Cool River Tubing

We tubed with Helen Tubing, which was great for the most part. But I’m giving Cool River a one star because they really messed up our tubing trip. Apparently, they allow as many as eight people to tether to each other, creating a massive tube that will get stuck at EVERY possible rock, causing those behind them on the river to get stuck as well. Very annoying. To the girls form the sorority (all 80 of you), you’re not so important as to make everyone behind you get stuck. Helen Tubing limits tethering to two tubes, limiting how others downstream are affected.

I have never done tubing so wasnt sure about what to expect. We got 2 tubes and strapped it to eachother and a stick. You need the stick to push yourself away from rocks or you will have to get into the water.
At the time we went, 2 weeks ago, the water was pretty low so felt the rocks on our backs but fun nonetheless. Staff is friendly and though it was crowded they work fast.

We loved it! We took our kids (ages 4 & 7) & they had a blast! So much fun! We tethered 1 adult to 1 child. Worked very well. More than 2 would’ve made maneuvering river too difficult. This was perfect! Very friendly and helpful staff! This place runs like clockwork. We will be back!
My advice …
You will get wet!
You will get stuck, but it’s easy to get loose.
Leave your keys & license at desk so you don’t lose them in the river.
Have each adult buy a stick.
Wear swim shoes (rocks are slick & gross)
Nice place to change clothes.
Get there early … no later than 10am to avoid MAJOR crowds & lines.
If the water level is low, stick with the short run (staff can tell you)
Happy Tubing !!!

Lots of fun and very cheap. Do the 2 hour tour. Be careful when you get out of the tube because the rocks are super slippery. Have fun.

Had a great time this past Sunday. The girls at checkout were awesome. They were quick and helpful. Heck. I even liked our bus driver. Funny guy. The buses were constantly picking up… Like as one was loading. The other was waiting. We did the long route this time and really enjoyed it. It was packed but it kind of made it more fun.

I brought my 3 year old daughter and she had so much fun. It was nice and relaxing, except when you get stuck between rocks and you have try to get yourself out! I recommend getting those stick they sell you to help you get un-​stuck. It cost only $ 5. I also recommend going on a weekday because I heard it gets crowded on the weekend! (I went on a Thursday for my birthday) It was a great experience! Definitely will be coming back!

Good, cheap fun. You’re sure to have a good time as long as you don’t mind how crowded it is. When you first arrive, you’ll see a huge parking lot, tons of people, and several buses shuttling people to the starting point. You could attempt to avoid as big of a crowd by going early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
You go inside the gift shop & purchase the tubing trip you want at any register. They have long & short trips. We decided to get all day tubing for $ 9. You can also buy sticks at the register for $ 5 each. Very helpful for when you get stuck. There are also lockers available for $ 2, and there are changing rooms.
After paying, you head to the outside building to get your tube & a life jacket (if you need one) and head to the bus. It was about a 10 minute bus ride for the long trip.
This was my first time tubing. Not as relaxing as I had envisioned. It’s a bit straining on the neck when you have to keep lifting your head up to see if you’re going to bump into another tuber… or a rock… or a tree branch. The actual tubing trip ended up lasting around 1.5 hours. The time varies depending on how fast the water is moving. Overall, I did enjoy myself and would probably go again.

Had a lot of fun tubing the weekend. It was only $ 5.35 a person to tube, which is super cheap. However they charged $ 5 to buy a stick (which was greatly needed) and you get to keep the stick, yay! (Sarcasm) I refused to pay the $ 5, I think they should rent it out to you for $ 2 with the option to buy it if you choose or if you lose it for $ 5 or something because that’s a little ridiculous. The river was a little low so we were constantly getting stuck and yes you needed a stick but luckily we used good olé nature and got our sticks for free! It was nice having the shuttle take you up the river and drop you off. Not to mention the driver was a good time! This is definitely worth doing. They have an hour option and a two hour option for tubing. If you come this summer, get ready for a work out! There’s a lot of rocks. The river could use a good foot of water in it. All in all, great fun with family or friends of all ages!

