Depending on the water level, the whitewater on the 7.3-mile stretch can range from nearly Class III rapids to rocky riverbeds that require walking, he said.

WSJ: OUT THERE: Upper Hudson opening to canoeists

As part of my job, I reported alarming inadequacies: in one case high-grade equipment (ASME III, class 1) was operated in nuclear power reactors with no accepted safety file, regardless of a previous accident and a half-dozen failures in achieving acceptable design results.

BBC: Can nuclear power ever be safe?

Below the 68ft-tall Cumberland Falls, about 110 miles south of Lexington in Cumberland Falls State Park, there are simple places to practice white water rafting -- most of the rapids are Class II or Class III, and the rapids are well spaced out.

BBC: Adventure travel in eastern Kentucky