Mother-of-two Susan Bennett, from Appleby, was with three friends when her two-man canoe capsized on the River Eden near Penrith on Friday.
The canoe became trapped around a rock near Armathwaite, and she was under the water for 15 minutes before the emergency services could get to her.
She was flown to Cumberland Infirmary where staff worked on her for several hours but were unable to revive her.
The rescue was also hampered by poor mobile phone reception and one of Ms Bennett's friends had to run up to a road to tell a passer-by to call for help.
Calmer stretches
A spokesman for Cumbria Police said: "The casualty team worked on her for quite a few hours before she was announced dead."
Ms Bennett owned the canoe, and no-one else was in it at the time of the accident.
The river is classed as between two and three on the International Grading System for rapids, with six being the most dangerous.
The police spokesman added: "It is a series of rapids with calmer stretches in-between, but it is certainly not big white water rapids."
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