Nice place to go for a picnic or a hike down the trails , can even camp out if you like, we usually…read morego during the week when less people have lunch and fish a little

A great place for the "outdoorsy" types! You can camp, fish, hike, picnic, and there is a free…read moreboat launch area. Good fishing along the river. You do compete with the river traffic, such as speed boats and barges, but we were able to catch fish. The grounds are pretty clean overall and you experience the a plethora of river foul. I also saw four water moccasins, so you should use some care along the waters edge.

I have mixed feelings about this kayak tour company. I signed up because although I'm a very…read morecapable and seasoned kayaker, I didn't know this river and I like learning about the ecosystems and local wildlife. For this reason I like having tour guides. Going up the river was fine. Coming back went a bit sour. I went as slow as I was capable of paddling or not paddling, but apparently it was too fast for the preference of our tour guide. I was barely touching the water with my paddle. I have no idea how I could have gone any slower. It wasn't humanly possible. After shouting at me several times, he took to chasing me down and ramming my kayak so it'd spin in circles. Would I rent a kayak here and kayak the river alone? Yes. Would I personally use a tour guide here? No I wouldn't. Would I recommend? If you're a family with little kids or a drunk sorority house, absolutely. If you know what you're doing, just go it alone. You'll probably enjoy it more. Edit: If the tour guide had concerns for group safety, he could have said so. Although ramming my kayak with his seems to be a bit of a conflict as far as my safety goes. It was an unprofessional approach when he could have simply explained why he needed me to slow down

It almost seemed like a dream. From the very start, cruising through a large patch of lotus plants,…read moreit felt otherworldly. Very peaceful, going at our own pace. Enjoyed the cliff walls of Buffalo Rock and the shallow waters of some side passages. We paddled for 5 hours, covering 8 miles total. After we were done we headed to charming, historic downtown Utica for drinks and dinner at Skoog's Pub & Grill in North Utica, IL. I was impressed with the logistics and operation of the kayaking experience, from the guide* to the equipment and online booking process. *Full disclosure, the guide was my twin sister, but I am being objective...seriously.

Great get away from town to the Park. Pretty big menu with good food and friendly service…read moreoverlooking Dawson Lake! Casual dining. Recommended!!

The food is consistently good! I have tried several different entrees here and would highly…read morerecommend each of them! Always friendly service, this is a family run business. When you walk in they seem happy to see you. Love the ambiance at this restaurant, whether you sit inside or outside you can look out over the lake. My favorite is to sit on the back deck. Highly recommend this restaurant! Come out to the lake!!

Just went with a group of 9. We had a blast! I've always wanted to go and a great friend…read morecoordinated the trip. The entire process from booking, checking in, bus ride to drop off and checking back in was super easy. Everyone was helpful and friendly. I can not wait to do it again

Super nice staff with a friendly environment. Had a great time with my girlfriend, very beginner…read morefriendly and good quality kayaks

The water level and rapids was perfect today for my first time experiencing whitewater rafting…read more We arrived a little after 9am, we made reservations ahead of time and there was a couple of big groups checking in ahead of us. The process was quick, check in, sign waiver forms, get your paddle, life vest and helmet and you're ready to go. Before we got in the water we got some instructions how to go down the main rapids: Wildcat Falls, Lone Star Dam and the Narrows. The Wildcat falls, go towards the right of the river, aim center of the two giant boulders and go down left. Most people went way right down it and got stuck at the bottom boulder and some fell in the water. We manage to go down successfully after watching a few rafters. The Lone Star Dam, stay close to the right side to go down it. The rest of the dam has a under tow that can be really dangerous and can pin you down specially if you go down sideways. The Narrows, make sure to hit it straight on and just ride the rapids. That was my favorite section. Yes, this can be dangerous. Just follow the instructions, ask a lot of questions and know your ability. Their is no guide on the raft with you. Tips before going. -Make sure to watch the safety video first, link provided on their website. -Make sure to check the water level and speed at the US coastguard link provided on their website as well. -Lastly know your ability or skills/experience paddling/kayaking/rafting. -I also watched a few YouTube videos to have an idea of the areas mentioned above. -They only accept cash or check. Today, 6/8/19, the water level was 8 feet deep and flowrate of 1500. Classified as Class 3. There was a huge group of boys scouts out the same time we did it and everyone got through it safely and had fun.

