All of our meals are served 'buffet or family style,' with any custom, per-person preparation limited to things like 'How would you like your steak cooked?' or 'Do you prefer your eggs scrambled or over easy?'
Read more about allergies and substitutions below.
MEALS SERVED:
Breakfasts
- Bacon, eggs to order, hash browns, bagels, fresh fruit and OJ
- Blueberry pancakes with assorted syrups, sausage links, fresh fruit, and OJ
- French toast with assorted syrups, Canadian bacon, fresh fruit, and OJ
- Omelettes, English muffins, pineapple, and OJ
- Coffee, hot tea, cocoa, and cider are available every morning
Lunches
- Lunch meats (turkey, ham, pastrami, and roast beef), assorted breads, cheeses, lettuce, tomato, pickles, olives, and red onion. This lunch is served twice.
- Chicken pita salad sandwiches with chicken, red onion, lettuce, tomato, cashews, mayo, spices, assorted cheeses, pickles, red onion, and olives.
- Chicken Tortilla wraps, sliced chicken, grated cheese, cream cheese, Avocado, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, olives, peanut butter, and preserves.
- Hoagie sandwiches: lunch meats, sliced cheese, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, olives, Peanut Butter, preserves
All lunches include peanut butter and jelly, fresh fruit, chips, cookies, and various condiments.
Dinners
- New York strip steak, green beans almondine, house salad, broccoli and cauliflower
- Chicken Breasts, Spinach and Strawberry Salad with walnuts and bleu cheese, rice, corn, dinner rolls.
- Fajitas, Mexican rice, veggies, fruit salad
- Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, salad
Alternative KIDS Menu
- Chicken nuggets
- Hot dogs
- Quesadilla
- Mac & Cheese
Appetizers
- Crab dip with cream cheese, cocktail sauce and crackers
- Bean dip, guacamole, and salsa with corn chips
- Chicken wings
- Shrimp cocktail
Desserts
- Cobblers
- Pineapple upside-down cake
- Fresh baked Dutch oven frosted cakes
- Bananas Foster with ice cream
- During fire restrictions, dessert options may vary
Substitutions for guests with SEVERE ALLERGIES
If you or any of the participants in your party have special dietary requirements or severe or life-threatening allergies, a multi-day rafting trip may not suit you. Due to space limitations and the nature of our buffet-style meal service, we cannot accommodate dietary requests such as Kosher and Vegan. If you cannot find options on our standard meal service (see below) that meet your dietary needs, you may supplement the existing meals where necessary with some of your own food, as long as it does not require cooking on our limited stove and cookware surfaces.
We take allergies very seriously at Western River Expeditions. You must describe the exact details of any allergies you may have, including symptoms and severity. If you have an allergy that may cause difficulty breathing, anaphylaxis, or other severe and life-threatening reactions, please read the following points carefully. We want to ensure you know what we can and can't do for you in a wilderness setting. If you have a severe allergy, you must bring at least two Epi-pens on your trip.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 1-866-904-1160.
Substitutions for guests with SEVERE ALLERGIES
We take allergies very seriously at Western River Expeditions. You must describe to us the exact details of any
allergies you may have, including symptoms and severity. If you have an allergy that may cause difficulty breathing, anaphylaxis, or other severe and life-threatening reactions, please read the following points carefully. We want to ensure you
know what we can and can't do for you in a wilderness setting. If you have a severe allergy, you must bring at least two Epi-pens on your trip. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 801-942-6669.
- All reasonable efforts will be made to avoid cross-contamination. We cannot guarantee that our products are free from allergens (including dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and other allergens) as we use shared equipment to store, prepare, and serve them. For this reason, allergies to commonly used products such as onions, bell peppers, black pepper, garlic, or corn may not be accommodated, as most of these are present in the pre-made products we purchase. Please inform us about the exact severity of these allergies and whether they are anaphylactic or gastrointestinal.
- Peanut butter will be served on a separate table with disposable utensils. Guests with severe allergies may go through the line first before cross-contamination may occur. When preparing a salad with nuts, part of the salad will be set aside and covered before the nuts are added.
- Our policy is not to remove an ingredient from a trip when a guest has an allergy to it.
- You are welcome to read food labels in the kitchen during meal preparation and check if you are allergic to any meal items.
