A group of college students accidentally see a local redneck kill his wife's lover. A deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with the students trying to escape the area while the killer sets out to eliminate the witnesses who can tie him to the murder.

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.