Cherokee Rapids River Tubing — Attraction in Yellowhill Community

Do not take young kids, inexperienced people, or non-swimmers here. It get pretty rough in several spots, with rapids that are not great for newbies to tubing- even with a life jacket on. A ton of tree branches, roots, and rocks to get stuck on. We feared for our safety many times between deep water, getting stuck in trees, and a very strong current. You get no instructions on how to direct yourself, no poles to help get unstuck, or what to do if you get stuck. We weren't asked about swimming ability, only asked if anyone had ever been tubing before. We were told to turn right at the rope swing and a tree had fallen in the river, but thats about it. No check in points or supervision. Once you get off that bus you're on your own. You aren't even given a waiver to read- you just sign your name on a paper before you leave.

I had to hold onto my son's tube so we werent separated because he was so scared through some areas. We ended up getting pulled apart when he got caught in giant tree branches and I got sucked away by the current. Luckily some hikers were able to help us, but not before he was traumatized by the experience.

I regret not researching this place more. Someone picked it out because it was cheap and was told it was like a "lazy river". It absolutely is not. I have never thought I or anyone in my family was going to drown on a lazy river. We didnt make it through the whole course because it got so bad, and, according to the employee that had to pick us up, it happens often. Had I known how rough it was, we would've skipped it.

No wonder this place is so cheap. But hey- at least they have ice cream right there for you to buy after your...

So I really wanted to love this, and maybe with my experience now I would love it if I went again, but this was ROUGH. we were not prepared for how rough the water is and the staff, although nice, do not give you a heads up. First make sure to tether yourselves together or you will lose each other. I attempted to stop and wait for my boyfriend behind me, a rapid flipped me and I lost my tube and shoes. It's impossible to walk down this river, way too rocky and the current is too strong. Luckily my boyfriend helped me down river to where someone had found my tube and set it on the bank. We were stressed the rest of the trip, trying to keep up with each other and not flip our tubes. There are cool slow spots along the way, but it's so hard to get in and out of the tubes that we passed them all up. There are a couple forks in the river and we were not instructed about these so we just had to guess. At the end you're supposed to move towards the left side bank and get out by the parking lot- HOW!? there is nothing to assist you, and the current is still pretty strong there. We just got out at the closest slow/shallow point and walked the rest of the way back. It was really pretty and could have been so fun, but the staff really should give a better explanation of what you're getting into and install a bar or something at the end to help with getting out. I would NOT bring...

I love this tubing place, it’s a fun and enjoyable experience, the first time i went it was raining and the lady driving the bus informed us that if we get too cold we can just hop out of the water onto the sidewalk and she or the other tubing company will pick us up and take us back to our car. so my family along with one other family hopped on the road and waited for about 15 minutes and saw that the bus just drove past us, so we started walking back. we had no way of contacting them because we didn’t think to bring our phones on a river… i left that day with a pretty bad experience but i had come back a month later with my friend, you can tie your tubes together with a life jacket a float down together or separately, the water is a little chilly at first but once you get in it feels very nice, there are a few spots to swim along with a rock you can jump off of and a rope swing that is very fun and for the most part very safe. the cool thing about this company is that if you go once the price is 14 dollars but if you go a second time on the same day the price is now 7 dollars. when you come back after a nice day of tubing you can enjoy some ice cream as they have an ice cream shop there as well. very nice staff and i recommend this...