In an earlier paper I discussed the major findings of a recent research study into participants' experiences of rivers through outdoor education programs that utilised paddling activities as a means of participation and travel (Wattchow, 2007). I concluded that recollections of their river experiences were dominated by the technical requirements of the activity and the cultural expectations for encountering a universalised wild river, and that such responses were problematic for the development of place-responsiveness. This paper presents and discusses additional findings of the research that suggest greater possibilities for a place-based approach to the encounter of rivers through outdoor education paddling programs. Most participants in the research responded favourably, in terms of place, to calm sections of rivers where they felt little threat to their physical well-being. Participants' responses to these encounters continued to suggest a complex mix of cultural ideas from the Romantic wild river (as discussed in the earlier paper) to include the ideal of nature as a refuge from civilisation. However, there were also participant statements that were interpreted as indicative of an intimate, sensory and an embodied response to the river place itself. I conclude the paper by presenting a series of suggestions for a river-place responsive pedagogy in outdoor education.