A HUGE thank you to Cool River! I really don’t have the vocabulary to show my appreciation for this business and can only hope this review will bring them your business. They really provide EXCELLENT customer service coupled with people who really do care about your welfare!.The river is great fun in a tube but I am telling you this place is heads and tails above their competition. We had the misfortune of using their competitor initially. The competition stopped running busses back to their starting point (where all of our belongings were) at 1245 and said they would not run another bus until 330. Thank goodness for the Owner and people working at Cool River. They didn’t have to help us (half our group no shoes including small children and of course we had basically no money with us) but they were so nice to us and showed genuine concern and helped us out. Again thank goodness that businesses like this still exist! They allowed us to hitch a ride and were able to run their buses up to their drop off allowing for us to walk about 100 feet down the road instead of a dangerous 3 mile hike the competitor said we needed to make!
There will be no question to what place I will use for tubing in the future. Don’t be a fool take yourself to Cool River and skip the competition.

Cool River Tubing is a business I used over ten years ago and they still deliver high quality and great service! The tubes we rented were in great shape and the staff was friendly, although a little young and distracted. The 2-​hour trip is the one to take, and make sure to arrive around 9:30am because there are no lines, no wait, AND we beat the enormous crowds that began arriving around 11am. Not to mention a great parking space! Definitely a source of affordable fun!

My favorite summer activity. Plus it’s cheap.
If you plan to go, I’d try to go when people are starting to go. That way it’s not crowded. They do have sticks for you if you get stuck/​too many tubes are around and you gotta get off a rock!
They have buses to drive you to course 1 and 2. 1 is shorter while 2 is longer. My friends and I usually take course 2. NOTE: BRING WATER SHOES. Otherwise you may risk stepping on random rocks while walking through the river. They’re like 10 bucks at Wally World. I rather spend 10 bucks than worry about my feet.
A very fun activity for families + friends trip. I have come here every summer since… 2009? I forget. Always a blast though!
I can’t say enough. Helen is GORGEOUS. I’d love to live in this city for a few years when I get older. I’ve been to Helen multiple times. Each time, I leave happy & refreshed from life.
But err, I did stay in cabin a few times… and I got paranoid. Go with friends for sure :) Besides that random paranoia, I have great memories.

A lot of fun! The tubes have bottoms so you don’t get too wet. It felt perfect with the 80 degree weather and cool creek. The «rapids» were fun. Wear water shoes or buy them cheap at the check in. Also the walking sticks are a must in order to get you off a rock or bank. Great clean and affordable fun!

Definitely a good time. Unfortunately the river was low when I went, so only the shorter tour was available. Wish they could’ve offered a longer trip somehow. I would’ve given them a higher rating if it wasn’t for the Main Street location failing to tell us that the shuttle would take a half hour and would take us directly to the river. So we had to take the shuttle to their outpost, rent a locker, and wait to be taken to the drop off point. We could have easily driven, or even walked, to the outpost and saved ourselves 45 minutes.

Well organized establishment, very dog friendly. Seemed new and well kept. Equipment was all in good shape. Either bring your own or purchase stick, they are a must or you will be getting out of your tube the entire time… We caught it at the end of the season so wasn’t too busy but I’m sure it does get packed. We brought our dogs, had no issues. They had a blast!

I’ve always loved tubing, but this place wasn’t the best. It seems nearly impossible to tube on such a shallow river. This place gives you sticks if you get stuck in the river, but sometimes that doesn’t even work. Very disappointing. The scenery, however, almost makes up for the tough trip through the river. The river goes through the town of Helen. Helen is a gorgeous town, and a nice back drop for tubing. Another thing I didn’t like was the fact that the locals were skipping rocks, and fishing in the same part of the river the tubers were in. It made it hard to maneuver in a tube. Not sure if i’d go back.

My family and I went here for the weekend, this was our first time here and we are hooked. amenities were awesome, the staff was friendly and helpful. plenty of parking and a great way to cool off and enjoy a relaxing trip down the Hooch River. short trips are $ 3.00, all day pass is $ 8.00 and all day pass with water park is $ 15.00. plenty of free parking and shuttle bus service back and forth.

Three hours of fun and excitement and near death experiences for only $ 20. Total. For three people. That includes a push stick, which we would have been screwed without.
The tubes were in great shape and the price was definitely right.
The only downfall was that the river was way too shallow and there were entirely too many people. This led to several spots where people got jammed up, and frankly it was kind of dangerous. People were getting flipped out of their tubes and run over by the mobs of people who, though no fault of their own, just kept on coming.
On the bright side, I ended up with a very good, much needed ab workout from all the pushing off of stuff with my stick. We had three people strapped together, and that’s a good amount of weight to get off the rocks.
Fun time, though, and a longer ride than the other company in town. Well worth the extra $ 2.

