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    Riverside Rentals

    4.7 (29 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    Ladonna P.

    I absolutely love this place I tell everyone about it and plan on making this a annual adventure This year brought my kids and my daughter in law my new husband and his son. They loved it too.

    Christian K.

    One time is all it took for Riverside Rentals to make them the ONLY place I'll ever rent a canoe from on the Tippecanoe. For $35 you get a canoe, paddles, life jacket and a ride up stream. The trip is approximately 3-4 hours long, but it can be longer since the only time limitation they give you is 'Be back before dark" which was awesome! We stopped along some sand bars and a small island, took a bunch of photos and just enjoyed the scenery and wildlife. Reserving a canoe is easy, just call ahead by a few days give dates and times and that's it, done and reserved. Check in was super easy since we filled out the waivers and forms prior to arrival. After all is filled you get a ride upstream where they unload the canoe, kayak or tubes, give you some life jackets (not required to wear but must be nearby) paddles and off you go. Canoes are clean and comfortable, plenty of space for backpacks or coolers if you choose to bring them. The trip was just amazing, lots of wildlife to see and the riverside scenery is beautiful. The current was just right that you really didn't need to use the paddles for anything other than getting to an island/sandbar, navigating around fallen trees or other obstacles. It was a simple and enjoyable trip, worth EVERY penny spent! Bonus points for letting us borrow a corkscrew too.

    The river
    Chelsea B.

    There are few things in life that I enjoy more than time in the sun and on the water with friends. In that vein, I discovered the Tippecanoe River was a short two hours out from Chicago...and I was sold! I called ahead on a beautiful June Friday and was assured that no reservation was needed for our small group--but the last trip goes at 2, and they are in central time. When we hit traffic on the way out of the city, I called again since GPS promised we would be there right at 2--how flexible were they? Totally flexible, and as long as you hit close to 2, you are golden--as proven by the two groups who arrived just after us. It was a nice and short bus ride to the entry point, some decent stairs down, and into the river. It was warmer water than I expected, and a gentle, quiet ride despite the other groups behind us. We saw Canadian geese, wading birds, and turtles on the way down, taking us closers to 3 hours on the river because of recent rain. It was relaxing with our cooler and drinks, and absolutely perfect. The tube even had a cup holder! My only complaint--and honestly not even enough to dock a star--was the lack of facilities. As it's on a flood plain I can understand the lack of a bathroom, but there is no reason that the changing stalls can't have a floor. Don't expect to buy anything at the location, as it's pretty bare, but it's totally worth it for the quiet and calm summer fun!

    I've gone back to Riverside several years now, and have always had a great time. It's a little over 2 hour drive from downtown Chicago with tolls, and worth it. Check in is easy and you can even leave small valuables in the office to avoid losing them in the water. After they bus you over to the drop off site and get down to the water, you can use the life vests to connect tubes together and make a barge. Water is mostly shallow at a few feet deep with only a few spots at about 6-7 feet.

    Jackie G.

    I've been to Riverside Rentals twice for tubing, and both times I had a blast! The first time was last summer when a group of friends and I bought a Chicago Living Social adventure for a day of tubing, complete with transportation and lunch for $60. You just had to bring towel, sunscreen and your own drinks. When the deal came up again , with our doodling and large group decision-making, we ended up missing the deal. We visited the Riverside site and decided we could do it ourselves. Rentals cost $15 a tube plus $15 for cooler tube/float (which is a square tube with flat bottom to literally set a cooler - probably filled with beer and water). The people at the office were very nice both when I made the reservation and when we got to the location. My recommendations: - Bring signed waivers to make registration go faster. The waivers can easily be printed from the website. - You will need shoes. They recommend and sell water shoes, but in my experience you can use flip flops to get in and out of the water and then throw the shoes in the cooler tube. - Bring plenty of drinks including water. The first time, my group ran out and unsuccessfully tried to barter with the other groups, but floating on a tube with no wallet leaves little bargaining power. - Bring string or rope. We forgot it the second time and had to continually grab on to each other. I suppose it added some excitement, but the first time we tied our tubes to each other and the cooler float so we could float together. - Note that Riverside is on EST. That means you'll lose and gain an hour in a round-trip from Chicago. Not a big deal, but it can get confusing and helps when planning for a meal afterward and if you need to get back at a certain time. - Remember, there are children. I believe this is intended to be family friendly, so even if you're drinking a lot, be kind and remember there may be a family canoeing nearby. (side note: The first time I ever went tubing I was a young child with my parents, and it was the first time I saw full frontal nudity by a drunken guy. There was a boom box in the background, and now I'll never hear Pretty Fly for a White Guy in the same way.) As I mentioned, Riverside offers canoeing, and I've not done that. However, tubing is a good time. Get a car of people together, drive on over with loaded up coolers, and make a day of floating down a real life lazy river.

