Inner-tubing near Philadelphia?

July 23, 2009 7:19 AM

Where can we go tubing near Philadelphia?

We're looking for as little activity as possible this weekend, and lying in an inner tube drifting down a river sounds pretty much ideal. We live in Philadelphia. Any recommendations on inner-tubing establishments within a reasonable (hour and a half, say) drive of the city?

Many bonus points if any of these places will let us bring a cooler full of beer, though I'm beginning to suspect that there is a state law against it. (No idea about neighboring states, though...)

posted by catesbie to sports, hobbies, & recreation (7 comments total)

On the Delaware.
posted by amro at 7:38 AM on July 23

I prefer the Brandywine myself. It's so idyllic.

I've never used the service; we always just took a group, brought our own tubes, and parked a car (or many cars, depending on the size of the group) at the exit point. Hence, there was no one around to tell us not to take coolers full of booze.

FYI, the route traverses the Delaware/Pennsylvania border many times, I believe, so you should take the laws of both states into account if you're worried about it.

If you want more info on how to do this without paying for the service, memail me. I've done it quite a few times.
posted by nosila at 7:51 AM on July 23

Seconding the Delaware, and suggesting two coolers full of beer. It sucks to run out.
posted by bink at 8:15 AM on July 23

I can't vouch for it personally but one of my coworkers just went here http://www.palaceoutfitters.com/ which is in the Pine Barrens and said it was a lot of fun.
posted by interplanetjanet at 8:35 AM on July 23

Here's the memail I sent to the OP:

OK, here's a map and the spiel:

We always got (past tense because I just moved from Philly) in at the Brandywine River Museum and toobed down to the Brandywine State Park at Thompsons Bridge Road, where there's a big parking area. I believe you have to pay a little to park at both ends. (To be clear, you will have to have two cars for this. Depending on the size of the group, you can figure out logistics, etc., but you'll need to leave a car at the exit point and entry point.)

This makes for quite a long ride...maybe six-eight hours, depending on how fast the river is moving. (You should absolutely check this and be sure you're good to go, considering how much it's been raining this year.) Do not do what my group always did and start at noon...you'll be cold and probably kinda pissy by the time you get out.

One option I considered for my next tubtastic extravaganza was to make it a shorter trip and enter at/near Smiths Bridge Road, which you can see on the map. I believe that there is a parking lot near there, and there's a beach where there are always tons o' people hanging out. A lot of people (including the shorter tours, I think?) exit there, so if you start there you won't come across nearly as many folks. Sorry I can't give you better directions...I never parked there, so I'm not sure exactly how to find the lot and the beach.

If you've never tubed before, here's some important information:
1) Get a decent tube. These cannot be found at Wal-Mart. You have to go to a pool supply store. They're about $15 or $20. The Brandywine is really shallow, which makes for more safe drunk tubing (it's hard to drown when you can stand), but also means that your tube is bound to contact rocks.
2) Bring a patch kit!! It'll probably come with the tube.
3) Bring some sort of air pump. Not totally necessary, but helpful.
4) Get some sort of floatie with a bottom (kid's boat, whatever) for your cooler. Tie this to someone's tube.
posted by nosila at 9:58 AM on July 23

How about the Schuylkill River?
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 10:01 AM on July 23

Thanks for the help everyone! I think in the future we'll try going it alone on the Brandywine, per nosila's recommendation, but given we're doing this in two days and I can't be bothered to track down my own equipment at this point it'll be Palace Outfitters this time. Something about the Famous River Hot Dog Man at the other place sort of puts the fear of God into me a little.
posted by catesbie at 7:02 PM on July 23