Substitutions for VEGETARIAN GUESTS
Western River Expeditions can provide vegetarian alternatives for many items. Please see the list below and compare it with the standard meals for your trip. If you feel this will not be sufficient, you can bring additional options. Your guides will store any food you bring but will not be able to prepare it for you due to limitations of the kitchen facilities, such as the number of pots and burners.
- Black bean veggie burger patties- Replace dinner protein such as steak, chicken and fish
- Portobello mushroom - Replaces steak, chicken, or fish. It may be available by pre-trip request.
Dishes like green beans almondine and chicken salad can be prepared without meat. Peanut butter is always available at lunch, and vegetarian guests are provided hummus. Whenever possible, meat will be served separately from other items to maximize options for vegetarian guests. For example, the chicken for the chicken fajitas will not be mixed with the peppers and onions. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 801-942-6669.
Substitutions for GLUTEN-FREE GUESTS
Western River Expeditions can provide gluten-free alternatives for many items. Please see the list below and compare it with the standard meals for your trip. If you feel this will not be sufficient, you can bring additional options. Your guides will store any food you bring but will not be able to prepare it for you due to limitations of the kitchen facilities, such as the number of pots and burners. The backcountry often does not provide ideal conditions to avoid cross-contamination. All reasonable efforts will be made to keep foods separate, but if your sensitivity is severe, we may be unable to accommodate you. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 801-942-6669.
- Gluten-free bread- Replaces lunch bread and dinner rolls
- We can also provide lettuce wraps for all lunches instead of gluten-free breads.
- Substitute granola and yogurt instead of pancakes.
- Gluten-free pancakes- Replaces blueberry pancakes
- Corn tortillas- Replace flour tortillas used for lunch wraps and chicken fajita dinner
- Gluten free bagels- Replace bagels
- Gluten-free snack bars- Replace snacks containing gluten
If you prefer not to eat gluten-free processed foods, we will provide other options (e.g., lettuce wraps instead of bread and chocolate bars instead of gluten-free brownies).
Specific DAIRY information
Many of our meals have alternative options for avoiding dairy. Depending on your sensitivity, consult with your guides and review the labels of the brands on your trip.
Because of the remote location of our warehouse, we source products from different vendors each week. The only time we serve milk is the continental breakfast one morning. We can provide Rice Milk for this meal. We generally avoid cooking with butter; your guides will be happy to accommodate this if you check with them on the first day of the trip. Items to watch and avoid are:
- Most of the cake and muffin mixes contain dairy or whey.
- Some of our breads contain whey, but many do not.
- Several desserts are cake-like products that contain dairy.
- Dinner Dutch oven potatoes contain dairy.
- Some of our snacks contain dairy.
Specific Nut information
For our nut-free guests, we can make the meal without nuts and set aside a portion for you, and then we will add nuts for the rest of the guests. Please consult your trip leader at the beginning of your trip to address the severity of your allergy.
- PB&J will be served at the table for lunch every day. If you have a severe nut allergy, please consult your trip leader, and we will set a separate table on which the peanut butter will be placed. Chicken salad contains cashews, which can be left out of a portion for guests with nut allergies.
- (Green bean almondine contains almonds; we can set aside a dish without almonds for nut allergies.)
- Many of our snacks are made in a factory where they could be contaminated by nuts. We will also provide a small stock of nut-free bars. However, this is an area where it might be good to bring some supplementary snacks that you like for us to store.
If you are highly sensitive, we strongly advise bringing supplemental snacks, desserts, and other foods to ensure you have adequate food. We always have fresh fruits and vegetables available. Still, with the additional energy expended during an active trip like this, it is essential to have ample alternative products you are comfortable ingesting, primarily snacks and desserts. We will have ample storage, dry or refrigerated, available. We hope this will help you plan accordingly. Have a great trip with us!
Western supplies cold water and low-calorie lemonade, available both on and off the rafts. Guests are encouraged to drink plenty of liquids to stay well hydrated, and can fill personal water bottles as desired. Filling a water bottle with smaller amounts more frequently gives guests a cold drink every time, and discourages wasting precious water that has been left to warm up.
If additional beverages are desired (soda, beer, other alcoholic beverages), guests may bring up to 12 cans or the equivalent thereof. Containers should be unbreakable. They will be kept cold and accessible on the raft.
We bring a variety of snacks on every trip. As a general rule, snacks will be served mid-morning and mid-afternoon while traveling down river. If you would like to bring some of your own snacks, small, pre-packaged items are best. We can provide cold or dry storage. If you have special dietary needs, bringing some of your own snacks that work well for you is a great idea.