Every river, live on one map.
River Runner reads live whitewater flow from the national river model at the run itself — not a mislinked gauge miles away — and turns it into an objective paddler's conditions score. Then it records your day on the water. Flows for the wise, from the team behind Snoflo.
World-class river data. Tied to the wrong gauge.
NOAA's National Water Model estimates flow on every river reach in the country, and USGS floats real gauges to check it. That data is public and free — but paddling apps hang a run's number on whatever gauge is nearest, which is often a different creek entirely.
River Runner does it differently. It reads the modeled flow at the run's own reach, so the CFS you see is the water you'll actually paddle, and turns it into a single objective 0–100 conditions score you can read in seconds — no account, no sign-up. Then it does the thing forecast apps don't: it records your session with a live GPS trail and saves the river's conditions to every run, so your paddling life has a logbook.
The free map is genuinely useful on its own. Pro is for the people who want the whole thing, and it ships from the same data backbone that powers Snoflo on the web.
What a gauge table won't do
Each of these is a capability, not a feature. Other apps show you a gauge; River Runner scores the run, maps the river, and logs your day.
Reach-accurate conditions score
Every run gets a live 0–100 score and a Poor-to-Prime band, computed from the flow at its own river reach versus the runnable range, with water temperature, trend, and weather in the mix and the plain-English drivers behind it. The same engine that powers the Snoflo web report.
The right waterSession recording with conditions saved
Hit record and River Runner traces your run with a live GPS trail, then logs distance, moving time, and top speed — and stamps the river's CFS, gage height, and velocity onto the session, so your logbook remembers the water, not just the route.
First to marketEvery river, live
A nationwide streamflow heatmap colored by discharge, with each run drawn on top as an animated line. Tap any run for real-time CFS, velocity, gage height, runnable range, gradient, length, class, and the hourly forecast.
Category definingAt-the-water reports
Condition reports can only be posted from the riverbank: clear, muddy, pushy, woody, crowded — from paddlers actually there, stamped with the weather at that moment. Anonymous, and gone from the map after 24 hours.
Verified, not guessedEverything River Runner does
Live flow map
A nationwide streamflow heatmap colored by discharge, with every whitewater run drawn on top as an animated line.
Reach CFS & velocity
Tap a run for the flow read at its own river reach: real-time CFS, water velocity, and gage height — not a mislinked gauge.
Conditions score
An objective 0–100 rating and Poor-to-Prime band for every run, with the runnable range, gradient, length, class, and drivers.
Session recording
GPS tracking that logs distance, moving time, and top speed, and saves the river's CFS, gage height, and velocity to every run.
Flow alerts
Get pinged when a saved run comes into the runnable range, hits “good,” or crosses a CFS window you set. One alert per run per day.
Favorites & forecast
A “what's running today” board of your runs sorted best-first, plus an hourly temperature, rain, and wind meteogram per run.
From the water model to your logbook
Water model
NOAA's National Water Model, rendered into a tap-anywhere streamflow field on every river reach in the country.
USGS gauges
Real USGS gauge observations drawn on top as ground truth for gage height and daily trend.
Conditions score
A transparent 0–100 score per run from the reach flow versus its runnable range, with the drivers spelled out.
Your session
Hit record and River Runner traces your run and saves the conditions into a private logbook.
Free to start. Pro when you're hooked.
The flow map, tap-anywhere CFS, conditions score, and reports are free for everyone. River Runner Pro removes the limits and unlocks the pro layers.
- Nationwide flow map and every run
- Tap-anywhere CFS, velocity, and conditions score
- Runnable range, gradient, length, class, weather
- At-the-water reports and logbook
- Up to 3 saved runs, 3 alerts, 3 sessions
- Unlimited saved runs, alerts, and sessions
- Premium map overlays
- “What's running today” favorites board
- Everything in Free
- No ads, no accounts, ever
First laps to Class V
The same map answers a beginner checking if a run is in, a roadtripper comparing rivers, and a boater logging every day on the water.
Everyday paddlers
- Is it in? One glance, one score.
- Save your home runs and get a flow alert.
- Reach-accurate CFS, not a marketing forecast.
Roadtrippers & chasers
- Every river on one map, find runs anywhere.
- Compare runs by an objective score, not hype.
- See what's running today, sorted best-first.
Loggers & improvers
- GPS stats for every session.
- A heatmap of everywhere you've paddled.
- The river's conditions saved with each run.
Built on public data, done right
River Runner self-hosts a flow pipeline that harvests federal feeds, bakes tiles, and serves them so the next map load stays cheap — the same backbone that powers Snoflo on the web.
Real humans, usually within a day
Questions, ideas, or trouble? Email info@snoflo.org. Deeper river conditions, flows, and reports live at snoflo.org. To manage or cancel River Runner Pro, open the App Store, tap your account, then Subscriptions.
Terms of Service
- Informational use only. River Runner presents hydrologic and environmental information (modeled streamflow, gauge observations, water velocity, an estimated conditions score, weather, and user-submitted observations) for general informational and recreational-planning purposes only. It is NOT a navigation aid, safety device, official forecast, warning service, or emergency information source, and it is not professional or safety advice. Do not use River Runner to make navigation or safety decisions. For official river forecasts, flood warnings, and gauge data, consult the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Weather Service, and NOAA products.
