The people working at this place were so extremely rude it ruined our trip. This place is also non compliant to COVID-19 standards and really should be shut down. First, don't post signs that masks are required in the transport vans and then not enforce it. It's the only reason we felt that it would be okay for our family to ride in a van with strangers during a pandemic. We were first to get in the van and then a bunch of 20 somethings were allowed in the van with no masks. When we asked to get off and wait for the next van, we received a snarky response and refusal for us to wait for the next van. We were told to take our personal car and that a van would take us back to our car at the end of the trip. So we agreed. We followed the van with our raft to the drop off site. Our seven person raft was given to a party of 3 and we received a raft too small to fit all of our party. When brought to the attention of the van driver/also unloading the rafts, he said we needed to "beef" that out amongst ourselves. The raft wouldn't fit our party and we were left trying explain to another patron that they had our raft, in which they had no interest in switching. If it wasn't for the nice family behind us who felt so bad about our situation willing to squeeze onto the raft we were left with because they had fewer people, we would have drove back and asked for a refund.....which is what we should have done because at the end of the trip we were left stranded with no ride back to my car. The worker at the end of the trip couldn't even keep his sanity together and when asked about our ride he started shouting and saying it wasn't in his job description to make sure people were taken care of or any type of customer service. Clearly, he was also not happy with this company. We had to ask for the supervisor to come. It was a horrible, unsafe experience. Never in my life have I been treated so rudely. read more

So I don't know where to start. We call to see if there is double tubes. The lady says there are. There aren't. There should be someone to help you in the beginning, because we almost lost our four year old while we were getting situated. One of us almost drowned trying to get him, and another family had to help us. Then, we lost half our 4 person group for about half of our ride. They don't give any warning about the current, so when I get up to help someone, I lose my shoe and almost drown. Then, at the end someone should help us because one of us almost went too far. We had to hold onto each others tube. There are no mike markers and they didn't tell us where to stop, another family told us. Everyone should be forced to where life jackets . You need one . I can't describe how horrible it was. If you're looking for a death defying experience, this is it! read more

Worst experience ever! The staff left me sitting at the park for over an hour! They hollered walked away and called me a liar because I guess I was supposed to park in car parking when I have a trailer and parked in boat parking. NEVER AGAIN! I would NEVER recommend this place! read more

WE LOVE THIS PLACE!!! This is always a great time! So many negative reviews for no reason. If you aren't used to a river that is in the outdoors then be prepared for trees (the things that grow from the earth and have green leafy things) or logs (what a tree or branch is called when it naturally falls off) it's so fun and yes you can get wet, yes you can run into logs and trees (explained above). Yes you may have to paddle. But when you get the hang of it and understand that you probably won't die then it is so fun! I have been on the raft tons of times and the individual tubes a few times and I always have so much fun! 100% recommend this place to anyone and everyone! The staff is friendly! The owners are amazing and fun! Love love love this place! read more

My family and I went on the 2 hour rafting trip on the river and it was a blast! We had never gone rafting before so we didn't know what to expect. They told us that the water was choppy that day, to duck if we go under tree branches, and to steer more than paddle. It was like an obstacle course, and a great lesson in teamwork! We had a lot of laughs, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and wildlife. We took the raft because it has a lower tipping rate than kayaks and canoes. If it was hotter out, we probably would have taken the tubes out. Our only regret was not taking the 3 hour trip instead of the 2 hour trip. Time flew by! It definitely was not a lazy trip down the river. read more

Enjoyed the winter raft tour. Theresa and Chris were awesome, super friendly and knowledgeable. The views on the river were gorgeous with the winter snow and ice. We saw lots of deer, turkey and a bald eagle. The shop was also very convenient to pick up snacks, souvenirs and even dry bags to keep belongings on the river. read more

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We went up there for a full day and spent a couple hours there, it was a blast. The kayaking was so fun. Great customer serivce, everyone was nice and helpful. they are doing a great job at keeping the place clean. Not sure what other negative reviews are about, we will go there again and plan to go there next year for sure. read more

