Float Down the Chipola River With Bear Paw
Located about an hour outside of Tallahassee, the Chipola river is a spring fed run that makes a great day trip for anyone who is looking to spend some time outside. Bear Paw is an adventure company based in Marianna, Florida that offers full service river trips including drop off and pick up. Canoes can be rented for $40-$45 per canoe. While this may seem expensive, all canoes are 2 person boats so it boils down to about $20 per person.
More popular in the summer, the tubing trip with Bear Paw takes 3-4 hours, and is a lazy float down the Chipola River. Tube rental is $15 per person, and the tubes are the old-fashioned black rubber kind, so the trip feels a bit nostalgic. This river float differs from many others around the state in that food, drink and alcoholic beverages are allowed on the river, provided visitors rent a tube with a cooler for an extra $14. To those looking to save a few bucks however, this expense can be avoided by simply eating lunch before tubing down the river. Further information and directions can be found here.
One comment on “Float Down the Chipola River With Bear Paw”
Terrible Customer service! I’ve been down BearPaw over a dozen times and I have never been treated like I was today.
I went this morning with two friends who were renting floats and I had my own. When we asked if I would be able to get in the shuttle with my friends who rented floats, I was informed VERY rudely that i would have to pay $10 or get dropped off at the other end of the river.
In a private side conversation to my friend, I said it was a “gouge” and that I didn’t want them to pay an extra $10 (since I didn’t have my wallet), just drop me off.
The owner over heard me and immediately began screaming at me. She yelled at me for at least 5 minutes before my friend asked her why she was still yelling at me. At that point we were kicked off of their property, all over a small comment about a $10 fee.
I recommend buying your own float and using the public access bank, just so you don’t have to deal with the extremely rude owners of this business.