Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Urban River Adventures

    1.2 (17 reviews)

    Urban River Adventures Photos

    You might also consider

    More like Urban River Adventures

    Recommended Reviews - Urban River Adventures

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Carmella L.

    This is one of the newest hidden gems you can experience in Edmonton. Book it now. Trust me, you will not be sorry. Their inaugural summer is booked solid and they are already booking into next year. We met the speedboat at Devon Lions Campground, where we were able to leave the car parked safely and securely. The ride was fun and quick (about 10 mins) to our island home. The family running this outfit are charming, kind, respectful, and culturally conscious. We got a little lesson about the land and directions on how to be eco-friendly and responsible campers. Our Dome, nestled in the woods but with a view of the river, was gorgeous and spacious. Inside we had a proper bed with the most comfortable mattress (memory foam?) and super soft light linens. The duvet was fluffy and smooth with plump pillows. Over the bed was a whimsical yet functional mosquito net which just made the whole room look so romantic. At night when the solar lights and fairy lights on the bed come on, the living space is just downright elegant. Yup, I said it, elegant camping. I guess that's what they mean by "glamping". There is a campfire stove as well as a propane BBQ which we ended up using to cook our steak, potatoes, and corn on the cob. They provided all the pans, plates, cups and utensils but I do recommend bringing your own sharp knife for cutting up food, ect. They have a meal plan you can add and I think I am going to try that next time, simply because I love cooking but with such a limited time on the island, I would rather be exploring or floating down the river. One good thing is you don't have to wash dishes, they take care of all that for you. Bonus!! We had a couple pool noodles and a floaty which we trekked to the top of the island and floated down the lazy river to the bottom. It's not that deep, I could almost always touch the bottom and it was a nice 10-15 min float. We did this many times and it never got old. I felt like a kid again! At one point, we just sat in the river with our backs against the logs and listened to the birds. I will say, that although we may have all these birds in the city, seldom do you really get to really hear them. It was a level of serene I haven't had in a long time. The bathroom situation is well thought out, and way better than an outhouse. It's a little tent for privacy and there is a toilet set up that is quite efficient. Each camp has its own, so no awkwardness. The people who created URA (Steve and Jarett, I think) and the staff who run this thing are top notch. Very good quality people here who are gracious and are always up for a chat or to help. Really good people. I even got an impromptu storytelling in the teepee by Xena who shared some wise words from her Cree culture. Highlights are the sandy beach, floating down the lazy river, bird watching, watching the stars as I fell asleep inside the dome skylight on a bed that felt like a cloud. 10/10 (I am going back two more times this month on a girls trip and again to take my mom)

    See all

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    I also lost my money from this company. Do the right thing and return everyone's money. How do you sleep at night?

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    They Cancelled my booking for May and havent still got a refund up to now. cant get ahold of anyone from their office!

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Horrible service!!! Have been waiting for my refund for 9+ months. Can't get ahold of anyone

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 2

    3 years ago

    They cancelled my reservation in May and as of August 1st I still have not received my refund. extremely poor business practice.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Campgrounds 147 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Rainbow Valley Campground

