Sanford brought wife Jenny and the couple's four sons to the Chattooga River just above the Bull Sluice rapid used in the film "Deliverance."

KENDRA WAYCUILIS/AP Gov. Mark Sanford and three of his sons make their way through the Bull Sluice rapid of the Chattooga River on Saturday in Anderson. The trip was part of the governor's campaign to encourage South Carolina residents to be more active.

The Chattooga was designated a wild and scenic river by Congress in 1974.

"You couldn't pick a prettier part of South Carolina," Sanford said, "and it's a great place to highlight the bigger theme we're trying to get out."

For the past two years, Sanford has urged people in South Carolina to spend more time outdoors or to take part in some physical activity.

The Republican governor has tried to back his words with actions. Sanford biked across the state in 2004, and earlier this month he toured Sumter County's Sparkleberry Swamp in a kayak.

Overcast skies and morning fog got the group off to a late start. Once conditions improved, the convoy of five boats and 25 people took off on their adventure.

And Sanford's no novice to the Chattooga. He says he worked as a river guide while in college on the same part of the Chattooga he and three of his four sons toured on Saturday.

The youngest Sanford boy, 6-year-old Blake, sat on the riverbank with his mother. Blake wanted to be in the boat with his father and brothers, Jenny Sanford said, and "may never get over it."

Still, Blake cheered with his mom as Sanford maneuvered his raft between huge boulders and rushing white water to safely reach the shoreline.

Several onlookers lounged on the rocks and riverbanks watching Sanford's party. At least one woman came out to make a point to the governor.

Susie Cornelius held up a homemade sign with the letters "CPW" on it as Sanford passed.

"We're here in protest of the governor's passage of the bill to dissolve the Westminster Commission of Public Works because he signed it over the objections of the public," Cornelius said.

Cornelius lives in a rural part of Oconee County. She said she worried about how future growth would impact that northern area once Westminster City Council takes over the commission's duties in July.