a “teal” one and Jason a “yellow” one. Our teammate/ neighbor swears by BIG clear ziplock bags. He loves to be able to clearly see what is in every bag so he/ his kids are not rooting through every bag all of the time. Note, that he then does put these ziplocks in a bigger dry bag so they stay dry! Either way, get a system that works for you, try it on and change it if you need to.
A must have/ non negotiable item for ALL packrafting trips though is a bow bag. Both Alpacka and MRS makes them so buy the one for your brand of packraft. Trust me, it will make your life so much better. Use this bag for sunscreen, your first aid kit, snacks, a towel or snack blanket or whatever else you will need for your day on the river.
Another essential for packrafts is a top off pump and a repair kit. Again, use the top off pump from the company that your packraft is from. For MRS we like this one. And for Alpacka we use this one. For the repair kit we bring a roll of Tyvek tape and this repair kit and so far, we have been able to fix everything, even a massive tear in the field!
Clothing & Footwear
For multiday river trips, temps can swing and since we are on a river, being wet and cold comes into play. For this reason, I recommend sticking to synthetics and/ or merino wool. Each person gets: a sun shirt, fleece layer, a rain jacket (more for emergency), a pair of shorts, one pair of fast drying adventure pants, a set of wool base layers (used for pjs) and kids get a wetsuit. Us parents bring either a wet suit top or a dry top depending on the water temperature but we usually just wear our sun shirt and sun pants while on the river as we are the ones paddling and generating heat. Below is a short list of our favorite layers.
Patagonia Kids’ R1® Air Full-Zip Hoody – I also have this one in my size, and we all LOVE our R1’s. It’s cozy, dries fast and cleans up easy. It doubles as our warm layer and as our emergency “get warm” layer on the river.
Stio Kids Eddy Shirt – The whole family has an Eddy shirt because they are just so good. It’s comfortable, dries super fast and is easy to layer. I find it works the best on the river especially compared to rash guards or other sun shirts because it dries the fastest. Rash guards and sun shirts tend to dry slower.. because they are meant to keep you cool for longer! However on the river, I find that with wind, and with being on the water all day, it’s really nice to get wet and then dry off fast.
Patagonia Kids Quandry Pants– Our kids love these pants, as soon as they are off the river and on land for the day, they put these on. They dry fast, are really comfortable and are easy to take on and off.
Patagonia Baggies (These are for the WHOLE family but the link is for Jason’s favorite). The baggies are a must for all of us because they double as adventure shorts and river shorts. For the super hot river days, this is all we wear for bottoms. I like the 5″ and Jason and the boys like the longer 7″
Stio CFS Drifter Short: These are my absolute favorite shorts. They dry super quick and actually repel water. They have UOF+50 sun protection and they are high waisted. All of these features make these amazing everydat river shorts!
Kid Iksplor Wool Base Layer Set We love wool base layers because they work super well for pjs in the summer because they can keep us both warm and cool depending on the weather. AND if they do get wet, they still can keep us warm. If it’s a cold river that we are on, I actually bring two sets so if needed I can use one set on the river and one set at night. Iksplor, I find has been both the most durable and the softest of all of the wool base layers I have tested.
Iksplor X SURReal Towel Poncho This is another family favorite. A poncho rather than a small towel doubles as a super hero cape, a cozy nap blanket and a towel. I am sure we will think of more as we wear it more but so far this is the most loved piece of clothing we take on all of our adventures.
Kids Mountain House 2mm Wetsuit Our boys finally have started to use wetsuits! And so far this is the only one they will wear. What I have found is that they can put it on by themselves, it’s not to tight and they are able to move around in it. While it is not the thickest, it has kept them warmer than NOT having one on and they will actually keep it on for the entire time that we are on the river. If the wind picks up and they are cold, I will bust out their rain jacket and it works super well for fending off the splashes from the waves and the afternoon up river wind.