Parents of small children, please read this!
We were here yesterday. The business itself is clean and well run. Nice facilities and friendly staff. I have no compaints about the company at all, but wanted to leave a review so others with small children would have this information.
I was tubing with a not quite 4 year old and my 7 year old as well as a friend. My 4 year old’s tube was tethered to mine. About 10 minutes in, we hit one of the mini-​rapids. His tube flipped over, and he was rapidly swept away. Because he was so light and wearing a life jacket of course, the current swept him downstream much faster than I could go. I could not get to him. The water was very shallow, maybe 6 – 8 inches, but the current was strong enough that he could not stop himself or even sit in the water. Luckily another man tubing ahead of us stopped and caught him. It was a terrifying 5 minutes. He could easily have been seriously hurt or drowned. We were very, very fortunate.
My 7 year old also flipped her tube at the same spot but was able to stand up and get to us. She was badly scratched up, and so was I from scrambling over the rocks on my hands and knees. Needless to say both the kids and I were pretty traumatized and we got out of the river pretty quickly. Cool River picked us up and took us back to their facility.
My advice to parents:
— Do NOT take children younger than 5 – 6. They must be good swimmers and strong enough to stand up in the current if they flip. My son is very tall for his age and has had swim lessons, but he still was not able to fight the current or get up.
— Children younger than 8 should be tethered to an adult’s tube. My daughter kept getting seperated (even before the flip) and was very anxious. We wished Cool River had suggested that she be tethered, but they didn’t.
— A push stick is essential for navigating when you are tethered.
I have been on the river many times before, as a teen and young adult. I’ve always had a great time and never felt unsafe. So if you have pre-​teens or teens, this is a great way to relax and stay cool. But for preschool and children — please — wait until they are older. Don’t risk it.

Great get away trip for the day.
Has two points, long and short. Long is 2 – 3 hours and Short is 1 – 2 hours.
Points to keep in mind:
1) With the very heavy temperatures and little rainfall the river is rather shallow
2) See item 1, make sure you bring a push stick with you. If you forget they are cheap at the location
3) Bring solid sole shoes, be that tennis shoes or water shoes.
4) Do not bring flip flops you will lose them
5) Ask for a tube with a seal, do not ask for an open tube if you are my size. Being 6’6″ thou ass will hit rock on bottom rather hard, thus ass pain.
6) Pack your food in a cooler, thus when finished family or group of friends can gather at picnic tables and enjoy a relaxed evening. If you do not bring cooler with chow, being peak season you will have much frustration bringing family or groups to local restaurants due to traffic and lack of parking.
7) Pack some dry clothing. The location does have private dressing rooms for one to change after tubing, for tubing will get you rather wet. Nice dry clothing and drawers will make for a comfortable lunch (see number 6) vs., sitting there in soggy bottoms and a case of itchy ass.
8) For quick reference you will park across the street, it is free. You will load up on an old Blue Bird School Bus for your drop destination and finish back at your car.
9) Bring dry canister. If you don’t buy one at the store $ 4.00 at the location. This will keep your car keys dry and if you have electronic keys as most do now, you want to keep them dry.
10) Cost, this is about the cheapest entertainment you can go to and wonderful if you have kids. Try $ 5.00! And if you have a dog, rent them a tube too!
11) Back to food, I like food. If you do not bring a lunch and you do not want to eat in Helen, and you plan to head back to the dirty city when finished. Then stop in Cleveland, GA, not Ohio, and have some good eats at the Creekside Deli!
Enjoy!

Finally, tubing for a MAN. Also kids. And women. Mmmm.anyone.
Sure, you still get a hot colored tube and you still ride a school bus up to the drop point upriver — but you tube with a STICK. From the EARTH. That’s right, no wussy manmade water features here — this is tubing in the wilderness of North Georgia.
Watch out for rocks, watch out for «rapids», and watch out for trees. Use that stick as much as possible to keep yourself on the most optimal path down the Chattahoochee. Appeal to your competitive nature and race your family, friends, and/​or significant others down the river — just don’t use your stick like its made of titanium or its likely to snap in half while you push off a giant rock.
It’s not very expensive, and you can do this all day long. The water will most likely be cold, so get ready for that — and be prepared to tip over at some point. Bring your own stick, lose the flip flops, and have a good time.
When i’m in the area in the summer, this place is packed. It’s a far cry from the lazy river at Six Flags — but sometimes its nice to enjoy the wilderness like Mother Nature intended.
…In a big bright tube.