Zip, Dip and Sip

Ziplines, whitewater and wine deliver a full day of Southern Oregon adventure

By Tamara MC

Our group drove into Del Rio Vineyard Estate, located midway between Medford and Grants Pass, and parked near an ample timber arch with the words Del Rio hung from the crossbeam. The vineyard opened beyond it in straight rows, green to gold in the afternoon light, and the Rogue River ran close by, bright below the old Rock Point Bridge. (Del Río means “of the river.”)

Exhilarated from my first whitewater run, I was ready to relax. The day began hours earlier and miles away. The Zip, Dip and Sip Tour spanned a full day: a zipline course, deli lunch, whitewater float and the tasting, with a shuttle handling the driving between stops.

SOLID GROUND

My friends spent the morning on the ziplines. (I am afraid of heights, so I skipped that part and met them at lunch.) They geared up at a replica mining town, then rode a five-line course with Rogue Valley ZipLine Adventures, high over old gold country, looking out at the Table Rocks and Mount McLoughlin. They came down buzzing. The last line stretches a quarter-mile across a wide ravine– which the company calls the most thrilling zipline in the Pacific Northwest.

At Laurel Hill Golf Course, we picked up our bagged lunches. As I ate my sandwich, the waitstaff handed me a diet soda and a cup of ice that looked like the old-fashioned kind from a freezer tray. I was immediately transported back to my childhood summers.

DOWN TO THE RIVER

After lunch, we changed into our river clothes, and Ryan Thims, our guide from Rogue Rafting Company, met us. We drove to the company’s storefront in Gold Hill, where we were fitted with closed-toe neoprene water shoes, snug and grippy-soled, to keep our feet secure. We geared up, piled back into the van, and followed the river another 15 minutes to the put-in at Fishers Ferry.

I love rivers, but had never rafted, and speed frightens me nearly as much as heights. Two Class IV drops lay ahead, both toward the end. On a difficulty scale of I to VI, that ranks as advanced whitewater, fast and powerful, with big waves and a tight line through the rocks.

As we strapped on helmets and life vests, Ryan walked us through the basics before we pushed off: sit up on the outer tube, not down on the floor, and wedge one foot under the cross-tube to stay in place. He told us what to do if anyone fell into the river. Don’t panic, float on our backs with feet up and pointed downstream, and let him haul us back into the raft by the shoulders of our vests.

ON THE WATER

The float covered about five miles. Everyone paddled to Ryan’s calls while he steered from the back. It began in a calm current, where he pointed out wildlife along the banks. The water grew rougher downstream, so we practiced on Class II rapids like Bitterman Falls before the bigger drops. From my spot in the back beside Ryan, I caught just enough spray to feel refreshed; up front, the paddlers took the waves full in the face.

The current quickened, and Ryan’s calls came sharper as the banks tightened ahead. Nugget Falls came first, a Class IV, where the water squeezed through boulders and dropped into a big wave.

After Nugget, the river quieted again. In that flat stretch, a couple of the others hopped in to swim, drifting alongside in their life vests until Ryan hauled them back aboard. We passed teenage boys launching off a high rock one after another, arms windmilling through the drop before they hit the water and surfaced with a whoop. People floated by on makeshift rafts, everyone out on the same water.

Then the finale: Powerhouse, also called Ti’lomikh Falls, the biggest drop of the day and a site sacred to the Takelma, who have held a salmon ceremony there for thousands of years. Ahead, the river fell out of sight behind a horizon line, and the roar drowned out everything else. My breath shortened, and my knuckles whitened as I gripped the paddle. I kept my eyes on the river and followed Ryan’s commands: back-paddle, forward-paddle, hold, all while my feet were planted and helmet strap cinched tight.

Down we went.

We shot out the bottom, and surprisingly, I loved it: the speed, the river crashing around us, the splash on my face, all of it. I heard myself shout, “I’m a rafter.”

Below the falls, the river eased and we drifted the rest of the way down to the boat ramp. We climbed off the raft, and while the crew loaded up, I waded in the river. The water rose around me, rinsing off the heat of the day. We drove back to the shop, pulled off our wet shoes, and settled into the van bound for Del Rio.

BACK AT THE ESTATE

The Sip came last, at a picnic table on the Del Rio tasting room lawn, with a tasting flight and charcuterie board with local Vintner’s Kitchen sweet red pepper and port mustard. (As a mustard lover, I’d call it some of the most delicious I’ve ever tasted.) The board also held Rogue’s Mary, the rosemary cheddar from Rogue Creamery down the road in Central Point.

“You start with adventure, and then get to take it easy,” noted Courtney Thomas, Del Rio’s tasting room and events manager. The rafting company’s owners, Ben and Jade Bansen, are neighbors who live at the end of her road. “They hold the same beliefs,” she shared. “Show people a good time and the beauty we have.”

The Zip, Dip and Sip flight included a Grenache Rosé full of wild strawberry and mint, then a crisp, estate-grown Pinot Gris that thrives in the Valley’s wide day-to-night temperature swings. The Rock Point Pinot Noir brimmed with black cherry and dark chocolate, a plush Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon with its telltale hint of leather. Thomas finished by pouring two sweeter wines, the Jolee Pinot Gris and Jolee Rosé, the ones I loved best.

A PLACE FOR EVERYONE

The estate’s saying is: Enter as strangers and leave as friends. “It’s comfortable here,” Thomas observed. “It’s easy to sit and understand wine without even knowing wine. It’s not pretentious. You get a sense of place.” I asked what makes the Rogue special, and she kept it simple: “It’s a place for everyone, whether you like fishing or the adventure of rafting. If you want to go plop your chair down, there’s something for everyone.”

The sun sank low over the vineyard. At the picnic table, I sipped the last sweet pour, with the river close by, the same water that had carried me through the rapids. I came to the Rogue Valley a stranger but certainly didn’t feel like one when I left

Zip, Dip & Sip Tour

rvzipline.com/zipdipsip • (541) 821-9476

Nine hours, transportation included

$235/per person ($225 for minors 8+ and nondrinkers)

Tamara MC, Ph.D., is a writer and applied linguist whose writing has appeared in more than 90 outlets, including The New York Times, National Geographic and BBC. She won the 2024-2025 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year (Bronze) award and has held fellowships at Bread Loaf, Ragdale and Sewanee. A low-alcohol drinker, she loves wineries for the place, people and history. Sign up for her amazing mailing list at tamaramc.com.