    Rainbow Valley Campground

    2.0(1 review)
    8.9 km

    An owl was perched on a branch above our tent. Every dawn, almost on the cusp of sunbreak, an…read moreapparently racist murder of crows would gather around and intimidate said owl. They would squawk incessantly for minutes, then pause, only to be followed by a single taunting hoot from the owl, resulting in the murder riling up again. When we finally emerged from our tent several hours later, the owl was still perched above us, unmoved apparently from the night before, with a mess of crow feathers scattered about. This repeated each morning for three days; at no point did the crows realize that this was not an owl in which to screw with. We found out later the owl had a nest one tree away, so I thank it for not acknowledging us as a threat. That strangely humorous anecdote is my strongest memory from Rainbow Valley, a campground lodged inside of Edmonton. I mean "inside" of Edmonton, meaning despite having a tent, the night was obscured with light pollution and traffic noises never ceased. At least it was close to town. It's a solution for those people too cheap for a hotel (like us) or people with an expensive fifth wheel or RV they badly need to justify. For those with tents, there is no power, no internet access, which you should obviously expect if camping out of town. When surrounded by full bathroom, shower facilities, and streetlights INSIDE the campground, the lack of plug-in power was oddly notable. And there was a fire-ban in effect the first night. A note about security: the facility claimed to be safe, but at no point did we trust such a statement. Yes, it is fenced, and yes, there is a card-accessed gate at the entrance. What they don't have is a gate at the exit. Instead, there's only a collapsible spike strip easily circumvented by people walking. So I'd still keep everything in a car. The pro of being in a town is that you can forget about the threats of wild animals (which some people will take as a con), but it also means there are no nearby bodies of water. All you can do when you exit your tent is pile in a car and head into the city. If you stay, there's very little else other than cooking over a clumsy stove and getting drunk...which I do believe most of our neighbors ended up doing. You require some stimulation in the evening since there's a mind-numbingly absurd 11 pm curfew. No lies, the aforementioned card key does not work between 11 pm and 5 am, meaning if you show up late, you have to park outside the campground and walk to your tent. And since the office is open from nine to six, you can neither check in late nor check out early. But hey, it's three times cheaper than a hotel, so happy camping!

    Grant Notley Park

    Grant Notley Park

    4.0(3 reviews)
    12.0 km

    Grant Notley Park is a great little spot at the top of Victoria Park Hill. The view of the river…read morevalley here is fantastic. Looking south, you'd think Edmonton is just a giant park with a university in the middle of it. There are lots of benches and a few picnic tables and even a gazebo (which apparently you can rent through the City of Edmonton's website!). Despite all the traffic going by, it's still pretty quiet. This park also seems to be more popular with seniors and cyclists than with homeless people, at least compared to other parks in the downtown area. There's some metered parking nearby, but walk or bike if you can. It's good for you!

    Grant Notley is my favorite place in the city to take a gelato and soak up the view. It has…read moremultiple benches throughout that give you a different view of the valley and is well landscaped. They offer a gazebo for private bookings but it is open to the public and is a great place to wait out the rain if you are caught off guard. It is located right next to the historic LeMarchand Mansion that was built in 1910. The LeMarchand is one of Edmonton's most recognisable buildings and a welcome back drop to Grant Notley Park. The park is small by most standards as it takes up a little less than one square block but they have used the space quite effectively in my opinion. Along the south border there are benches that follow the edge of the valley with a few picnic tables located on the other side of the walkway amongst the trees. You get a good mix of people in the park both young and old mostly there to sip on a coffee and enjoy the view. It is not a park that is activity friendly though in my opinion as the grassy area is small and hilly with trees dotting the path. I have seen a ladies boot camp use it to do weight work but that's about it. The view of the sunset is quite amazing as well as the night sky, you will find it fills up quite quickly during warm evenings. If I could change one thing it would be the storm drain that is located in the North East corner of the park right off of the road as the smell can be quite strong if the wind catches it right. The next time you are walking down the Victoria Promenade I recommend crossing Victoria Park Road and checking it out.

    Photos
    Grant Notley Park
    Grant Notley Park
    Grant Notley Park - Some of the best River Valley views in the city!

    See all

    Some of the best River Valley views in the city!

    Devon Lions Campground

    Devon Lions Campground

    3.8(4 reviews)
    19.8 km

    I have been coming here for four years now and love this campground. It's so close to the city that…read moremy big kids can come out for what works for their schedules and drive back but I can stay longer. But it's nestled into the river valley that you can't even tell you are minutes from the town of Devon. There are great long-term spots, week or just weekend but book early because the campground does fill up. You can cancel within 48 hours of your date with a small penalty so that's a nice option. The campground is close to the river and hiking trails so make sure to bring a swimsuit and boots in order to take in all the activities! Otherwise sit around the fire (you can buy firewood at the front) and enjoy your getaway!