Therma Rest Honcho Poncho – We have ditched the puffies for most of our camping trips now and have replaced them with these. They are insulated, water resistant and pack down to a perfect pillow sized puff ball. The Ero Loft insulation is next level because it stays warm even when wet, making this poncho perfect for river trips! On colder river days, we leave it in our bow bag for easy access.
Footwear:
Closed-toe sandals like Keen and Teva are awesome for grip and quick draining. Cold water? Neoprene booties are a win or my personal favorite is wool socks inside of my Loyak Astral shoes. The Loyak’s drain super well and are extremely grippy. Either way, Adults -don’t skimp on footwear—you’ll be hauling gear and navigating rocks and maybe even going on a solo run or hike if you are lucky once you get to camp!
Sun Protection
Wide-brim hats, sunglasses with straps, mineral sunscreen, and sun shirts are a must- especially if your kiddos are not in wet suits. My favorite sun protector weapons are below:
Sunday Afternoons Latitude Hat (For Men and Women) – Sunday Afternoons makes the best adventure wide brimmed hats I have ever tested. No question. They stay on and keep the sun off.
Sunday Afternoon Kids Ultra Adventure Hat – Nothing more to say, except that I wish they had a tracker on them for kids who love to lose them!
AOS SunScreen – This stuff is the best, goes on clear and smooth and smells super good.
Camp Comfort
Get a tent that is easy to set up and take down. For river trips, you don’t need ultra light unless you are backpacking in and carrying everything in. For these types of trips, we bring our Hyperlite Ultra Mid tent. Its crazy light and does not require any poles except your paddle for the center. However for family trips, we always go for our Big Agnes Black Tail 4 Person tent. It’s big, super simple to set up and is high enough for our kids to stand up in. Pro Tip: Always set up before you go, especially if you have not used it in a while as it would suck to get out there and not have what you need!
We also always bring at least one hammock. In this last trip we did, it was a huge hit for ALL the kids as it’s like a swing for multiple kids. Or, if you are lucky, you can have it before everyone wakes up as your own little quiet nook. I love our ENO Double Nest– it’s big and easy to set up.
Chairs are must for river trips. Who ever doesn’t bring one is always sad. Our favorite is the ultra light and durable Helinox Chair One (Re)s, so we bring one for every butt in our family. They are durable, comfortable and are super fast to set up and tear down. While they do sink into the ground some, we don’t really mind. However if you do, Helinox sells pads, balls and even a rocker attachment to help with different types of terrain. If there is a raft coming along, we will give them some of our crazy creek chairs as they don’t quite fit inside of a packraft but they are the best chairs for kids. Why? Because kids don’t fall off of them! If anything, kids play the “rocking” game with them and get an awesome workout!
Sleeping Setup:
For our best sleeping experience, we have a rule that every kid gets their own sleeping bag and pad. While we do all love to snuggle, in a tent we just all sleep better if we are all in our own sleeping bag. We each prefer different styles, for example- Revel loves to worm all the way in, Max loves to sleep with half of his body out of the bag and Jason and I are a little bit of both depending on the temps. For river trips, where space is an issue, we bring our Sea To Summit Spark bags, the whole family gets one because we all love them so much. They are super warm, light weight and pack down to nothing.
When it comes to pads, the kids use the Nemo Switchback foam pads – they are a family hit because they can double as camp chairs and for outside naps. Jason and I bring our Therm-A-Rest NXT Sleeping pads because they are warmer, thicker and are quieter than any other pad that we have tested. I am a mover when I sleep, and Jason always gets annoyed, so he got me this pad because he heard it was quiet. After one night, I slept so good, and he had to have one himself.
Camp Kitchen:
A compact stove, nesting pot set, utensils is about all you need for a simple packrafting set up. We love our MSR pocket rocket + the Detour Stainless Steel Sea to Summit 5 pot and bowl set. The set has one big bowl, two bowls and two cups which is actually perfect for our family because when we are on the river, we never all eat at the same time. And lets me be honest, Jason and I usually feed the kids first and then finish off their left overs! However, when we know that we are only going to be boiling water for our meals (freeze dried meals, oatmeal and ramen for example) we bring our MSR Reactor System because it’s super FAST at boiling water and the pot + the stove is all integrated, making it very easy keep it all together, even the fuel canister fits into the pit with the stove!