    Alexandria K.

    Oh my gosh, go here!!!! This is a very cool experience. I was looking for something to do with my large family, ages six to 75. We had a group of 11 and called ahead on a week day when they were not busy. Based upon previous Yelp reviews we brought lots of drinks and snacks. I warned our drinkers to bring plenty of booze!!! The location was easy to get to following GPS and there was plenty of parking. They have shaded picnic tables, sand volleyball court, changing area, a stable with an adorable horse, etc. The staff was laid back and made checking in easy. They loaded up our coolers for us, too! We had a short drive to a drop off point and we just hopped in and started floating. We stopped at a cool sand bar and the little kids ran around while we ate sandwiches. We had no idea where we were headed or how long we were on the river...we just FLOATED. It was awesome. The kids loved it, my older parents loved it...and everyone in between. You can drink, look at scenery, swim, feed the adorable ducks, etc. I highly recommend this activity. Twenty dollars well spent.

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Super nice staff with a friendly environment. Had a great time with my girlfriend, very beginner friendly and good quality kayaks

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    11 years ago

    This is so much fun!!!! Can be whatever you make it - wild and crazy - or relaxing and calm! :)

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    13 years ago

    Awesome tubing down the river. Had a blast. This place is friendly staffed and clean. Can't wait to do it again!

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    Ask the Community - Riverside Rentals

    Review Highlights - Riverside Rentals

    Peaceful river most of the time, only disruption came from occasional party groups floating down the river.

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    East Race Waterway - Sign

    East Race Waterway

    3.6(11 reviews)
    47.0 mi

    This is a pretty nice rapids course in south bend, Indiana. It's about a half mile long rapids…read morecourse and you can go alone or fit up to 6 per raft. It's not insanely difficult but the rocks on the rapids do make it a bit difficult- hit one of them and you're flipping for sure (I did today). I don't like that you have to walk the half mile back to the start to do it again, but it's a nice course overall, just a pretty short rapids course - you're on the river for about 5-10 minutes. There is no "break" sections in the water - the rapids are non stop just FYI. Fun place though, I would recommend.

    Whitewater rafting in the urban midwest! When you live in the midwest as I do, you learn to dig…read moredeep for new outdoor ideas. Finding this place was the equivalent of striking gold!! East Race Waterway is a man-made whitewater route using the water from the St. Joseph River. The course is about a half mile long and it takes roughly five minutes to navigate. You have three main options to use the race. Non-kayak owners (renters) can choose from the inflatable doubles kayak (seats two..of course) or a large raft (3-6 passengers). Rides in the inflatable kayak or large raft are $5 per person, per ride. If you bring your own kayak it's $15 for the day. The rented boats come with oars, life jackets and a helmet, so you don't need to bring those pieces of equipment. As for the race, you're going to get wet. Let's call it soaked! The race contains category II whitewater rapids and in at least three spots, you're going to get a rush of water thrust upon you. It doesn't take much experience to figure out how to guide your boat and if you go at the rapids head on you won't capsize. We watched many go over though, and that's because they broke the cardinal rule of hitting the rapids with a sideways boat. Even if you capsize it's no big deal. There's a few things you'll need to bring or consider. First, a soled shoe that covers at least the backside of your heal and straps across the top is mandatory. Basically, anything except open-toed flip-flips will work. Hard sole water shoes like Keen's work the best. Remember that you're going to get wet, I mean soaked..so phones, car keys, jewelry and loose sunglasses are all a really bad idea. If you have to bring keys make sure you bring a ziplock bag and have a zipped pocket to store them in. The water isn't nearly as dirty as some claim and there's a hose with clean water at the end of the race to rinse with. All the same I'd still recommend wearing older clothing if you can. This place is a total blast and a unique opportunity for mid-westerners. The race is only open June-early August and only on the weekends, so be sure to plan this one carefully. We'll certainly be back!

