Smoky Mountain River Rat Tubing Outpost B — Attraction in Gatlinburg

My daughter and grandkids came for a visit and we couldn’t wait to take them tubing- we’d never been, and it was their first time visiting this part of Tennessee and visiting us since we moved here about 3 years ago. We’ve been raving about Southern Hospitality especially to our “citified” daughter. Sadly she didn’t get a very good dose of it on this adventure. It seems the outfit is short staffed and probably 50% of the employees that we encountered seemed miserable at their jobs and just “over it”. The other 50% were friendly and did their best to carry the positive impression for customer service. I understand tourism can be tiresome and dealing with people in general can get exhausting; but in any service industry I really hope for AT LEAST a smile, or some indication of effort towards leaving guests feeling happy and that their money was well spent. Unfortunately some of the staff we encountered really couldn’t be bothered to do that.

Now for the good news: we had a blast anyway. The weather was amazing, the tubing experience itself was really wonderful and we will definitely take people to do it again. The shuttle service is great (but would be even better if the drivers at least pretended to be happy) and River Rat definitely has a good system in place for getting people to and from the entry and exit points on the river. Yes we got stuck a couple times, yes our butts hit rocks a couple times, but we and the kids had so much fun. The day passed much too quickly! I still highly recommend this experience and River Rat, just be prepared for potentially unhappy “kids” (young adults) working there.

I hope the staffing issues can be resolved and a little customer service training can be given so that the next time I do this I can make it a five...

We were so excited to come tubing at this location. We have been moving at many other rivers and it was so much fun. The only thing was we got there and they told us that since it hasn’t rained in a few weeks the water was slow and you might have to walk a little. So we went on the faster river. It was supposed to be faster and an hour and a half long. We went to the river got on from the minute. We went. We had a walk like the whole way kept having to get out of our tube and walk on the rocks. I definitely suggest wearing water shoes and if you have any back problems or don’t like swimming or walking the whole time, I do not suggest you doing this. They should’ve let us know that there was a drought and it was going to be extremely slow and you were going to have to walk through most of it. We ended up having to get off not even five minutes into it and have them come and pick us up. It was such a waste of time and we could’ve done a different activity. So make sure you call before you go and ask how the river is because if it doesn’t rain, then it will not be going fast at all. You’ll be sitting in the same spot going into the woods and trees and it will be miserable. And they tell you that you can bring drinks or anything on the river only water. But everyone else had coolers and speakers that they hooked up to their tubes. It looked much cooler who wants to sit for three hours and not...

Cloudy with some rain today. Still loads of fun. Good parking, well organized, simple to do. We were starting at outpost B and got turned around and went to A first. Not a big deal after we discovered our mistake. They provide the river tube and life jacket. B was about a 30 minute float today. Water was slightly elevated. It is slippery going down the bank where you start B. Wear water shoes or sandals. No tethering of tubes is allowed on B. Steering a tube is like pushing a flat bed cart at Lowe’s, not very good but we got better as we floated along. Stay in the faster moving water. Eddies along the shoreline are slow to hand paddle out of. Post A was next, about a 1 mile drive in your car. Don't forget a towel. Most people did A. Tethering is allowed on A. It’s impossible to stay together or even close without tethering.Took us about 1 hour to finish A.There are a few places to stop along the shoreline if you want to hang out and swim. Small lockers are available. They will tag and keep your car keys. Very efficient system. Your wrist ban gives you access to float multiple times if you want. We did A and B one time. Plenty for me. Im 73. We started at 11 and left around 2. Some food is available at both outposts. Most people seemed to tailgate or eat off site. I definitely would do it again.You save $5 a person signing up on line and esigning the waiver. Hope you have as much...