4 Incredible River Tubing Trips to Take This Summer in Iowa

The Fourth of July is almost here, and that means summer is in full swing! With so many huge Iowa summer events off the table this year, why not take advantage of our beautiful rivers and get out tubing! If you need some ideas of where to go, let me help you.

Here’s four incredible river tubing trips to take this summer in Iowa:

Upper Iowa River – Chimney Rock Campground – Cresco

A beautiful location to camp, and check out the sights. A few years back, National Geographic’s Adventure Magazine recognized this particular area of Iowa and noted the remarkable beauty within it. Worth the fairly short trip to Cresco, the county seat for Howard County.

Raccoon River- Raccoon River Excursions – Des Moines

Obviously it’s a roughly 2 and a half hour (car) hike down to Des Moines, but chances are if you’ve lived in the Cedar Valley all, or most of your life, you haven’t tried tubing on the Raccoon River. Raccoon Rive Excursions ask that you plan your trip well in advance and prepare for at least 4-5 hours of floatin’ time. Though, they say some customers will be out for a full 7 hours.

Iowa River – Rock-Row Adventures – Eldora

Located only about an hour from Waterloo, Eldora may be a tiny town with a population of less than 3,000, but they do have the might Iowa River in their backyard. Oh, and the Hardin County Fairgrounds. Rock-n-Row rents tubing equipment for shorter 3-5 hour floats down the Iowa River. As an added bonus, they have a shuttle to the starting point. Oh, they also serve as a campground AND music venue during non COVID-19 times.

Wapsipinicon River – River Dock Canoe Rental – Independence

Independence Iowa is not far! In fact, we have many listeners in the mighty county seat of Buchanan County. So you may already be familiar with River Dock’s rentals. YOu can snag a tube and float as far as you’d like. They will even deliver and pick up your rented tubes at your location along the Wapsipinicon River within 20 miles of the town of Independence at no additional charge on weekends. Take advantage of this great opportunity to tube and save!