Amazing experience here. We did the rope and the two person kayak so 2 hours. So much fun, everything was clean and great customer service. Will come back here next season for sure! read more

Me and my dad did a tubing trip and we had a blast! The cooler tubes are a great idea and help you keep some cool drinks with you while on the trip. The staff were very nice and knowledgeable of the river and everything you should know for your trip. The deluxe tubes are a great addition (we used those) and they were very comfortable. We will be visiting again very soon! read more

We went on an ATV and it was amazing!!! The trails were nice with a lot of hills, sharp turns, and mud to run through. Our guide was Brandon he prepared us well for our trip. My husband even locked his keys in the truck and Brandon helped us get the truck unlocked. We went back a couple days later to kayak down the Indiana river. That was also amazing. Highly recommend going to Big Bear!!! read more

I had a great time on my river Trip with Big Bear! The faculty was super nice and knowledgeable and helped everyone in our group! I would highly recommend them for river trips in Northern Michigan for families and groups of all ages. It's a family owned and operated business and their number 1 priority was the safety of my family! read more

*for more than 30 years we have been providing god awful experience for people of all age*

Went to big bear for the second time in a month.. first time did a raft w my hubby and two young kids so much fun (have to watch for hanging branches but that's all apart of a NATURAL adventure) Today me and my hubby did the cat - we knew we were going to get a bit wet which was ok because it was gorgeous out. Front desk was very informative on how the river was and safety precautions to take .. very personable friendly and made me feel very comfortable! Even gave me tips for my hiking adventures in Petoskey tomorrow. We are so lucky to have a place like this (I'm from soo Canada so it is about an hour and half). I feel people will take the time to complain but Not give a good review .: so don't listen to the bad. And if you are a never ever or beginner and you are advised to do the shorter duration. .. listen !! Zero complaints - listen to advice the workers give !!!! I will be back numerous times and tell everyone about it! From Alisha and frank in Canada :) read more

Big Bear was very unorganized, we had reservations and believe me you wait just as long as everyone else! After we were done tubing, just trying to get off at the finish was nearly impossible, deep water and lots of big rocks! Then we were told we had to carry our tubes all the way back to Big Bear, quite a walk and a very busy road! We wont be back! read more

Had a great experience here. Friendly helpful staff and lots of fun activities. We did the long tube trip and it was pretty scenery and lots of fun. Not a lazy river by any means - some paddling and avoiding branches, logs, etc. - but beautiful scenery and refreshing water. They also do rafting trips and there is putt putt and a ropes course. Very reasonable prices too. If you're up for an adventure I'd highly recommend this place. read more

The owner Scott is a real piece of work. Extremely rude and demeaning to his employees. And right in front of groups. Terribly run. And I assume he is just a jerk in general. And speaking to his employees this was confirmed. Scott, you're the worst. We also had to wait an extremely long time. So poorly run. read more

Great place for team building activities! We did both the team rafting trip as well as mini golf, and plan to make this a tradition each year. The team enjoyed it, and it was well worth it. They take great care of you and make everything easy. Affordable and enjoyable time for sure. Thank you! read more

Dangerous and stressful! This is an unguided raft trip down a fast moving river with a strong current. In the two hour trip we had to paddle so hard to maneuver downed trees and log jams that there wasn't even enough time to put the paddle down long enough to snap a picture. Multiple times we were pinned into log jams as the force of the water made it difficult to get free. We also had several dangerous situations getting hung up in downed trees getting jabbed, cut and scratched by branches as we worked to free ourselves. This was not an enjoyable trip. I do not recommend unless you are and experienced rafter. I would never take small children on this trip. read more

I came here with some old friends and we had a fantastic time taking out a 5 man raft. Our river trip was the perfect activity for our last day while visiting Petoskey. The Staff was very nice and our amazing Driver, Nick, had a very informative and funny speech. Will have to come again whenever I visit next! read more