We used to never bring a table with us on packrafting trips, because nothing ever felt necessary enough to bring. That is until Crazy Creek came out with a new little table that folds up to the size of a small camp bowl. It’s called the Pack Table and it sits low on the ground (5-8 inches above the ground) and can be adjusted in 1 in increments, making it super easy to make stable on uneven terrain. It fits two stoves or a bowl and a stove easily. It also makes a great card table for kids inside or outside the tent!
For food, we pack multiple food bags: one for all of our dinners, one for all of our breakfasts and then one for all of our snacks and lunches. These bags are big clear ziplocks so that we can see everything. This is both a con and a pro. We can see inside, but also our kids can see so they LOVE to grab the high quality snacks before we can dole them out.
For meals, we swear by Backpackers Pantry freeze dried meals – almost all of them are kid friendly and if they need a little extra kick for us parents, I always bring a small thing of hot sauce. It adds both flavor and a kick. We also always bring ramen because it’s fast, has a ton of calories and is something we only eat camping so it feels special. Other snacks that we love to bring are basically anything that is at Grocery Outlet. The beauty of it all is that the kids will eat anything when we are outside. Salami Sticks, baby bell cheeses, apples, dried fruit, trail mix and tortillas and a squeezy pack of refried beans are some of our family favorites and things that will not get smashed inside of a packraft.
Coffee is a must for us, especially on a river trip. My absolute favorite morning ritual is to wake up early and drink my cup of coffee while watching the river go by. And when we are on the river, we go for the instant because we want it fast and we want it to be good. Our faves are Laird Superfood Insta Lattes and our local BackPorch Roaster Instant packets.
For water filtration we bring two or three of the Hydra Pak Filter Break Away bottles. These are the easiest and fastest filters we have ever used. And they are super durable. Our kids drink out of bike bottles all of the time, so this seems normal to them. For in camp filtration, whether we are backpacking or packrafting, we always have our HydraPak 6 Liter Seeker on us. It’s light weight, rolls to nothing and is efficient/ easy to use. It will easily supply water for one family for 12 hours of being in camp and when it runs out, it’s takes 30 seconds to refill. If you are a large group of people and have a raft to put it on, we recently tested the Life Saver Jerrycan and it was amazing. It fits 18.5 liters and is super fast at filtering and pouring out clean fresh drinking water. All we had to do was fill it full from the river and bring it up to the kitchen, with a few pumps and a twist of a knob, out poured the water for drinking and cooking for 4 families for a total of 2 meals and 12 hours of being at camp!
Safety & First Aid
Bring a well-stocked first aid kit. Include basics (band-aids, gauze, tweezers), kid meds (fever reducer, antihistamines, an inhaler), and river-specific gear like a throw rope, whistle, and a Garmin InReach device or something similar. Have all of this handy in a dry bag on top of your packraft for easy access. Go over family safety rules before launching—our kids help with this and it empowers them.
Toys & Extras (That Are Actually Worth It)
Waterproof binoculars, mini nets, and nail polish are big hits recently. Our boys love collecting “treasures” in zip bags and the nets are a stand in for fishing poles because hooks on poles don’t really go well with packrafting. Our boys also get one book each for reading in the tent at night.
Pro Tips for Packing with Kids
If your kids are willing, let them help pack their gear own gear. I set the boundaries (one pair of shorts and pants, etc) and then they do the rest and pack it in their drybag. It helps them take ownership and then they know where their stuff is. I always double check everything to make sure that we don’t forget anything. And if we do (which we always do), it’s a great opportunity to talk about adaptability.
Final Thoughts
River trips with kids can be wild and unpredictable—but also full of magic. The giggles, the cannonballs, the sleepy tent snuggles—they’re all worth the prep.
You don’t need perfect gear. Just smart choices, a sense of humor, and a plan that leaves space for wonder.
Want our full printable packing list? Just drop a comment or message—I’ll send it your way.