I've never kayaked before but this was so easy and relaxing. The boys that helped me in and out of the kayak were wonderful.

Beautiful canoeing trip through Ohio farmland. Don't be afraid to stop where ever you can to take in nature and hang out with those you're with. The trip goes by quickly and can be completed in under 90 minutes without much effort. But you won't regret slowing it down and taking your time. read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Canoe trip with Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

The team at Birch Bark is always so accommodating. The four-hour float is so peaceful and beautiful. The river is spring fed, cool and clean. This was our 4th annual birthday float. Initially, we reserved 10 tubes and the night before, we realized a few members weren't going to make it. Mindy took my call at 8pm (not expecting this :)) and refunded us for the unwanted tubes. We also needed help with our floating cooler and Jeff was quick to help us and personally delivered it to the drop in point. We love Birch Bark! See you next year!!! read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

I went kayaking here a few times over the summer and always had a good experience. All you have to do is reserve a time online and then show up about 10-15 minutes beforehand to sign paperwork and get your kayaking equipment. They load you up in to a bus and take you to one end of the river and help you get in your kayak and send you on your way. Both times I went the water was very shallow but there was a good current so that was nice. It's not a super wide river and can get crowded at times but for the most part it's easy to space out. It's a great summer activity if you enjoy kayaking or floating, but the water is shallow in most parts so not many options for stopping and swimming along the way. The service is good and they keep things moving so you don't have to wait long. I definitely plan on visiting here again next summer! read more

In looking at tubing trips, I found this place that had the best livery reviews in Central Ohio. It is an hour from home, and I booked a 2-hr tubing trip online. It is very reasonable, at $17 pp. We signed the waivers electronically. This was about a month out, and when the day came, it was rainy and a storm was expected that afternoon (our time was set for 3:30 on a Saturday). I emailed them about a reschedule, and I received a call from a young lady asking if we wanted to come earlier that day. We didn't have enough time, so she happily resceduled us for the following Saturday. We arrived and parked, then walked to the check-in hut. The young guy was nice and told us where to wait with the others. He came over to call names and explain we would hop the bus and get off at the 2nd stop. The first stop was the shorter trip for kayakers and canoers. It was 80 degrees out, but the water was cold. It would have been a nicer trip if the sun was consistent and on a hotter day, but was still had fun and I would go again. The trip down the river/creek was very pleasant and beautiful. We were able to tie our tubes together. We were helped out by staff at the end and we hung our tubes up and went back to our car. We had brought towels and clothing, but there is no where to change. They have porta-potties only. We ended up changing later at a rest stop. Tip: remember to bring a zip lock bag for your keys/phone. read more

Clean, friendly staff, and great equipment. We even saw Dave Chapelle so highly recommend read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

This is my favorite place to kayak The water is crystal clear and it is nice and shady The staff here to great also I make it a point to come once a year I love it so much It is worth checking out !! read more

Great service...beautiful day on the water. Totally recommend Birch Bark Canoe Livery for a relaxing time down the Mad River. read more

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A great afternoon for the whole family! Each person had choice of canoe, kayak or tube. River was clean and safe. Staff was very professional and helpful. Lots of shade for most of the trip read more

The experience here was amazing. My review is during Covid so I was curious to see how they operated under a pandemic. All of the staff was wearing masks and being safe with social distancing. I went canoeing here so that is what my review is based on. Showed up and checked in. They require you to fill the waiver out online so it's contact free. You are allowed to bring coolers with you for food and drink. This trip was absolutely beautiful. It's super shaded so even on the hottest day, you can actually enjoy yourself without feeling disgusting and sweaty. Overall I would definitely travel out here again to go canoeing or kayaking. The staff and the scenery is enough to travel a bit. read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

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Great team of people running this livery. Friendly and efficient. Thank you. My one complaint is not with the livery it is with the river quality. I have floated, fished, and camped on this river for 30 years. We have done river clean up along the bridges as well, but this river has sadly gotten worse every year due to farmer pollution! They are killing it. Just take a look at all the green moss and algae bloom growing in it!! It used to be crystal clear and so very cold, even in the summer. Now water temperatures have gone up, water is cloudy, and it now has that fertilizer smell! So very sad! read more

Awesome trip! Beautiful and so much fun! We will definitely be back next year. Love Birch Bark. read more

Very nice relaxing way to spend a couple hours. Staff was friendly and helpful! And bus was air conditioned!