    I am surprised that living almost my whole life in Edmonton that I did not know of this campground…read more My friend decided to celebrate all 6 of our birthdays (past and future) for the year together (Las Vegas fell through), so this was her plan B. There was about 90 people coming (some camping and some just coming for the day). I was skeptical about any place accommodating that many people, but this place had a huge area. Rented a gazebo that had a mini kitchen with fridge and counters, as well as a huge fire pit in the middle, along with lots of benches. There is a big grassy field (and I mean BIG) to do lots of activity, as well as a small playground for the kiddies. You can either camp with tents or if you bring a trailer there is hook ups for water, power and toilet. And if you run of out supplies, you're practically in the town of Devon, so the grocery store is only about 3 minutes drive away. The biggest bonus is it being pretty much in the town of Devon, yet you feel like you're camping out int the mountains. As well, being only about 20 minutes from Edmonton (15 or so from Spruce Grove), you don't have to drive far. If people don't want to camp, they can just drop in for the day, lots of visitor parking.

    Snow Valley - Take the North lift and on top of the hill, she usually sits there and watches people ! :)

    Snow Valley

    3.5(22 reviews)
    9.1 km

    Went to snow valley for a skiing/snowboarding school field trip. Everyone was welcome on this field…read moretrip from people who have no experience to people who have been skiing/snowboarding for most of their life. At the beginning of the trip everyone was required to take lessons for an hour no matter skill level, after we completed this we would be allowed to free ski on designated hills based on skill level ( which some thought was inaccurate). Now here is the first of many issues we experienced, the instructors were unclear, rude and dismissive of the students. Some of many incidents include an instructor bumping into a student at full speed without apologizing or stopping to help in any way, this student was injured and lost a ski. The rules here were unclear and the instructors, without stating any of them, just expected us to know them all, and if they were stated, it was after a mistake was made by a student, or a student was yelled at because the rule was not addressed beforehand. I feel if I was an adult I would have been treated with more respect, not rushed, pushed, or yelled at. Only two of many instructors that I interacted with were kind and helpful, I wasn't able to catch their names but it's good to know that at least two people were genuinely good, still that's not a good ratio. As for general safety, when it was free time all the instructors left so students had no supervision. Students who shared their concerns or injuries to the instructors either got ignored or dismissed. They didn't check the skill levels on the tags that stated what hills they were permitted to ski/snowboard on, so students could go on improper hills and levels for their skill range. Multiple student's skis got taken by someone without the student or instructor's knowledge. And for cleanliness, oh boy. A lady just did 2 sprays of cleaning spray and was done, I don't know if this is normal, she did this for helmets and in the ski boots and called it a day, no inspection, no wiping down the boots, nothing. I lost my sock in the boot and thank goodness I noticed because the next person to get those boots would have found a sock, gross. When we got our proper shoes back they were thrown down with zero regard to students' belongings. The whole rental experience was awful. There was poor communication between everyone instructor-instructor instructor-student student-student throughout the day (mainly because students were unaware of what to do). It was a very stressful experience. Many students cried, and had panic attacks, I am aware of a student who was grabbed by the arm against their will while being upset. This is not something that I and many others want to see when skiing no matter what level or experience we are at. I am speaking on behalf of many students when I say that the day was confusing, stressful, anger inducing, and BAD. I do want to say that yes, it probably was a stressful day for the instructors because some kids can be jerks but I feel that when you sign up for that job you should be ready for anything without yelling, and being rude. Im not telling you not to come im just informing you of my experience and what you are spending your money on.

    I am kind of embarrassed to admit it... the last time I was at Snow Valley was probably two decades…read moreago... I can't believe it's been so long but I am very glad I have come back into the light! We went for an evening (6:30-9) which costs $15. They have two chairlifts, the magic carpet lift which you stand on (no idea what they're called), a bunny hill, the nice skiing hills, and a couple of trick areas. All the staff were awesome and the hill was in great condition. There were people of all ages skiing and snowboarding. The parking lot was pretty crazy when we got there (we had to park in overflow) but it definitely didn't feel packed on the hill. We got quite a few runs in within the time. If you're looking for a fun winter activity within our fine city, I would definitely recommend checking out Snow Valley!!

    Photos
    Snow Valley
    Snow Valley
    Snow Valley

    See all

    Urban River Adventures - campgrounds - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...