I went on the Parker Tube Float for the first time in 2024. We camped nearby and had a nice cool place to return to. It was fun. We brought our own raft and drinks with a cooler. We even brought 2 small dogs with us.
We drove from our campsite to the parking lot that is at the end of the float. Although we had to park the furthest away from the loading area and carry all of our 'stuff' there, that was okay. We made it.
The staff at the lines to get on the buses were volunteers and very nice. We got our t-shirts in advance. Cute. The lines were long. But, they moved quickly and they had a little shade. They provided ice cold bottled water in coolers set up along the lines, which was very nice. They loaded all of our stuff into the lower part of the bus, so only people with small personal items were on the bus. It was easy to pick up our 'stuff' at the unloading zone. It took about an hour from the time we arrived at the loading zone to actually hit the water.
The river runs slow and you get pushed to the sides by the current. However, a big plus - they had guys on jet ski's that would come around and pull you back out into the current.
We met some nice people, enjoyed the day in the sun (we had a cover over our floating island), and the nice cool river.
My only recommendation is more space at the end of the float for exiting the river, or assistance getting people to move on out. The exit area was very crowded as people would get out and just stand right there to deflate their tubes, rafts, etc... and all their stuff. read more