    Photos
    East Race Waterway - Gate

    Gate

    East Race Waterway - Info

    Info

    East Race Waterway

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    Kayak Starved Rock

    Kayak Starved Rock

    4.3(112 reviews)
    123.6 mi

    I have mixed feelings about this kayak tour company. I signed up because although I'm a very…read morecapable and seasoned kayaker, I didn't know this river and I like learning about the ecosystems and local wildlife. For this reason I like having tour guides. Going up the river was fine. Coming back went a bit sour. I went as slow as I was capable of paddling or not paddling, but apparently it was too fast for the preference of our tour guide. I was barely touching the water with my paddle. I have no idea how I could have gone any slower. It wasn't humanly possible. After shouting at me several times, he took to chasing me down and ramming my kayak so it'd spin in circles. Would I rent a kayak here and kayak the river alone? Yes. Would I personally use a tour guide here? No I wouldn't. Would I recommend? If you're a family with little kids or a drunk sorority house, absolutely. If you know what you're doing, just go it alone. You'll probably enjoy it more. Edit: If the tour guide had concerns for group safety, he could have said so. Although ramming my kayak with his seems to be a bit of a conflict as far as my safety goes. It was an unprofessional approach when he could have simply explained why he needed me to slow down

    It almost seemed like a dream. From the very start, cruising through a large patch of lotus plants,…read moreit felt otherworldly. Very peaceful, going at our own pace. Enjoyed the cliff walls of Buffalo Rock and the shallow waters of some side passages. We paddled for 5 hours, covering 8 miles total. After we were done we headed to charming, historic downtown Utica for drinks and dinner at Skoog's Pub & Grill in North Utica, IL. I was impressed with the logistics and operation of the kayaking experience, from the guide* to the equipment and online booking process. *Full disclosure, the guide was my twin sister, but I am being objective...seriously.

    Photos
    Kayak Starved Rock
    Kayak Starved Rock
    Kayak Starved Rock

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    Third Coast Paddling - Galien River - Paddleboarding with Third Coast Paddling at the Galien River in New Buffalo

    Third Coast Paddling - Galien River

    4.3(20 reviews)
    52.6 mi

    Friendly staff and luckily there were walk up singles available. Lovely journey down and back on…read morethe river, great break from the hustle and bustle of New Buffalo's main drag.

    I love paddleboarding and I love exploring new places. It only made sense for me to come rent a…read morepaddleboard when I was visiting the Indiana and Michigan. The main reason for my low rating was because the kid who was handling all rentals really had an attitude of "I don't know and I don't care". I almost feel like if I had never been paddleboarding prior to this, I would have had a miserable experience. He gave me zero information and then proceeded to give me a paddle that was too short and also did not know how to adjust the length. Then he sent me out into the water tail end first. The website said we would be guided as to where the turnaround point was-he did not share this. And then when I returned there was zero acknowledgement or even some basic customer service of "how did you like it? did you have fun?". From other reviews I have read it seems like the company is a very reputable service provider in the area. I just think that this one kid is a terrible representation of what you want your company to be. In addition to the complete non-existence of any kind of customer service experience, the water in the river is quite disgusting. I got a rash on my foot just from touching the water. Fortunately I am skilled on the paddle board and did not fall in. I really was hoping that I would have been able to take the paddle into the actual waters of Lake Michigan. That in itself would have been a more thrilling experience.

    Photos
    Third Coast Paddling - Galien River - Exploring Harbor Country's Galien River on a kayak with Third Coast Paddling

    Exploring Harbor Country's Galien River on a kayak with Third Coast Paddling

    Third Coast Paddling - Galien River - Father-son kayak trip on the Galien River - a perfect way to spend the day in Michigan!

    Father-son kayak trip on the Galien River - a perfect way to spend the day in Michigan!

    Third Coast Paddling - Galien River - Kayaking with our pup on the Galien River in Harbor Country with Third Coast Paddling.

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    Kayaking with our pup on the Galien River in Harbor Country with Third Coast Paddling.

    Riverside Rentals - rafting - Updated May 2026

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