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Cherokee Rapids

4.0 (19 reviews)
Closed 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Updated 1 month ago

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Amy M.

We went on a day that was really warm, 80 degrees and sunny! Perfect weather! There had been a lot of rain in the days before so water was higher than normal and running faster than usual! We love this particular company because they bring you up on a bus and drop you off with your float. Then, you float back down to where your car is parked. It's so nice to float back to your car right where you get out of the river. You can take your time and decide when you are ready to go back as there are no time restrictions. I am taking one star off because there was no safety instructions really and I would not recommend it for younger kids. I would say ages 11-12 and up because it could be really dangerous for younger kids. Several spots were moving extremely fast and there were places where the river is very deep. There were only two kid sized floats available on our round so, they gave them to the smallest kids. Other kids that were not much bigger had to use the adult sized floats. I am also taking one star off for no working bathrooms! They did have a changing area but there was no light so you couldn't close the door. The girls at the counter told us we had to go across the street to the public bathrooms and while we were gone, we missed the one and only bus and had to wait for the bus to return. I definitely recommend renting the cooler float and bringing a picnic. We stopped out at a nice spot and had our picnic lunch. It really is a beautiful place. All in all, we would do it again but they really need to fix the bathroom situation!

That Beautiful River
Phillip M.

This was our second trip to this wonderful place. The staff were very helpful and eager to get you going. We rented 5 tunes and a cooler tube for about $85. We waited for about 10 minutes before the bus pulled up. Some of my party needed a potty break, so we had to wait on the next bus (another 10 minutes). We were told that it was a short trip up and a 2-mile trip back over 2-3 hours. While it was hot outside, the water was always cold...we entered the water and away we went. All was well, but it did include several bruises, a scratched head, and being rained on for 1/4 of the trip down. In all, it was a great trip, and we look forward to making it again soon!

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7 years ago

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7 years ago

our family has been tubing with cherokee rapids for years, we love it, a great way to cool off in the summer. we'll be there again in July

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Review Highlights - Cherokee Rapids

The process is easy: they bus you a couple of miles upstream and you float back down to their spot on the river.

Mentioned in 6 reviews

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Tuckaseegee Outfitters - The "Lazy" part of the river.

Tuckaseegee Outfitters

(7 reviews)

My husbeastie and I are up in Sapphire Valley, spending our week in my family's time share. The…read moreweather has been absolutely fabulous, so we decided to do something outdoorsy. As a teen, I would tube down this river so I offered this as an option to the man and he agreed. Given that he's a larger man, tubing was out, but a single person kayak, called a ducky, would be fine. I opted for the same thing. It was a touch more expensive vs opting for "Extreme tubing" but it was a lot more fun. We both got kitted out in our life vest, got our paddles and into the van and were driven to the Dillsboro drop off site, we were given pointers of where to go and what to look out for. The staff was great! The water was cool but not terribly cold, the river wasn't crowded for the height of summer and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was about 2 hours in the water from the time we put in until we took out. Yes, we did get stuck on a few rocks but we managed to get off of them without dumping ourselves into the drink. We certainly got an upper body workout from using our paddles!

We went on a Sunday morning. They don't do rafts on…read moreSunday. But they do tubes and kayak. We decided the way to go was tubing. The staff was sooooo friendly. We totally recommend this place. The water was a little low. But still it was enough for us to relax and float. And have a little fun at the drops. It took about 2 hrs. To go down the river. And at the stopping point, we didn't have to wait. Some one was there waiting for us to drive us back to our car. $15.00 per person for tubing.

Highlands Outpost

Highlands Outpost

(29 reviews)

Came here for the coaster not realizing they had snow tubing also. This was my favorite day of…read morevacation. Good clean family fun. The Mexican restaurant was super slow service though and the food was ok but the activities were so much fun. Highly recommend to anyone looking for some good old fashioned fun in the mountains.

The Highlands Outpost caught our eye for the coaster rides they offer and we walked away with our…read morevisit here being one of the highlights of our Highlands trip. For our group of 4 adults and 2 kids, we opted for the Scaly Mountain Screamer and the tubing. What a great time - I've seen footage of mountain coaster rides from Europe, but never had encountered it in the US. You can ride tandem on them which is convenient if you have kids and the speed is all up to you as you control it with a hand brake. Both of the kids in our group ended up doing it multiple times and each circuit gives you some great views of the forest and beautiful wilderness as you speed on by. One of the coolest aspects of the Scaly Mountain Screamer is that they not only clock your speed - each car has a go pro where you can buy the video, which everyone did. Once we had our fill of the screamer, we went to the tubing which was a surprisingly good time. The tubing track is lubricated with misters all the way down, so you get some great speed and keep cool at the same time and apparently they cover the hill in snow during the winter for some snow tubing. I would say that a stop at the Highlands Outpost is a must do for anyone, big or small. While definitely family centric, after riding on the Scaly Mountain Screamer and doing the Extreme tubing, I think its safe to say people of all ages will have fun here, especially given that you can trout fish as well. The group in front of us left with a whole mess of trout to cook up. We will be back here again to have more fun tubing and trying to beat our speed scores on the screamer and you should too.

Smoky Mountain River Rat Tubing - Beautiful river!

Smoky Mountain River Rat Tubing

(172 reviews)

We have done this multiple times on our trips to Gatlinburg and continue to come back to River Rat…read moreevery time. Love the ease and self guided-ness of the tubing. No rush to get down and get out and you can go multiple times. Definitely recommend getting there early so you can spend a day. 2 food trucks were available onsite on the Wednesday we went, we went to the grilled foods truck and all had a nice small lunch afterwards. They also have everything you need to prepare for the day including water shoes, water proof phone bags, snacks, drinks, etc. lockers are $5 all day and can take exact cash or card.

My family and I stayed in Gatlinburg for vacation, but passed through Townsend on our way it. We…read moresaw people tubing down the river, and knew we wanted to try it! We were disappointed that we didn't go tubing until the last day of our trip, because we would have gone again! It was super easy to book our time slot online, which is when your arrival time. If you choose an earlier arrival time in the day, you can stay all day and really get your moneys worth! We floated down the outpost "B" part of the river, which had a bit more rapids than outpost "A". We didn't have enough time to go to outpost "A" but it is a longer float. The water was a bit higher because it had rained a lot the week before, so we weren't right on top of the rocks which was nice. You have to try and avoid the large rocks on the tube so you don't get stuck, which can be a bit tricky! Our group was a total of 6, and we did get separated a few times, but it's easy to pull off to the side and wait for the slow floaters. We had a great time and would highly recommend adding to your vacation itinerary!

Cherokee Rapids - tubing - Updated May 2026

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