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Old-fashioned river tubing charms tourists
(AP) -- For some old-fashioned fun -- updated with the latest amenities, of course -- follow the crowd of "toobers" down to the river this summer.
Of course, float tubing can still be enjoyed by anyone with an old inner tube at a favorite swimming hole. But river concessions around the country now offer equipment, shuttle service, changing rooms and more, looking to bring families out for a day on some of the most scenic rivers.
Popular put-in points include the Kennebec River in Maine, the Delaware in New Jersey, the Chattahoochee in Georgia, the Guadalupe and Comal in Texas, and the Salt in Arizona.
"We keep close to each other, tie ourselves to each other and we have a ball," says Karen Prieto of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, who has been taking float trips on the Delaware River since she was a teenager.
Last year, she and her husband, Mike, took their sons Michael, 6, and T.J., 3, on a float. The children wore flotation vests and were issued their own tubes.
"We brought a tube for T.J. with a bottom in it so he couldn't fall through," Prieto says.
Most popular tubing rivers offer lazy, gentle currents that require little if any athletic ability.
"The first time I floated the river, I tried paddling with my arms, which was a big mistake," says Tim Watson, 34, a Southampton, Pennsylvania, construction estimator and self-proclaimed tubing bum on the Delaware. "I finally realized you should not be in any hurry to go anywhere. It is the slow and easy ride that makes it such a nice adventure."
Concession operators advise beginners about any stretches of water better suited for more experienced tubers. An example is the Middle River trip offered by Bullfrog Adventures on the Kennebec River in Newburgh, Maine. Operators say the 8-mile section requires upper-body strength to maneuver through the rapids.
Tubers (or "toobers") are advised to travel light: Bathing suits and T-shirts are in, and an old pair of tennis shoes is advisable to protect against rocks and rough river bottoms.
Styrofoam coolers or glass containers are verboten, but a plastic thermos you can tie to the tube is handy for storing things like cell phones, money and suntan lotion. Check all keys with concession operators. And attach prescription glasses with a headband, neckband or float bobber.
Below, three examples of family-friendly tubing rivers:
Floating picnic
A 45-minute drive from Philadelphia and a little over an hour's drive from New York City, Delaware River Tubing operates a float that winds through scenic wooded hills and cliff faces, offering occasional sightings of osprey and bald eagles.
On the day-long, seven-mile float near Frenchtown, New Jersey, tubers can stop for lunch served by Greg Crance, the River Hot Dog Man, who runs the tubing company.
Crance's floating hot dog stand, which dates back to 1987, was such a success that he bought out the tubing operation five years ago and now hosts as many as 2,000 float tubers on summer weekends. As part of the admission price, you can have the hot dogs or a barbecue meal at a floating picnic table.
Crance, who also offers a five-mile option, says tubers can socialize or find solitude.
"On the busiest day you can join the crowd or stop on an island and feel like you are alone in the world," he says.
Hawaii plantation
At Mountain Tubing in Kauai, groups of tubers travel together from a parking area to the put-in point in a Swiss Army vehicle called a Pinzgauer. The journey takes them into the heart of a privately owned 17,000-acre sugar plantation.
After donning helmets and headlamps, they float about 1.5 miles down an old irrigation system built in the 1870s that winds through hand-dug tunnels and over verdant fields and forest, ending at a swimming hole.
"When they go in the tunnels, everyone turns their lights on and of course they are moving their heads around so all the lights are dancing on the stones," says Mountain Tubing spokeswoman Roxanne MacDougal.
Texas toobing
At Canyon Lake, Texas, tubers at Mike Martz's River Sports Tube Rentals spend three to eight hours floating a 2.5-mile stretch of the Guadalupe River, flowing around a scenic horseshoe bend.
Floating the Guadalupe is a big late spring and summer magnet in the Texas Hill Country, and Martz's is one of nine float tube concessions. The chamber of commerce in nearby New Braunfels celebrates the sport with a poster parodying Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painting, showing the famous farm couple wearing inner tubes.
In past years, an influx of college students and spring breakers from Austin and San Antonio created crowds and occasional rowdiness, drawing complaints from property owners and local officials. But that's changed, Martz says: A new $1 river access fee for tubers helps pay the 35 deputy sheriffs who patrol the banks during popular periods.
"They have tamed it down so families can enjoy it," Martz says. "You can have all the fun you want, just don't get crazy." |
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