BLUE RIVER – Once famous primarily for red-sided rainbow trout, the McKenzie River is now just as well-known for fun-filled rides through its rapids on rafts of many colors.

Many people tackle the McKenzie on their own in private paddle rafts or inflatable kayaks, while thousands of others many of them visitors to the area turn to a cadre of commercial guides and outfitters that provide scenic “splash-and-giggle” trips on the McKenzie.

Last year, nearly 9,000 people took half- or full-day commercial raft trips on the “wild and scenic” section of the upper McKenzie, between Olallie Campground and Bruckart Bridge, according to the Willamette National Forest, which requires permits for commercial use of that section of river.

Ten years earlier, in 1997, less than 4,000 “user days” were recorded on the upper McKenzie. In 1987, the number was only 1,327.

No one keeps track of commercial rafting “user days” downstream of Blue River. But they, too, number in the thousands.

Providing paddle raft trips on the McKenzie has become big business.

No fewer than 20 outfitters – some based as far away as Bend and Portland – hold upper McKenzie whitewater permits. Still more operate on sections of river where no permit is required.

Most outfitters charge $50 to $100 per person, depending on the length and duration of the trip, whether lunch is included (and on how elaborate the meal is), and whether transportation is provided.

Like the river’s rapids, people in the McKenzie rafting business are unique, but similar. Every outfitter has a different story, but they all love the outdoors and are on the river for fun as much as for profit.

And like riverside rocks, some guides have been on the river so long they’re covered with moss, and some are shiny newcomers that tumbled in only recently. Dean Helfrich of Dean Helfrich & Sons in Springfield is a mossback, metaphorically speaking. He has been guiding since 1955, although he began promoting rafting trips only about 15 years ago. Rafting accounts for about 25 percent of his company’s business, Helfrich said.

Guy Santiago, co-owner of Oregon River Sports in Eugene, has been in the rafting business in various capacities since 1971. He and a partner started ORS in 1996. Known primarily as a retailer of whitewater gear and training, ORS also does a sizable business leading day trips on the McKenzie.

Paul and Marnie Reynolds of Wild Water Adventures in Creswell are relative newcomers to the business of rafting. About a year ago, the couple purchased a 28-year-old company where Paul worked as a guide. They added a couple of innovations like a two-hour “McKenzie River Quickie” river trip for $39, including bus transportation from local park-and-ride lots and motels.

Some guides were practically born into the business, like members of the extended Helfrich clan, now it its fourth generation of guiding.

Prince Helfrich was among the first McKenzie fishing guides in the early 1920s. All three of his sons Dave, Dick and Dean followed in his footsteps. Now several of Prince’s grandchildren (and at least one great-grandchild) offer rafting trips, as well as fishing.

Some, like Jonnie Helfrich, fell in love with their guide and the river-running business. She was a “dude” on a Salmon River trip run by Dean Helfrich & Sons when she met Aaron Helfrich. They were married about 15 years ago. Now Jonnie handles most of the rafting side of the business for A. Helfrich Outfitter, while Aaron concentrates mostly on fishing.

Jonnie Helfrich offers trips on the upper river, which offers continuous action and smaller rapids, but she favors the lower-river run that climaxes with class III Martin Rapids.

“They’re very different runs,” she said. “And it’s a toss-up as to which (section) people will like best. But I love the bigger rapids, and I love dousing the whole boat. … I get more giggles and laughs on the lower stretch.”

Matt O’Neill of All-Star Outfitters in McKenzie Bridge, on the other hand, prefers the upper McKenzie between Olallie and Paradise.

“There’s so much power and so much down-gradient, it’s just a lot of fun,” he said.

O’Neill started outfitting about 10 years ago. He picked the “All-Star” name for its early alphabetical ranking and because that’s the name of the team he coaches at the U.S. Basketball Academy, the hoop camp owned by his father that doubles as a base for his guide business.

Some guides were nudged into rafting by changes in economic circumstances. Robin Alexander of Alexander’s Rafting & Guide Service in Leaburg lost his job when Weyerhaeuser Co. shut down the division he worked for in 1990.

“I was looking around and saying, ‘Man, what do I do now?”‘ Alexander said. “My wife said, ‘Get out on the river and make some money.”‘

Fishing guide Ron Van Iderstine of Ron’s Guide Service turned to whitewater rafting “when the salmon started to go down in the late 1980s.”

Being on the McKenzie River is the important thing, he said, no matter what the activity.

“The McKenzie is the jewel of this state, just a gorgeous river,” he said. “I love to share it with people. …”

Van Iderstine says commercial rafting, which has probably increased fourfold in the years he has been doing it, “is a great use of this river.”

Several outfitters, like Georg and Jessica Adelt, started their own companies from scratch. The Adelts launched High Country Expeditions, based in McKenzie Bridge, in 1999.

“We got into it just for the love of the outdoors,” said Georg Adelt. “We’d done some guiding for other companies and kind of wanted to do our own thing. … It kind of turned into a passion.”

Dave and Kay Loos of Oregon Whitewater Adventures in Springfield also guided for another company before deciding 21 years ago that “we could put something better together.”

At the time, Ouzel Outfitters had just moved from Eugene to Bend, and the Looses felt “there was a need for quality outfitter in Eugene-Springfield.”

With fleets of about a dozen rafts each, High Country Expeditions, Oregon Whitewater Adventures and Oregon River Sports are the largest local outfits on the McKenzie.

Given the seasonal appeal of rafting on the McKenzie, most rafting-only outfitters have other jobs. High Country’s Dave Loos works winters at a ski area. Paul Reynolds of Wild Water Adventures owns a video production company.

Bruce Greene of Wilderness River Outfitters has his own machine shop where he works when he can’t be on the river.

Surprisingly, some of the commercial rafts seen most frequently on the upper McKenzie are based in Bend, not far from the banks of the Deschutes River. Ouzel Outfitters and Sun Country Tours, for example, each brought 1,000 or more people over the Cascades last summer to sluice the old-growth-lined upper McKenzie.

“One of the reasons Bend outfits do so well over on the McKenzie is because the resorts over here feed us clients,” said Brian Sykes, owner of Ouzel Outfitters in Bend. “Black Butte Ranch accounts for more than 50 percent of our McKenzie business, and it’s only about a 50-minute drive from the put-in at Paradise.”

For people in the Sisters area, Sykes said, the upper McKenzie is actually closer than the popular lower Deschutes run out of Maupin.

While the bigger whitewater companies account for the highest volume of clients, a network of smaller one-, two- and three-raft operations contribute significantly to the commercial total.

Many of the individual guides and smaller outfitters hire each other as subcontractors when they need more rafts to handle a large group.