Big Bear Adventures - Indian River, Michigan

Amber Connell

Our family of 4 (2 kids 10 & 13) went on the one hour small raft excursion on a Thursday afternoon in July. I selected our time and paid online. Very easy. I filled out all the forms and wavers online too. All we had to do was show up at the designated time. Check in was smooth. We had to wait a while for transport up river because there was supposedly another group coming that never showed up. Three of us got in the van and my husband drove our car to Burt Lake and parked. We picked him up and drove to the drop off location. The driver told us the river was high, making it closer to the obstacles and faster flowing. He took our raft and paddles out and left us saying we could call if we needed help. We got in the raft and right away there was a tight curve and an obstruction... A fallen tree with a lot of branches. We went right toward it because we were still figuring out our process and didn't know what we were doing. We hit the branches and everyone tried to duck. I fell backwards into the raft and lost my paddle. We got to the other side of the river and held on to another branch. My husband had to get out and retrieve my paddle. Our kids were terrified. They wanted to stop. One had a panic attack. We got our bearings and decided to try again and if things didn't go well we could call for pickup. By that time another raft and several tubing groups went by. We started after them. Their jovial attitudes helped a lot. We figured out our paddling really quickly and the rest of the trip was easy and fun. By the time we got to Indian River we were mostly floating more slowly with very few obstructions. We beached at the landing site and carried our equipment out of the water and up the stairs. Our car was a short walk away in the Burt Lake day use parking. Despite the stressful beginning, we had a good time and would do it again. This was the route and craft recommended for kids of all ages. But I don't think we were really prepared for how swift the water would be moving, the tight turns and obstacles.

John Dukarski-French

Great ride down the river. We did four people in the five person raft and it was very fun. We didn’t tip. Everybody else we know and kayaks did except for one person. Would definitely recommend this and do it again.

Jessica

Always a fun time at Big Bear! Friendly staff who are very knowledgeable about the river and will gladly adress any concerns you may have. Took my friends who have never been and they loved it. Already planning our next trip hopefully soon. Be aware that you will have to do some work while navigating the river but nothing that couldn't be handle be a kick or slight push off!

Jessica Huyck

Bumper boats is the best!! My tall 5 year old is too short for the ropes course obstacle so we got him and the girls ice cream while my 8 year old went. We live locally but it's a favorite after school gets out just once a summer as it can get pricey.

J F

Fun Time tubing the river, but this is not a lazy river to casually float! You need to be paying attention for obstacles above and below the water. We did have kids in our group (ages 6-16) that never tubed or canoed a river previously and the start of this trip was very overwhelming for them. All have been in and around water and know how to swim, but where we started the float was very fast and had a lot of trees. after the first 15-30 min they all got the hang of it and had a lot of fun as well!
Tying tubes together is not recommended for large groups, but we did alright keeping 2-3 together without any issues.

Overall very fun experience and would recommend, but we did have some issues to start our trip. As soon as we walked in the doors to the store, the workers seemed very overwhelmed and there is a lot of chaos even though I do not think they were really that busy. when we were paying and going through all of the rules and processes, we paid for all of our tubes including 2 cooler tubes. Those two tubes got left off our paperwork that we had to take from the store, drive our car around the building, give it to someone else who helps load the tubes and drives to the drop off spot. We reminded the driver of the cooler tubes that were not on the paper work, drove 10 minutes to the drop point and realized we were missing one tube. The driver had to go all the way back while we waited at the river. I don’t think this was his fault, it seems their process could be streamlined to set them up for more success.

Diane Oppenheiser

We went on the Winter Rafting trip this past weekend. It was so much fun...we plan to do it again! Our guide, Tanner, was very knowledgeable and showed how much he truly loves his job and the great outdoors. The scenery was beautiful. If you are thinking about a winter raft trip...DO IT! You won't regret it!!!

Emiliya Botvinik

Great experience with Big Bear Adventure on winter rafting. It was very much fun and very safe. I would highly recommend this unique winter activity for all ages, just make sure to wear proper clothing.

Pam Gove

We had a GREAT time on our winter raft trip!! I would recommend this trip to anyone looking to have an experience with their family. We did this as a Christmas experience... it was GREAT!!! Our guide (Tanner) was amazing. Thank you Big Bear Adventures!