RISHIKESH
The short beginner stretch — Grade I/II, more float than thrill. Fine for young kids or first-timers, but if you already have any rafting experience this run will feel like a waste of the trip; go straight to Shivpuri instead.
Shivpuri, a small village on the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway roughly 16km upstream of Rishikesh, became the epicenter of organized commercial rafting in India starting in the 1990s as adventure-tourism outfits and the state Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN, formed in 1976) began running Ganga trips here. The Shivpuri-to-Rishikesh run, with rapids like Roller Coaster, Golf Course and Club House, remains the most popular introductory rafting stretch in the country, credited with putting Rishikesh on the map as India's white-water rafting capital.
