5 Most Dangerous White-water Rapids

In 2011, the stretch of Tennessee's Ocoee River known as "Mickey's" saw two deaths within two weeks [source: Olympics challenge course, is categorized as class III, sometimes pushing into class IV depending on water levels.

Sure, there's a fork that forces paddlers to choose between a 5-foot (1.5-meter) ledge drop into a deep hole or a rocky descent down a 4-foot (1.2-meter) ledge; and there's a trail of features with names like Best Ledge, Smiley Face, Slam Dunk, Conveyor Belt, Calahan Ledge and Humongous [source: AmericanWhitewater.org]. But more than the bone-crushing rapids or death-defying drops, it's sheer numbers that makes the Ocoee seem dangerous.

Located in the Cherokee National Forest, just 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Atlanta, the river attracts 250,000 paddlers a year [source: TimesFreePress.com]. Even in class III, when a quarter million people run the rapids, deaths are more than possible. Tragically, in 2011, a 16-year-old drowned when the entire raft flipped in Mickey's and the teen got his foot trapped in underwater rocks. There've been seven rafting deaths on the Ocoee in the last 20 years [source: TimesFreePress.com].

At 14,494 feet (4,418 meters), Mount Whitney is California's highest point [source: Mount-whitney.com]. Its snowmelt drains through the tight canyons of the Kern River, 165 miles (265 kilometers) south to Bakersfield. Of course, massive flow through tight canyons equals big white water. Nowhere is this more true than in the section known as the Forks of the Kern River, which originates near Mount Whitney. To take on these white-water rapids, adventurers must hike 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) to the put-in, while mules carry rafts.

A sign along the highway at the Bakersfield mouth of the river is updated with the number of people killed since 1968. As of May 26, 2011, it read "257" [source: Bakersfield Californian]. As the LA Times put it: "If you survive the 10-foot waterfall, there's a suck hole 20 yards beyond. Hit that wrong, and your wife is dating again" [source: Latimes.com].

Check out just a sampling of the named features in this 9-mile (14.5-kilometer), predominantly class IV to V run: Bastard, Triple-Drop, Zinger, Meat Cleaver, Powerful Pop-Up, Cheeseburger Falls, Double Pencil Sharpener. Here's one guide's description of how to run Pop-Up: "Pop-up is run left to right. Death slot is to left of pop-up chute. Run slot left to right and try not to broach on triangular rock" [source: Northeastern Whitewater]. While the jargon may be a bit hard to decipher for the inexperienced paddler, the gist is this: "Dude, if something called the 'death slot' is lurking around, don't screw up."

Interestingly though (and you'll see a theme developing here), most of the deaths on the Yough are along the relatively benign Lower Yough, where rafting newbies flock in droves. Specifically, between 1976 and 2006, 18 boaters died on the Lower Yough, and half of these deaths were associated with a feature known as "Dimple" where an undercut rock sits staunchly in the middle of the channel. Tragically, rafters have become trapped in what is effectively an underwater cave [source: Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources].

As for the Upper Yough, it's gnarly, but tends to run in a relatively safe way -- meaning that its rapids and drops will throw you around, but it's less likely you'll become pinned like you might on other popular class V rivers.

Given that the Deschutes River originates in a mountain range named after water falling downhill -- the Cascades -- you'd be correct to expect a flow. Eventually this water flow leads to the city of Bend, Ore., where the river drops 100 feet (30.5 meters) in one linear mile (1.6 km) [source: WaterfallsNorthwest.com].

The reason for this drop is the split around Lava Island. Think you'd rather portage (carry your watercraft around) this class V to VI mile? Think again. The Web site GORP writes that "the portage over the falls is over one mile of lava, brush and hills. It is likely this portage would result in personal injury" [source: GORP]. Basically the section of river around Lava Island is so tricky you don't even want to walk around it.

Even more hardcore than walking around it is, of course, running it. GORP describes this section like this: "Class VI. Lava Island Falls is a continuous Class IV-VI rapids for about a half mile, followed by mostly Class VI interspersed by lesser rapids. Not recommended for floating" [source: GORP]. Still, while you'd be hard pressed to find a guided float trip that runs this section, there's no surfeit of kayakers and other private paddlers who run it every season. If you plan to be one of them, listen closely to these instructions from Allaboutrivers.com: "To run the second drop you have to make a hard right to left move in order to avoid a nasty hydraulic called 'Brad's Butthole'" [source: Allaboutrivers.com]. Nobody wants to get stuck in Brad's Butthole.

The Lochsa runs 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Powell to Lowell, Idaho, with its headwaters melting from the snowpack of Lolo Pass, which separates Idaho and Montana. Along the way, you'll find 63 rapids graded class III or above [source: GORP].

In fact, Lochsa (pronounced "lock-saw") is a Nez Perce Indian word meaning "rough water," and rough it is, especially along the 13-mile (21-kilometer) stretch between Indian Grave Creek and the Wilderness Gateway Bridge. GORP notes that this section of the river should "be attempted with extra precaution only by skilled kayakers and rafters with dependable, heavy-duty equipment" [source: GORP].

Described by New York Times writer Timothy Egan as a "ferocious and explosive whitewater for hard-core rafters," the river includes challenges with names like Grim Reaper, Bloody Mary and Termination [sources: The New York Times, Allaboutrivers.com]. If you're unsure about running it, consider scouting ahead, which is easily done by driving up U.S. Highway 12, which runs along the river's length.

Unfortunately, this section of river has taken lives. In May 2011, a 35-year old Wisconsin man fell from his raft during a guided trip and, despite two kayakers providing support by throwing the man a safety line, he was swept downstream and tragically perished [source: Spokesman-Review].