Unorganized and rude when it comes to larger groups. Waited for almost 2 hours after paying to get out on the river. The river was really fast and is full of branches, pretty dangerous. Saw a ton of people struggling, along with our group. Definitely not relaxing and glad I made it out alive! read more

We took a tubing trip with Big Bear Adventures and had a blast. The river moves quickly but we didn't come across anything we couldn't navigate with a beer in one hand. The staff was pleasant and we didn't even need a reservation. We've used other companies on this river and found the experience to be about the same at each place. read more

Shameful. I had saved for a trip to Zoo De Mac with my wife. I had a $30 bus ride booked with Big Bear for a half-full bus. I had a death in the immediate family. All the hotels gave me my refund and offered condolences. Gary & Patti at Big Bear asked to mail a copy of the program from the funeral! After I did so, the only issued a partila refund a month later. Shameful. Plenty of places to go up North - stay away from these guys. read more

Our family of six (4 teens) took a 2 hour raft adventure and had a great time! The staff were super friendly, especially Jeff, and even though it was very busy, we didn't have to wait long to get in the water. Would love it if larger parties could do the longer 3-4 hour trip...we felt like it went by so fast! read more

I went tubing with my 6 year old and it was incredibly stressful and scary. After completing the 1.5 hour trip, I am shocked they allow anyone - let alone small children - to tube on this river. I had to hold onto my son's tube the entire time due to the fallen down trees, strong currents, large rocks, and big logs we encountered throughout the course. We got stuck several times by currents that pulled us into fallen down trees. There is NO way a small child could navigate this river safely by themselves. My son cried almost the entire time out of fear - to be honest, I was really scared too and I'm in my late 30s! It is incredibly irresponsible of Big Bear and the city of Indian River to allow anyone to tube on this river. We were told by the driver as he was dropping us off at our entry point that the Sturgeon River is a "very technical river" and we should expect "cuts and bruises" upon completion. I was dumbfounded and should have asked to be taken back, but I second guessed myself because I thought there was no way a business would knowingly put people in danger, but I was completely wrong. We had kayakers that stopped to help us at different points and thank God for the teenagers who helped fish us out of the river at the exit, which we almost missed due to the strong current and my inability to steer us with one arm! I got sucked under the current and took in a mouthful of water. One of the teenagers managed to find a stick long enough for me to grab onto and another one pulled my son out by his life jacket. It was a very harrowing experience. One final thing that seems worth mentioning after reading other reviews, I also observed an older gentleman talking very rudely to one of his employees and based on reviews it sounds like this was probably the owner. I remember thinking to myself that he seemed very aggressive. I actually found the few young employees I interacted with to be very polite - that's the only positive thing to our experience. Unless you are a well trained kayaker, I highly recommend you do NOT tube on this river - You will only be putting yourself and/or your loved one's in danger of injury or worse. read more

Had a great time winter rafting with my family. Highly recommend it. It was so beautiful with the snow and ice along the river. I would say dress warm and kids probably are not going to like it- just because of the cold. read more

After reading all the bad reviews I was very hesitant to bringing my family here, thinking the worse someone would get severely hurt. Against my own judgement I came along anyways, I have a 5 year old and a 9 year old that had a BLAST on this river, yes it is fast moving but if you know what your downing it's not a big deal. We stopped our raft a few times so the kids could play in the water. As far as the condition of the water, it's a river! What do you expect? The low trees made it fun for our family to work together to get around them. No one was hurt and we will DEFF do it again!! read more

Wonderful place to visit! Not the most adventurous river, but we weren't looking for adventure. The people that worked there were super nice! read more