I went white water rafting yesterday and it is seriously beautiful! So much wildlife, nature and…read morethe path is very nice you can even see a waterfall at the end, it is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing or go alone but go in a group and research before you do this activity you will be fine. It is kind of sad that there is garbage every now and then left on land, people ruining the nature but still beautiful for the most part. As other reviews state, avoid the dam area , paddle to the right.

We had an amazing time playing paintball. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. I would…read morehighly recommend stopping by.

Great time! All went smoothly thanks to Larry!…read moreWill rent kayaks again. And be sure to check out restaurant too!

The staff is so nice and accommodating. The equipment is good. We come back every year!read more

Ckg in was no problem. We had 14 in our group, with life jackets, coolers, personal packs, and had…read moreto cram into a van that seats 12 - not a good experience. Arrived at launch 'area' ~ side of the road with @ least a 30 deg. downslope of jagged rocks to the river's edge. Our driver (Dan) off loaded canoes from the trailer rack & we were left to take them down to the river, along with all of our gear! WTF? It wasn't safe for my 62 y.o. self & my 50 y.o. brother didn't need to be manipulating the heavy aluminum canoes (6 of them). Additionally, it wasted a lot of time that we could've been on the water. End of trip wasn't better. Off loaded at a small beach area within a campground. The van/trailer was backed up to beach area, but we had to go ashore about 8 paces before the beach because there we a bunch of kidz playing in the water. Again, our group had to unload our stuff from canoes AND haul them up a berm & over to the trailer (Dan may have moved 1). It was quite obvious he copped an attitude, by his changed demeanor from our interaction with him @ beginning of trip. We had no idea why the change, but didn't imagine it had anything to do with us. Upon returning to the office to ck out, we were told to hang up our 14 life vests (been on a lot of canoe trips & never had to do the staffs' jobs before - smh). As our group was in the lot saying goodbye to one another, one member approached me to say 'I know why Dan was angry when he picked us up. I heard him tell the lady behind the desk that we didn't go ashore at the beach right by his trailer, so he had to haul the canoes over to it.'. SMH We tried this business on the Kankakee River to save us drive time to Tippecanoe River (riverside rentals), which has been our 'go to' for the last few years. We'll be going back to them now & I won't complain about the drive time (lol). MUCH better service (staff puts canoes in & takes them out), $20/canoe cheaper & they're fiberglass so they're lighter), they use a short school bus to transport which provides plenty of room for our group/gear. And, at the end (knowing we're pooped out) they even help us remove our gear from the canoes! Note; the kankakee river route wasn't woodsy (residential) & was often parallel to back roads which were busy with cars/motorcycles - so noisy as well, there were speed boats zooming all over near the beach area where we needed to go ashore, and there weren't ANY good places to stop to stretch or have lunch - too high embankments & MUCK 6" deep (we were told there were plenty of island to stop at - sure, you can stop but you can't access islands). We were also told there was a good current, which was only true in a very few areas where the water was shallow so we didn't appreciate the heavy canoes. All in all it was a lot of work for us & a big disappointment :(

We had an awesome time today! The whole crew was so helpful and informative. Definitely recommendread more

From the owner: We are a Raft Rental business located in Oglesby, Il. We rent single tubes, double tubes and…read morecooler tubes for floating down the Vermilion River. You park at our location and we take you to the entry point in a bus and then pick you up at the exit point and bring you back to your vehicle at our location. This section of the river is a "lazy river" with one section of rapids to go through. We are family friendly and encourage you to bring your kids. Life jackets are required for children but not for adults.

Choose to kayak the Lower Fork River. Peaceful, it wasn't crowded, at all, on a Thursday afternoon…read more Did 8 miles in about 3 hours, leisurely. Ate a late lunch at Kickapoo Adventures Bar & Grill. Great food - great options! Dined outside with a view of the water. Great service. Highly recommend both experiences.