The staff is great, the river is crystal clear, the trees are beautiful. I would do this every weekend if I could. Float down the river and enjoy the scenery and friendship with your companions. We have canoed in many places in Ohio and this is the best!!!! I just wish the trip would last longer!!!! read more

Had a great time. Easy, breezy, beautiful summer morning. Definitely recommend the 2 hour canoe for new folks. I don't know how people do the tubes. Especially the four hour tube (!!) but the people were kind and helpful and answered questions. Didn't feel silly or stupid when asked questions. Would do it again just to see the birds, ducks and wildlife again read more

Went here for Father's Day adventure, wasn't disappointed. We were able to kayak the water, took about 2 hours, didn't seem like 2 hours so that was nice. We'll go back for sure read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Kayaks - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

A gem of a stream to paddle, the hotter the outside temp the more awesome Mad River is to be on. We normally bring our own canoe and they treated our vessel well. read more

Highly recommend! The river is beautiful The staff is friendly and extremely hard working! I've never been disappointed with my experience

The river is lovely and it's a fun, easy and shady 5 mile trip. the reservations were easy to make and the wavers worked pretty well too. the 2 missing stars are for the equipment and the employee. The canoes and the kayaks are not great and are not in great shape. The employees who drove us to the drop off were smoking cigarettes in the van. it was so gross. it blew right into our faces and was an awful start to our fresh air outdoor adventure. They also talked pretty badly about LGBTQ people, saying some unpleasant slurs about them. The river was nice, but the employees were not. read more

Went on a Saturday and didn't have to wait too long to get hauled down to drop off spot. We had reservations for group of 8. All went well from the Birch Bark side. There is more debris this year 2019 in the river but that is not their fault, but I bet they are popping a bunch of tubes. Water was colder in August 2019 than I recall in prior years. We did have the unpleasant experience of being stuck behind a large group of people (not from Birch Bark) that were using drugs on the river. Other than that all went well. read more

Great small river for kayaking and canoes. Staff all very friendly. Great for 1st time kayakers. River very clear. It can be kind of crowded depending on how many people go that day. read more

An incredible time!! Recommend for anyone looking to have some fun! This was our third annual trip - we plan on making it a summer tradition! read more

This is the second time we have used this Livery. It was a seamless process. We booked online, got there on time, filled out a form, waited a short time, loaded up and were taken 5 miles down the road. Kayaks were awaiting us. Staff was excellent and professional. We were given precise instructions and locations. We enjoyed floating with a small group. We didn't have a lot of noise from others on the river. It was a peaceful and quiet trip. We felt recharged and relaxed afterwards. We plan on going to Birch Canoe for many more trips to come! Highly recommended!! read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

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The 5 mile float was great! Highly recommended. We reserved 3 tubes and a kayak and floated for about 3-4 hours in a very peaceful river through a relaxing shaded canopy of trees. The cost is affordable and the process was smooth. No issues at all. read more

Really great time here, the best kayak rental situation we've had in approx 10 or so different places ranging from Ohio rivers to the Carolinas for coastal adventures. Enough current without a ton of effort or skills required, the 5 miler felt like it ended way too quickly. Staff was very nice and competent. Bravo! read more

Fun for the whole family . Great shallow river to canoe on . This was its my visit and we will be back . Only $15 per person . Not bad for a few hours of family fun . About 1 hour from Columbus to Urbana . read more

Birch Bark Canoe Livery - Boating Near Me - Urbana, Ohio

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Nice experience at Birch Bark yesterday. Easy online reservation system. Friendly desk staff. Decent transportation up river. Assistance getting on kayak or canoe, which you do not get at other liveries. Also got assistance getting off kayak at end. Kayak's were a bit worn, but functional. Water was not very deep but extremely clear. Apparently the river never gets too shallow since it is spring fed. We have had to carry our kayaks at certain low points at other liveries near Dayton. River was a bit crowded with slow moving raft/tube groups. read more

We've been going to Birch Bark for years. Each year it gets better. This year was no different. It is a goal of summer for my wife and I to "float the Mad" a few times. As of this late August date and We had not gone. Scheduled a Saturday trip and weather and circumstance led to me calling early Saturday to request a change to the next day -- no problem! Birch Bark staff make the floating even easier. The rental, the launch and wrap up were idyllic. Perfect trip. They offer trips up in to October -- don't miss a fantastic escape from the world's BS. read more