This was an absolutely terrible experience. It really did ruin our whole day. First, we were loaded into a shuttle with(8?) other people who followed NOT wearing masks, despite the signs everywhere. Driver was annoyed with us when I asked to get off and wait for the next shuttle. They finally told us to drive our own vehicle to the drop off point, saying that we would get a shuttle back to that point. However, when we got out of the river the worker there - who was in an extremely bad mood, like a lot of these employees - told us to walk to our car and get on another shuttle!!! There also was not an employee to help us to get out of the water and carry the boat up, which we had to do ourselves, two petite women and small children. I could go on about everything they did wrong and how badly we were treated/ignored. Save yourself the trouble and go find a beach somewhere, this place is TERRIBLE and they do NOT care about their paying patrons. read more

River was challenging just as staff explained however, once you get the hang of working together as a group it got so much easier. We had 5 in our raft, (I think only two paddled..lol ) Many twist and turns, and a hundred laughs a minute. The staff was nice and our driver (that took us to the river ) was informative. You do have to pay attention, but it is so worth it. Thank you Big Bear for a great day on the river!!! read more

We only had time to do the river trip, and took the 2 hour raft trip. The water is fast moving, and pulls you along so much that you mainly have to steer and try and avoid obstacles. We collided with lots of down trees and river banks until we figured out how to work as a team and start avoiding them. Ducking was also a must in lots of spots. Glad we took the raft, as we still took on a lot of water when we collided with one of the trees and got temporarily stuck. Raft has near 0% chance of tipping over and does not sink, and canoes have 80% chance of tipping over unless you are real good. We got very wet feet and legs, a few minor scratches from some tree branches but had a blast! The river trip would probably not be as good for younger kids, unless they are not counted on to do anything other than ducking a lot. The miniature golf, rope walk, and water boat splash ride at the entrance are more suited for them based on how many that I saw that were having a blast doing those activities. read more

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Awesome canoe and kayak trip launch enterprise, for the Pigeon and Indian rivers.

We love coming here! It's so fun for the whole family, we come every year. Rent a raft and the whole family will have an adventure steering your way down the river. Do some putt putt and bumper boats for a good old time rivalry with the kids. It's always a great time! read more

Some coworkers and I went to relax for our only day off of the week. Some girls have been before, some have not. The girls who have been before ranted and raved how fantastic and fun it was so obviously the newbies were excited. We rented tubes for the 2.5 hour float. We got all loaded up in the van, dropped off the 1.5 hour floaters first. Then when we got to our stop, we were one tube short. The driver told us that we would have another tube in under 10 minutes. We didn't get a tube for 35 minutes! When the kid dropped off the tube, he said "it's over with, let's just forget it" how about no... And the entire 35 minutes that we were waiting, IT WAS POURING RAIN! I get that they can't control the weather but a can could have at least stayed with us for some cover. Anyways, when we finally got the tube, we realized we couldn't stop at any of the sandbars because we had to be back by 7 and we were already running super late. We can out of beer halfway down the river. And when we went to go return our tubes, the girls in the shop kept saying "we're human, we all make mistakes" and all of us in our group are servers in Mackinaw City, so we understand that more than anything but when mistakes are made, we give adequate compensation for the mistake made. They would not do that. They kept brushing it off. Will not be returning here. read more

5 of us rented a raft and prepared to go on an Adventure. We paid $122 for this adventure. upon our Adventure, we encountered a foreign mother and father with their 3 year old baby. They begged us for help. They were desperate. The father had lost his tube and mother and baby were in her tube. They were so desperate they begged us to just take their baby. We crammed mother and baby in our raft and continued down the river. I was disappointed in Big Bear company because those parents could hardly speak English. I am sure they didn't understand what they were getting themselves into!! The water was 52 degrees that day, when I helped the baby on board he felt like an ice cube. I contacted the company and asked for some sort of compensation for our $122 adventure that turned into a rescue mission, Pati informed me that they were not responsible for this and it was our choice to help them... I'm appalled at her response and appalled that a business owner would respond that way! Clearly this shows the company's morals. She did offer us half off our next "adventure" but given her response, there is NO way I would ever give my hard earned money to a company with no morals. read more