First and foremost my name is James Clark and I visited Kickapoo Adventures today as of 06/29/2025…read morewith my boyfriend Cale , and I can say it was the worst experience ever. The staff was not helpful at all. First when we get there I paid our $15.00 for Pedal Boat ride, after I paid I was told I needed my ID and sign a wavier, mind you I didn't bring my ID, so we had to drive 30 minutes away to get my ID. So when we got back I spoke with another customer service representative and they told me I DID NOT NEED MY ID. I don't know the name of the older white guy that said that I didn't need my ID, when the lady representative said right after him, we only need 1 ID for the ride and both of us to sign a wavier. Ok so be it, we're here for fun, we've been through enough hoops, let us get on the ride sheesh. We get on and they told us to pedal backwards to get going, so we're off, mind you we only got 30 minutes, when I tell you once we got in the middle of the lake and started to steer the boat either right or left, the boat steering was all out of service. We was trying to go straight and turn either left or right but the boat was going to the right inevitably and has us going in circles upon circles. It got to a point where customers that was on land taking videos of us, and shouted out "you guys are struggling". Of course we were without any help from staff. I called customer service at their establishment and spoke with THE MANAGER NAMED JULIE, forgive me if it's misspelled, however when I spoke to her and let her know our experience today, she completely discredited what I had to say as a first timer customer. I let her know that I paid for my ride and had to travel back to get my ID that wasn't needed, let her know our ride experience, let her know the customer service we experienced, and in the end of our 4 minute call on the company phone number which I hope was recorded, I asked her for a phone number to someone that was higher up then her in the company itself and JULIE HAD THE NERVE TO TELL ME THE PERSON ABOVE HER IN KICKAPOO ADVENTURES IS GOD I NEED TO SPEAK TO!!! This is unacceptable and I really hope our conversation was recorded because this was the worst experience ever, especially talking to the manager that's supposed to help and make the customer happy. All we wanted Julie was to know our discomforts within our experience, not even money back or anything, we didn't want anything back we just wanted to let her know our experience and she completely denied any wrongdoing just based off years of service and "no complaints". I'm not saying all this to make people not go however but please be aware of the staff and manager because they don't care. I hope this doesn't get deleted because people need to know experiences there. They only have 20 reviews within 20 years, come on guys the proof is in the pudding. I wish I could've spoke to Tom because apparently his name is on the Web to contact. With Julie saying I need to speak to God, please let me speak to Tom because Julie I pray and talk to MY GOD everyday thank you. My experience talking to Julie was unacceptable, what caught her off guard and made her defensive was the fact that I told her she discredited our experience!! How is that far. Not once did we get an IM SORRY!! We did not get no apology at all. Julie we expressed how we felt as customers and you don't want to hear negative aspects about experiences. We don't know how to end this unlike the staff that threw the buoy out to us and tried to help at the end with getting us wet, mind you one of the staff said "why do that you got them wet", after we docked we left no words no nothing towards staff. Tom I hope this reaches you or anyone else higher up in the Kickapoo Adventures Administration, period point blank. Thank you, I wish it was under better circumstances.

After a disappointing experience at a different tubing location, my friend group was told about…read morethis spot. My friend called about 2 weeks ahead of time to reserve our group's spot. At that time, she was told this season's pricing. It was about an hour drive from Dupage County and we passed the entrance at first. When we arrived, the bus was just taking the earlier group out. We arrived about 30 minutes early for our scheduled time, however that was unnecessary. The bus returned to take us at our exact scheduled time. Ensure proper count of your group's tube and cooler tube needs. From the time of loading, driving, and unloading we got in the water about 1.5 hours after our time slot. Ok all, if you are someone seeking prestine clear waters, tubing on an Illinois River is not for you. You may have bugs land on you or get muddy. Bring water shoes or croc type shoes to protect your feet. Bring a garbage bag for your cooler tube for your snacks and drinks. No glass or Styrofoam per their policies. They advertise bathrooms and showers. However, on day of visit they only had one working toilet. After the float, we quickly took turns changing and using restroom. It was only our group and 2 other groups out at that time. It was nice. Exiting the river was a little muddy. Fun activity that is reasonably priced.

I had a blast here!!! They were really nice and accommodating of our 30 people party. Bring a…read morecooler! You will need food and drinks. They offer a tube for the cooler. I am afraid of brown water, lol, so I got the tube with the bottom and just layed in it, the whole time. I also bought my own life vest off amazon. But they do offer the ugly orange ones lol Anyway we did the 3 miles but would love to come back and do the 6 mile one. Very cheap. Also the people who did go in the water, they said the very shallow areas are very rocky & scraped their knees. The deepest part is 10 feet but other than that, it's not deep. The bathrooms are nice and they offer a shower too. At the end you wait for the bus to pick you up and bring you back. Pretty cool.