- Model output and scores are estimates, not measurements. The flow map, tap-anywhere readouts, CFS and velocity values, and the 0–100 conditions score are derived from a numerical model (NOAA's National Water Model) and gauge readings, presented at reach resolution. They routinely differ from actual conditions, often substantially, and do not capture local hazards such as strainers, wood, undercuts, hydraulics, rapids character, cold water, or bathymetry. Actual flow, level, and difficulty on any river reach can be significantly higher or more dangerous than shown, and change rapidly with rain, snowmelt, and dam releases.
- Data is provisional and third-party. Gauge readings and related data originate from third-party sources, including the U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA, and other public feeds, and are subject to revision, delay, gaps, sensor error, and outages. Community reports are subjective observations by anonymous users, not verified facts. Snoflo does not originate, verify the accuracy of, or warrant any of this data, and values shown in River Runner may differ from official records.
- Whitewater is dangerous. Use at your own risk. Rivers change rapidly and without warning; flow, cold water, strainers, sieves, hydraulics, and remote terrain can cause serious injury or death. You are solely responsible for your own safety and for independently verifying conditions, scouting, carrying appropriate gear and training, and paddling within your ability, before kayaking, rafting, canoeing, swimming, fishing, boating, or otherwise entering or approaching any body of water. You assume all risk arising from river- and water-related activities and from any reliance on the app's content.
- Subscriptions. River Runner is free to download. River Runner Pro is an auto-renewable subscription ($3.99/month or $24.99/year in USD; prices may vary by region and are shown in-app before purchase). Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. You manage and cancel subscriptions in your Apple Account settings. There is no free trial. Purchases and refunds are handled by Apple under the App Store terms; we do not process payments or receive your payment details.
- No warranty. River Runner is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, availability, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app or its data will be uninterrupted, timely, current, or error-free.
- Limitation of liability. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Snoflo.org LLC, its members, officers, and suppliers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for personal injury, death, property damage, or economic loss, arising from or related to the app or reliance on its content. Our total aggregate liability for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those jurisdictions our liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted.
- Community reports. By submitting a report you grant Snoflo a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to display and distribute it in anonymous form. You agree to submit only truthful observations from your actual location. We may remove any report and may restrict submissions from any installation at our sole discretion.
- Acceptable use. You may not misuse the app, including submitting false reports, probing or disrupting our services, scraping data at scale, or reverse-engineering the app except as permitted by law.
- Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold Snoflo harmless from claims arising out of your use of the app, your violation of these terms, or your river- and water-related activities.
- Changes. We may update the app, these terms, or discontinue features at any time. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.
- Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of the state in which Snoflo.org LLC is organized, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.
Privacy Policy
- No accounts, no tracking. River Runner has no user accounts, no advertising, and no cross-app or cross-site tracking. We do not sell or share personal data with third parties for marketing.
- Location. Your location is used on your device to center the map and show nearby runs and gauges. When you submit a report, your coordinates are sent once, over an encrypted connection, solely to verify you are on the river and to record the weather and flow conditions at that moment; your exact coordinates are then discarded and never stored, and the published report contains only a general area.
- Session recording and background location. When you tap Record to log a paddle, River Runner uses your location, including in the background as shown by the system location indicator, to trace your run — but only while a recording is active. You start and stop every recording yourself. A saved session's GPS track and stats are stored under your anonymous install ID so your own logbook is available to you; they are not shown to anyone else and carry no identity. You can delete any session at any time.
- Anonymous install ID. The app generates a random identifier on first launch, stored only on your device, and sends it with reports and sessions for rate-limiting and to let you manage your own content. It is not linked to your name, email, or any account, and we make no attempt to associate it with your identity.
- Reports. Published reports contain a general area, the condition words you chose, a timestamp, the reach flow, and the weather at submission time. They are shown publicly and anonymously for 24 hours on the live map. You can delete your own reports from your in-app logbook at any time.
- Payments. River Runner Pro is billed by Apple. We never receive your name, card, or payment details, only Apple's confirmation that a subscription entitlement is active. We store no payment information.
- Email (optional). If you choose to sign up for updates, we store the email address you provide and use it only to send occasional product news. Unsubscribe anytime; write to info@snoflo.org to have your address removed.
- Feedback (optional). In-app feedback is transmitted with your install ID so we can investigate issues; it contains no identity information unless you include it yourself.
- Service providers. Map tiles are served by Mapbox, whose servers receive standard network request data (such as IP address) needed to deliver tiles; the Mapbox SDK may collect limited usage telemetry as described in Mapbox's privacy policy. Weather context is retrieved from a public weather provider using approximate coordinates. Streamflow, gauge, and flood-alert data are retrieved from public NOAA and USGS services. None of these receive your identity from us.
- Retention. Reports and sessions persist in our database in anonymous, install-ID-keyed form to support your logbook and historical condition views. Signup emails are kept until you unsubscribe. Server logs are retained briefly for security and debugging.
- Children. River Runner is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
- Contact. Privacy questions: info@snoflo.org.