Their are 3 factors that effect the length of your adventure. The speed of the river is dependant on recent rainfall and season. The wind can make you travel faster or slower. Your paddle effort can range from NONE to AGRESSIVE. You can paddle downriver and reach the exit in less than 1.5 hours. You can relax and and explore the nature of the beautiful river and spend over 4 hours on the river. On the bottom run you can stop at the beautiful park and walk up the path to run the rapids several times. You customize your trip length to your liking. At the top of our home page we try to have up to date conditions including the float times of recent tubers. 

Our main trip runs every day with a safety briefing at 1pm. On weekends arrive 1 hour before briefing (12 noon) to register and get prepared. Weekdays 12:30 is fine.

As soon as the briefing is completed we run the shuttle. Once your driver gets back from their shuttle ride you can launch your tubes. 

If our main trip gets fully booked we can open a 4 pm trip. The booking page will only allow 4 pm bookings when the 1 pm trip is fully booked. 

Booking is highly recommended, so you can reserve your equipment on the day your group wants to go. Read the website and then click on the "Booking" button. Walk ins can only be accomodated if equipment and shuttle space is still available. Your booking can be postponed or adjustmented for any reasonable reason such as bad weather.     

If you like high intensity with fast flowing water and rapids at their peak, the best time is May. For some strange reason the Muskrat is far warmer than any other river in Canada so we are the first to open for tubing. We open when the water temp approaches room temperature by mid May and by August 2022 we recorded 90 F. In June the flow starts to slow down but the rapids aren't as intense. July and August are our peak season with the calmest flow (best for young children). Some weekends book up completely. September and Oct is off peak season so we are less busy but we get some of the best river conditions as the water rises. Sunny September days have provided the best conditions yet. We offer discounts before and after peak season. 

Children are all unique in their comfort with watersports. Children as young as 4 have giggled and enjoyed their entire tubing ride. Children as old as 10 have complained that the rapids were too scary. Parents know their children best and are in the best position to decide if this river tubing is suitable for their children. Even children are required to have their own tube. We had parents test the idea of sharing a tube with their small children but found 2 or more hours with a toddler on their lap was uncomfortable and said their children should have had their own tube. We can't put age requirements on river tubing because you are using equipment rented from us on a public river. We recommend strongly that each young child has 1 capable adult accompany them closely. You can hold onto the handle of their tube or use a short rope to keep them close. We try to have short pieces of rope handy for this. We strongly suggest that parents watch the videos of families floating through the rapids to guage if this is right for your family. We post dozens of videos with children of different ages on Facebook and Instagram. 

We want everyone to have a safe fun adventure, but there are some people that wouuld not have a safe or fun adventure.

If you can't swim you can still go tubing safely if you are wearing a PFD.

Tubing should never be done alone. Bring a buddy with you.

For your safety, you should not go tubing if your health or agility is not sufficient to get back into your tube if you fall out in the river. Tipping out of your tube is quite common, so if you have concerns, you should have an agile person accompany you closely for help.  

We are lucky to have 2 sections of the river to choose from. Both are 3.7 km long and consist of 70% smooth current, 30% fastwater or rapids. Both sections start out with about an hour of flat water. 

May: The Muskrat River is the warmest river in Canada. It reaches 90 degrees F by August. We start tubing as soon as the river approaches room temperature. Our earliest start was May 11th. The high spring water levels create a fast river with exhilerating rapids at several locations. It is common to get tipped out of your tube. The flat water sections are relaxing but move you along quickly. This is not the time to bring young children.  

June: When the high water slows down, the smooth current is calm and tranquil. The rapids are pretty exciting but even young children have a great time. 

July, October: The smooth current section is relaxing but the fast current and rapids are fun.

Plenty have worn their street clothing, but ideally you should have swimwear because you will certainly get wet. We suggest you arrive in your swimwear so you can skip the changeroom/washroom. Footwear is the most important consideration. Old running shoes are best. Watershoes or sturdy sandals are great. Flip flops, high heel stelletos or bare feet are strongly discouraged. There are some sharp objects on the river bottom. 

Our self guided river tubing is very affordable. 

Tube rentals: May: $22, June: $25, July-August $29, September-October $25 

Kayak Paddle rentals: $3 

PFD rentals: $3

PFDs and paddles are not manditory but highly recommended. (bring your own if you wish)

Shuttle Ride: $7 (only drivers need the shuttle to take your vehicle to the exit point)

Everyone must attend the safety briefing at 1pm. You must be here to register at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before the safety briefing. 

PFD's for children; it is important that a child's PFD fits properly so if you have a PFD that fits your child at home please bring it. If you don't have them, we has a small selection in various sizes. $3 rental

kayak paddles: We have some paddles for rent for $5, but if you have them already you should bring them and save some $. Paddles are a personal choice. Some prefer to let the river take them and don't want a cumbersome paddle with them. Most prefer having a paddle to manouver around the river. We don't have enough paddles for every tube we rent. 

Footwear: old running shoes and water shoes are best, sturdy sandals are ok, flip flops or bare feet are strongly discouraged because the bottom of the river could have sharp objects. 

towel: leave this in your vehicle so you can dry off after tubing

sunscreen/hats: The river is surrounded by shade trees but you will still gets lots of sun.

bugs spray: unlike most tubing rivers, we rarely see bugs on the Muskrat

Reusable drink container with a clip to tie on to your tubes handle. 

Washrooms are available at our shop, our gegular lower run has a porta potty at the park 1/2 way through and a porta potty at the parking lot where you exit. We expect most people find a simpler option as they float. Standard pool etiquette doesn't apply to rivers.  

