About Us

About Our Company

Owners (and twin brothers) Mitch and Michael Hampton have over 46 years combined professional whitewater rafting experience. At the age of ten, they were introduced to the rivers in East Tennessee by their grandfather and they have been paddling ever since. Their whitewater rafting experience and knowledge of Western North Carolina’s rivers has inspired them to an adventurous career in the whitewater rafting industry.

French Broad Rafting is local and family-owned, as it has been for almost thirty years. We are the oldest company on the French Broad River, with the most experienced staff on the water. 

French Broad Rafting Expeditions is permitted by the U.S. Forest Service and is a member of the North Carolina Paddlesports Association, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Blue Ridge Mountain Host, Madison County Chamber of Commerce, and the Hot Springs Tourism Authority.

Some Quick Facts about the French Broad River.

• The French Broad River got its name because the river flowed north toward French owned land and because the river is so broad (wide).

• The main stem of the French Broad River is in Rosman, North Carolina.

• The French Broad River is one of only a few rivers in the United States that flows North.

• The French Broad River flows 210 miles through Asheville, North Carolina, then north to Tennessee and eventually into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico.

• The French Broad River is a free flowing river that includes plenty of small mouth bass and catfish, which makes for a great day of fishing.

• The French Broad River is one of the oldest rivers in the world with only the Nile and New river predating the French Broad.