River Valley Lodge

Spent 2 days and nights here March 2025 and did 2 Burn the Breeze horseback rides for experienced riders. The accommodations were clean and comfortable and along the river. The meals provided were varied and home cooked with produce grown on the premises and were quite delicious. The staff was friendly and helpful and went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. Our horseback rides were great fun and the horses were wonderful, well trained and responsive. It was a learning experience to ride using Natural Horsemanship and ride without bridles and bits. Miss T was a joy to ride and did many lopes through gorgeous scenery.

Our mountain bike experience with River Valley Lodge, hosted and guided by Brian/Janey and Ross was the complete package of Dramatic landscape and beautiful scenery mixed in with great food and their insightful knowledge of the local history. The ride/terrain was on the challenging side at times, so it is very important to be setting off with mountain bikes fit for purpose and with adequate battery. A great ride that was extremely well supported by the River Valley Family team. Would have to be one of the best multi day rides of its type in the North Island. Highly recommend. Glenn and Tara

What an unbelievable experience. We were made welcome by Jacob and looked after from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. We had our motorhome on the field and were welcomed to use all the facilities, bar and restaurant with a great breakfast provided by Miranda. Janey, Tom, Brian and the whole family and staff could not have been nicer and happily chatted with us about their amazing business and the love they all have for it. Now onto the rafting itself! Wow what an adrenaline fuelled few hours. It was fantastic from start to finish and despite one of our party being a little nervous Tom was our guide and was encouraging, funny and professional throughout. At no time did we feel unsafe. The river itself is truly beautiful and it felt like there was no one else around for miles, which there probably wasn’t. If you have any doubts about this experience with this team, don’t, they will look after you throughout. Finally to cap it all as our motor home was unlikely to get back up the steep hill out Brian, who had to be elsewhere just left us the keys to his 4x4 to tow ourselves out. Thoroughly recommended and would love to visit again. thanks to all of you for such great memories.

My husband was at the lodge 20+ years ago and took me there to share the experience. I thought the special treatment was because we knew the owners. However, I quickly realized that everyone receives special attention!!! In the words of "Oly", "the serendipity of kayaking and the shangrala of accommodations". It is a must see for the visitor who wants tranquility, comfort, activity, great food and relaxation!

5 stars is not enough, much more than a rafting experience. It's checking in to a "Family ". Can't signal out a staff member because everyone is so knowledgeable,professional but most of all so friendly you really do appreciate sincere people who obviously love their work. Location beautiful , Accommodation beautiful, people beautiful what more can you ask for? You can ask for the best cooked food of your life and you get it here! Fresh from the land around you harvested then cooked to perfection. We can honestly say our best experience whilst visiting NZ for the last 6 years 3 months at a time , that's a lot of places visited to compare but none as good as River Valley. Visit NZ but don't come without going here!

Great experience. Peaceful environment. Garden room accommodation was lovely. Meals delicious & plentiful. Rafting experience amazing, especially the enthusiasm of the staff. I'm thinking of returning to do the white water experience.