The Muskrat River is a unique river that flows in the opposite direction than it should. It flows east for 70km parallel to the westward running Ottawa River at Pembroke, Ontario. Environment Canada has river monitoring stations on thousands of rivers in Canada. We are fortunate to have the Muskrat River station 500 metres from our property. It records water flow, water depth, and water temp. Every year records show that the Muskrat River is substatially warmer than every other river in Canada. We don't know if this is related to the backward direction of the river. 

Quick answer: Mostly shallow; 2-3 feet deep. Some spots are 6 to 10 feet deep. Some spot are 2-3 inches deep. We encourage anyone with PROPER FOOTWEAR to pick a spot to slip off your tube and get wet and even swim around in the natural river. Multiple shallow spots are 2-3 inches deep and some tubers get stuck. no big deal; stand up and move down a few feet. Only people with river tubes can expore this section of the river so there is abundant wildlife to see.

Long answer: The depth of the water depends heavily on the season and recent rainfall. Changes from May to August is almost 24 inches. The Muskrat River is generally shallow. We have a river monitoring station 500 metres up river from our property. We use 2 sections of the Muskrat. If the bottom section gets too shallow for tubing, we switch to the top section. Both are 2.7 km long. Generally you will experience 99.5 percent of the river to be 9 inches to 10 feet. The remaining .5 percent are the spot were you may get stuck even on a river tube. The Muskrat could arguably rated #1 in the world for having 5 out of five fetures for a river tubing river.

The headwaters (starting point) of the Muskrat River is an area called "The Garden of Eden" near Renfrew Ontario. The water you will be floating in may be "holy water"! Please advise anyone in your group to dip a toe in the water before jumping in. We don't want anyone bursting inyo flames. LOL Serioud;y tho, The water travel through a marsh 8km before our property. Marshes are considered as the erth's natural filter, so the water is very clean. The river is usually clear enough to see the bottom for up to 4 or 5 feet. It gets cloudy for a day or 2 after a heavy rain.  

We ask all our guests to tell us about their trip when they drop off their tubes. It's a narrow river with trees surrounding you on both sides. You would think you were in the middle of a forest instead of the center of Pembroke. They tell us about many species of fish they see under them. They see turtles and muskrats on the shore. They see geese, ducks, blue herons, hawks, egrets and more. One person floated by a deer having a drink on the upper section. You pass under 7 bridges on the lower section including town hall and you will hear the church bells or clock tower ocassionally. 

We chose the best type of tube for your enjoyment. Many guests that have used other tubes say they prefer ours. We chose tubes that have a full bottom to keep your bottoms from slipping through the donut hole. The tubes have a headrest so you can lean back and relax. Tubes without backrests get uncomfortable after 2 or 3 hours. 

We don't accommodate guests to bring their own tubes from home because only rental fees for tubes contribute to our property and expenses and wages. PFDs, paddles and the shuttle service are done "AT COST" to make your adventure more fun and convenient. 

Yes, several people have had scrapes and bruises from their tubing adventure. Most injuries occured when they capsized in the shallow rapids. Wearing a pfd may have reduced the injury. Some injuries occured while getting into and out of the river. Our First Aid Kit still has the original package of bandaids, so injuries are quite rare. 

The term "lazy river" is usually used to describe man made rivers designed by archetects in water parks. They sometimes have fake trees and animal statues to make them look natural.

We describe our experience as an adventure on a wild, natural river with long lazy sections between the exciting rapids. Your adventure will have natural features that challenge you. You may need to traverse on steep paths, or muddy trails. You may need to launch your tube from a slippery rock. You may need to duck under low tree branches. You may need to hold on tight in the rapids while the current speeds up around shallow rocks. You may need to paddle to avoid a shallow spot in the river. You may need to wiggle to get over a shallow rock or stand up to move to deeper water. You may need to step in deep mud as you exit the river. The wildlife you see on your adventure is real. 

Short answer: Many people have enjoyed tubing even when it rains, but we are happy to reschedule your booking if you choose. 

Long Answer: The weatherman has forcasted 90% chance of rain on many days and we get tonnes of people cancelling. The actual forcast was 90% chance of rain between 7pm and 10 pm. Ignore the forcast. The chance of rain in your 2-3 hour trip from 1 pm to 3 pm is VERY low.

Be tough! Tube in the rain.

Thunderstorms: In 4 years we have had 3 when tubers were out. Cancel if you are concerned for your safety.

Safety Briefing: 1) Exit the river onto the nearest shore. 2) place your long metal paddles away from you 3) hold your inflated rubber tubes over your head and sing songs, tell funny stories or jokes until the lightning stops. 

Lower Limit: no (please refer to "age limit" in FAQ)

Upper Limit: No (please refer to "who should not go river tubing" in FAQ) We put no limits on upper weight limits for our tubes. We don't have weight restrictions for renting our tubes, however heavy people will sit lower in the water and get stuck on shallow spots more often. Your adventure down the river could result in falling out of the tube into the river and you will need to have the capability of getting back safely into your tube by yourself or with people from your group. 

We will make special allowance for a dog of moderate to small size to accompany you. You must pay for a tube rental for the dog whether you use the tube or not. You will need to show us that the tube has been returned without punctures. 

Yes, but we offer them as an add on so you can bring your own paddle to save $3. 

We highly recommend drinks on the river to keep hydrated. Bring a reusable drink container with a loop so you can tie it to the handle of your tube. Food on the river is highly discouraged because it is very awkward and usually falls in the river. It is important that no one leaves litter in the river.