Cave Country Canoes — Hotel in Milltown

Campground was average. Loud bar right over the hill until late and unlevel spot. Float trip was fine. Some staff were friendly others not so much. Not on my return trip list.

EDITED TO ADD: After such an unprofessional response full of inaccuracies by the Owner, I (Jon's wife), feel a need to respond with facts for the record. Yes, we were running late for the 10:15 trip, but nowhere near "almost missing the 11 am trip" as you falsely claim. We should have arrived at 10 per your instructions, but arrived at 10:10. We aren't typically late and yes, were stressed because of it. Because of that anxiety we constantly checked our clocks, which is how I know the times I am quoting here are 100% accurate. When the gentleman came to help us unload our kayaks from our truck, we told him we had no problem changing to the 11 trip so we would not hold anyone up. He said it was fine since we were packed and ready and only needed to get our kayaks loaded (paperwork was completed). I know we said "Thank you" repeatedly. While they were loading our kayaks, we did tell everyone on the bus we were sorry for delaying things and that we had been willing to switch to the 11 am trip. This was when another group (of 6) told us it was no problem and that they were actually booked for the 11 am trip, but your company allowed them on the 10:15 trip because they arrived early. Even with our mishap of losing one of our life jackets somewhere between the campground and the ck-in building, the bus we got on left at 10:20. I know this because I specifically checked and said out loud on the bus, "Okay, so in the end we just put it behind 5 minutes." If 5 minutes was really such an issue that you needed to mention it and overly exaggerate it in your reply to Jon's review, then you should have swapped our party of two for the 11 am trip group. The life jacket was never even mentioned in Jon's initial review. While we were frustrated at losing it, our opinions of the campground were formed before that occurred. You were never asked to accuse anyone, but when your employee said they noticed one matching our description lying on a picnic table (while we were on the river), it would not have been difficult for someone to just politely ask those campers if it belonged to them or not. Regardless, whoever took the life jacket in the end is the one in the wrong, not your company, which is why Jon never mentioned it in his review. AND, we did say thank you for the loaner PDF and returned it in the same condition we borrowed it. My husband is a veteran of the USMC and as such, we greatly appreciate the American Legion. While it may have been bingo night, someone was also having outdoor karaoke night (IDK if this was the American Legion or not). It was loud and went past 11 pm. I know other campers were disturbed as well. It is not a personal insult to OUR beloved American Legion - as you implied - or even an insult to your campground. It is simply a fact that a future camper might wish to be aware of if they are looking to stay at your property on a Saturday evening. We chose a spot at the campsite and specifically asked you if it was flat. You said yes. We absolutely could have come to you when we found you were incorrect; however, the fact remains that you were not accurate in that regard. Again, another fact a future camper might wish to be aware of if staying on site 12A. You should update that customer service training to show your response to this review. Then you can teach your employees how NOT to be sarcastically passive-aggressive. I hoped it was just that we caught you on a bad day, but it seems like this is pretty standard behavior to any reviews you have an issue with. It is simply unprofessional...

We always love our river experience with Cave Country. They are patient and flexible, especially when you are coming from out of town and late...on more than one trip. (That's me...lol). The staff is very helpful and kind. You can rent their kayaks/equipment or for a cheaper rate, you can bring your own and they haul you up river. They have canoes for 2 or more but I would recommend a medium river level for those. They only have single kayaks, so if you are bringing kids, they need to be strong enough to man their own, share a canoe instead of kayak, or you can get a youth size kayak for about $100 from Walmart, which is what we did for our 10 year old. It was easier for him to maneuver. Though, some 10 year olds may be able to man a regular one too. I still had to haul his tethered to mine, so bring Paracord, a dog leash haha, bungies. They also allow pups on the river, so that was a lot of fun for us! For first time kayakers: check the river levels. This determines how fast or slow your trip will be. They can estimate (2-4 hrs) the time but it highly depends on low/hi levels. Low, means a calmer, very slow, more physical work to get from one end to the other (I learned this the hard way). Expect 4-6 hours with kids and pets and stops, and maybe longer on low level days. Higher levels mean quicker, but also a bit more control needed to move over certain areas. The river itself is pretty low level for the first half of the trip. You can see/touch the bottom. The last half there is deeper water, but also areas to swim and jump in! There are plenty of areas to bank and explore and rest throughout your trip, so don't feel too rushed! Bring lots of water, snacks, a cooler, music, whatever makes you happy and help you along for 6 hours! Be patient, pace yourself, check water levels, have fun! It's nice to have a place to park, get shuttled, and end up right back at your car! Plus, it makes me feel safer because there are other kayakers, and you have a staff that knows you are on the river and look for...

This was my second visit to Cave Country Canoes, and it was even more fun than the first! We did the 14 mile stretch which, with stopping a few times, took us roughly 6 hours. The water was a bit low so I had to get out a few times when our canoe got caught (which is how I found the cutie turtle! Don’t worry, he went right back in after the photo). The low water didn’t bother me, I found it exciting, and the workers said they would have closed if the water was any lower. Even though the place was super busy as we signed in and got geared up to go (they provide life jackets and the boats and paddles, and they sell pretty much anything you could need for your trip at the main building), we didn’t see too many people on the water, and saw lots of baby ducks and even a doe and her baby! They sell ice cream too, which was a well-deserved treat when we finished.

My only complaint is that we did not notice a single marking on the route, and no one told us where it would end. None of us thought much of it because we thought we would see markings. When we stopped and got some cell service we discovered it ended right after the only bridge we would pass but even then nothing was marked and we weren’t even sure if we were at the right place until we walked up a hill and saw people who were workers, who brought our canoes up for us to the bus waiting area. It would be nice to have a couple markings and to be told what to expect from the multiple people we interacted with before launching our canoe. Other kayakers asked us if we knew where it ended as well. My last visit was in 2017 and I remember there being some markings that must have been removed or washed away from weather. I also don’t remember making it all the way to that bridge our first time…I think it would be nice to have markers that told you how far from the end you were (we hadn’t a clue on the entire journey when we were halfway or close to the end to make it to our estimated...