We had a great experience! We decided Sunday morning that we wanted to go canoeing with our 3 year old, and were able to make a reservation online! We got there to check in and were greeted by some very friendly staff. They got us set up with paddles and life jackets (including toddler size paddle, life jacket and a special little seat for him to sit in in the middle of the canoe)! A friendly crew helped get us into the river! The river was great, the water was very clear! It was an 87 degree day, but in the river felt like 70 due to the spring water and the amount of shade! Great place, we will be going back! read more

What a complete sh!t show. The beginning and the end were horrible experiences. Thankfully, the good part was when we were on the river. They have no idea what a reservation means and had to wait 1 1/2 hours for 1 kayak. At the takeout we had 2 people almost drown. They had one kid helping to pull in 5 canoes/kayaks with more coming in behind us while the beach was covered in canoes and no place to pull in. While waiting an hour for a ride back we heard many similar stories. We got our own ride back by the way. How people haven't died or they haven't been sued amazes me. Could be a great experience if they had better people running it. read more

The river is beautiful. The staff was friendly. The price was right. Had a good day with my sons.

Good experience, we went tubing down the river and it was absolutely beautiful. Staff was friendly and informative. Water level was low so we got stuck a few times, but that can't be avoided. Definitely recommend! The only problem I'm having is that after a day in the tube my neck is really sore lol! read more

We rented 2 rafts for the 2 hour float. It took us about 1.5 to float is the super cold water- obviously out of their control! The rafts were underinflated, which made us sink down further into the water. Would love to see river tubes with bottoms in them, or even a multi person raft. Will definitely be back, but will make sure it's on a warmer day and will check the rafts first. read more

I had a great experience here. I saw some other reviews where people said they experienced disorganization and I can totally see that happening, since all of the people I saw working there are really young, but that wasn't my experience. Matter of fact, we ran into a bunch of a traffic on the way up, so we were 45 minutes late. They were still able to accommodate our two raft rental that we had reserved. The river was clean and I didn't see trash laying on the banks like I have at other places. The water was well shaded and overall a really nice place to yak. We were only able to do the 5 mile trip, the 10 was closed, due to high water. I really look forward to going back once it's opened! read more

Blatant disregard for people's safety and completely unorganized. Made "reservations" but had to wait an hour and half for our kayaks and canoes. It is amazing that no one has been seriously injured and that they have not been sued. read more

My boyfriend and I had reservations to tube for the first time ever with Birch Bark at 3:00 this past Saturday. We arrived at 2:52, checked in, grabbed our tubes, and were in the waiting area by 2:57. At 3:00, only one bus departed. Our names were not called to be on this bus. We patiently waited assuming another bus would leave shortly. Little did we know, we would be waiting over an hour before we would board a bus to tube. It was 4:08 before we actually got onto the bus. We arrived to what we thought was our destination at 4:18. Once off of the bus, a staff member approached us saying, "You are the two tubers, right? This isn't your drop off. You'll need to get back on the bus with me." We got back on the bus and after another few minutes, we finally hit the water after 4:30. The river was clean and the scenery was beautiful; however, we are quite disappointed with this experience as a result of the extreme wait time and the lack of communication by the staff. read more

I didnt read any bad reviews about them, but i saw bad reviews for other locations that made me skeptical about canoeing anywhere in Ohio. I'm glad I tried this place out though. We rented a canoe and a kayak for our family. When I called to make reservations The lady was very friendly and helpful. The staff were also fairly friendly when we were there, yet they seemed focused on getting the job done, which was still a good thing. There was a bit of a wait for the bus ride to the drop off, maybe 5-10 minutes. I think some people waited longer, but it was not inconvenient in my opinion. There were nicely kept picnic tables with umbrellas to sit at while we waited. The bus was a little cramped because it was a school bus. The facility was well kept and there were signs encouraging people to clean up after them selves. My son was nervous about using the kayak, however, the staff were encouraging. The excursion down the river was beautiful and peaceful. It was not perfectly clear water, as the website claims, but it was nicer than other rivers I have seen. I saw beer cans along the bank that they may not have had a chance to clean up, but I blame it on the losers who left it there. The signs they had everywhere gave me the impression that they cared about the cleanliness of the river. The one thing they could have done better was help me with the canoe at the end. Everyone had to lift their canoe up on to the bank, atleast that's what I assumed. I didn't have the strength to do that and another customer helped me instead of the staff. It was definitely kid friendly. They provided little seats for them to sit on in the middle of the canoe and kid sized paddles to help them feel they were part of the experience. I feel the trip went by too fast and I would go to this location again for another round. read more