Stay away from this place! The owners Patti and Scott A. treated my family with utmost disrespect. After we already paid for a rafting rental with a group of 19, they demanded my niece to buy a hat she tried on. When we questioned Scott if this was a written policy he nervously stuttered "No, but it is my policy and if you don't obey then you can leave" As a result, all 19 of my party demanded a refund and left(just as he requested). His wife(Patti A.) then lectured my niece stating that she may have had "head lice". Stay away from this place and instead go to the Summers Store down the road where you can buy a raft for under $5.00, spend the day at Burt Lake(which is located accross the street from Big Bear) and never experience the disrespect we did(even as paying customers). read more

I LOVE THIS PLACE! It's so fun! And the employees are so friendly and helpful! The rafting trip was so fun! And we all had a great time! I can't wait to go again! Like 8 million times! I definitely recommend this place! read more

Big Bear Adventures is right across the street from a state park. You rent your canoe, kayak, tube or raft, park your car across the street, and they pick you up in their bus. Then they drive you up-river and drop you off. If you rent for a longer period, the farther up-river they take you. My husband and I rented one-person kayaks. It was my first time kayaking alone, but they did ask about our skill level. We paid for a 4 hour trip, it took us a little longer than 3 hours. We did not stop along the way. The water was moving pretty quickly, and there were lots of downed trees in the river the entire way which you had to steer around. I tipped over once and had a difficult time controlling the kayak once it was filled with water. It was very heavy and the current was really dragging it along. My husband had to stop it and dump it for me. It was fun....after I determined how to control the kayak around the swift-moving bends in the river and the trees that stuck out of the water. Your trip ends when the Indian River runs into a lake in the state park. You leave your kayak, canoe, tube or raft on the shore there. This is where you parked your car, so you don't need to wait for a ride back. The river is shallow....I tipped over in about 2 feet of water. It may get up to 5 feet in some spots, but for the most part it is very shallow. Mid-July and the water was very chilly. The current was swift. You wouldn't need to paddle to move along, but you do need to paddle in order to avoid the shore or trees. Okay to pack a cooler with food and beverages. read more

Had an amazing time there!! I went with my family and friends and we went on the two hour river ride. Me and my friend used a CAT it's an inflatable canoe with dual things on it and the rest used a raft! We also stopped on a rope swing and went on that! There were beautiful houses and beautiful landscapes! The employees were very friendly and were very knowledgeable! Would recommend it to anyone and strongly suggest you go!! read more

I booked this adventure after I saw it in a travel magazine while I was up north skiing at Shanty Creek. Gary was very nice and did everything he could to get my party of 6 booked for 2 days later. I sadly could not make the trip, I was Ill, but my husband and 4 boys went anyway. They did not charge us for my absence, which i thought was very cool. My family enjoyed this adventure immensely. Sean was a great guide. Even though Gary assured me it was a "no tip raft" they all got wet.This was not a bad thing, My family is big on things that leave an impression, and they are still talking about how much fun this was. Everyone we tell the story to is asking, rafting in the winter??? This trip is something that makes you challenge yourself and bring joy to your days...If you get the chance, DO IT!!!!!! read more

We love adventure, but had a ridiculously horrible experience at this place, start to finish. I would tell you what an ass the owner is, but several others have already done that for me. He ended the experience by arguing with us in front of the store about whether or not we should have been okay with having to wait over an hour outside while everyone else before and after us were taking off for their adventures. He had taken our slip himself, then when everyone else was called and were on their merry way, we continued to ask him why we hadn't been called yet and he asked us if we had turned in a slip. Yes, we handed it to you personally, shortly after you told us you couldn't help us because you were on your way to wring your workers neck! Completely unprofessional, unaccommodating in multiple ways throughout the whole experience, and ridiculously overpriced for what you get. NOT worth your money. I have no idea how they have the foot traffic they have. I felt horrible dragging my friends and making them pay their own way for such a horrible experience. Will NEVER give them my business again as long as these are the owners. read more