Crystal River Outfitters Recreational District — Attraction in Glen Arbor Township

I booked our reservations for 10:00 on a Monday morning. It was a 40-minute drive from Traverse City.

When we arrived, I couldn’t figure out where to park. There was nothing along the main building, so we turned around and found parking across the street down a drive. There were probably 10-15 spots, but it wasn’t busy when we arrived, so we easily found a space.

We walked over to the building to check in. I was immediately impressed. They had a nice store inside, and it was by far the cleanest kayak outfitter I’ve ever seen.

They checked us in quickly since we filled out our waivers online. Then we were told to wait outside by the cones for the next driver. They had several benches to sit on while you waited. There was also a port-a-potty next to the benches, but I opted to use one of the two nice bathrooms on the other side of the road.

We didn’t wait very long before a driver had us load up. The exterior of the vans are very clean, but the interior of our vehicle had definitely seen use, although I still thought it was clean.

When we arrived at the drop-off point, the driver explained there are 3 portage spots. One was just down the river about 10 minutes, and you had to carry your kayak around a small dam. That area was pretty level.

The second portage was across a road, but you could instead just go down one of the round tubes underneath the road. You could only fit through the one to the left side.

The final portage was also across a road, so you have to carry kayak up an embankment, cross the road and drop it in the other side. It wasn’t terribly steep, and the entry point does have steps. At that point, you’ll have another 10-20 minutes before you finish your trip.

The beginning of the river has a lot of trees. We saw several birds and even saw a deer cross the river. It was very pleasant. The second portion of the river is much more open, and you start to see houses. If you haven’t applied sunscreen by this point, I would highly recommend it. You might also want some bug spray for the mosquitoes and biting flies at the very beginning of the trip.

The water is wonderful. I have never kayaked on such clear water. You could see everything, including fish. It was such a pleasant trip.

When we arrived at our final destination, several friendly staff helped us get out of our kayaks. By now, they were much busier, so I wasn’t sure where everyone had parked. It looked like most people had parked down a side street where the parking area exited, but the sign said you couldn’t turn right, which was odd since that seemed to be where most of the cars were.

The total cost for the two of us was just over $100. We estimated we finished the trip in a little over 2 hours, but you could do it much faster than that. If I were to go again, I’d probably pack a lunch and eat somewhere along the river.

I’d highly recommend this location for a n excursion. The staff are friendly, and the location...

Overall I enjoyed the experience and the river was beautiful and refreshing and I would highly recommend this for kayakers who have some experience and basic skills. However, I would NOT recommend this trip for a family full of novice kayakers or for people who have never kayaked before. This was far more challenging than I realized and I wish they would have given us a warning about the challenges and obstacles before we decided to do this. My wife and 12 yo daughter really struggled not having kayaked before and not having great upper body strength.

There were a lot of obstacles to maneuver - branches and trees in the water - and the current was sending us into obstacles many times during the trip. All of us - 3 guys, 1 woman and 1 child, dumped out of the kayaks at least 2 times each. Everytime you dump, the already heavy 40+ lb boat completely fills with water and is probably closer to 60 lbs or more at that point. Imagine having to completely pick that boat up out of the water many times to get the water out - it was super exhausting. My wife lost a shoe when she dumped right at the beginning of the trip - embedded deep in the river mud, it was impossible to recover.

We all felt the kayaks were not very stable and easy to dump out. I wish we would have chosen the open sit on top type models - they were even slightly less expensive - would have been much easier to get back on and go after a dump out. Not sure why the more enclosed sit inside boat style is their most popular but I chose that because it said it was popular - seems like that was not the best choice for my group.

On top of that, there are three portages where you need to drag your heavy awkward kayak across a road and up and down stairs which felt like too much for our inexperienced group. The boats way too heavy/awkward for 1 person to carry alone - so plan on either dragging them across the road - lot's of ppl were doing this - or having another person to help with this. After dealing with all the dump outs and recoveries this felt like way more than I bargained for.

In total it took us 3 hours to complete the trip - much longer than I expected and we were all exhausted and soaking wet. Near the end of the trip my daughter dumped for a 3rd time in one of the worst muddy spots you could find - Thankfully a kind local man helped us out and helped me pick up the boat and get her going again - I was so tired by that point I don't know that I could have made it without his help.

So, in summary, if you know how to kayak and have decent upper body strength and balance, then go for it. If you are planning to bring your family, make sure they have some kayaking experience and know what they are in for. And I would choose the sit on top model kayak, not the boat style they list as most popular on...

Well the river is beautiful. 5 stars for the river. Just know this establishment should remove "outfitters" from their title. We have kayaked many places and many times, big lakes, oceans, successfully. Even blow up kayaks went just fine.We are not experts and know nothing of kayak sizing but that was assigned to us previously at establishments where we have rented.We were excited to go-were put in a van and kayaks were loaded. No one from the check in, to the waiting area, to the driver or the distribution of kayaks looked at my 6"4" former lineman husband and said, "Hey, our standard boat is on the small side and you are on the big side, lets get you a bigger boat". The result was him tipping and dumping his kayak so many times a tendon in his arm snapped-yes he now requires surgery. One person on staff who came to pick him up when he got to a area near a road where he could leave was kind and helpful, said he should of been given a bigger boat. Upon drop off back at the shop I saw to the side where it looked like they had bigger boats.I abandoned my excursion along with my husband. I went into the office and was told its not their job to tell someone they are overweight and need a bigger boat. WHAT? You are outfitters, would you ignore a child and put them in a regular boat? I asked for a refund and was not given one even though we left most of the trip on the table. It was the complete rudeness and lack of compassion or care that my husband was injured that blew my mind. Upon confirmation that he was in fact dealing with this level of injury I called them back. The same snarky young gal answered the phone.After saying my husbands size again was his problem, she also explained their staff is mostly young people who can't be expected to notice more than loading the standard small boats. I am like, OUTFITTERS? Yes, she refunded his trip . Too funny that because I chose to leave with my husband to assist him she could not refund mine. Of course you sign a waiver and in life anything can happen. I typically would not complain about much of anything.I am really easy going.Generally I only do positive reviews.But this was so avoidable had they put him in the right boat. Also an ounce of compassion and kindness, maybe a bottle of water for a dehydrated, injured man. The river is beautiful. We would of loved to enjoy it.You can bring your own vessel, many of those people mentioned how tippy the yellow boats are. I don't know if there is another company who drops off. Just know they don't see properly sizing you to a boat as their job, regardless of the shingle they...