Going Tubing On The Farmington River In Connecticut

One of my favorite memories of our 6 weeks in Wisconsin last year was going tubing on the Chippewa River. That was my first time tubing but despite it being so much fun, we hadn’t done it again over the past year.

During our time in Connecticut, Shae thankfully discovered Farmington River Tubing which, as the name suggests, offers tubing on the Farmington River. On a glorious day outside, we made our way up to New Hartford, a town that’s about 20 miles northwest of the state capital Hartford.

Farmington River Tubing can be found in Satan’s Kingdom State Recreation Area. Don’t let the name put you off though – it’s a beautiful spot.

Seeing as it was such a beautiful day, it was pretty busy. There’s a decent-sized parking lot though, so we didn’t have a problem finding somewhere to park.

The first thing that you have to do when arriving is sign a waiver form. To be honest, I don’t ever read these things unless there’s some kind of safety information on them that I need to know.

Once you’ve signed the form, take it up to the counter with some kind of deposit. We left our car keys, but you can leave your driver’s license if you prefer. Not wanting to lose our car keys in the river, I was quite happy to leave them there.

Along with the deposit, you have to pay $20 per person which seemed reasonable. Given how popular it was that day, they must make bank during the summer.

When we went tubing in Wisconsin, that company provided a net bag to take with us in order to retain our trash. We were also allowed to bring alcohol so long as it was in cans rather than bottles, but Farmington River Tubing doesn’t allow that.

Given how hot it was that day, I did bring along my 32 oz water bottle to stay hydrated.

Once we’d paid, they ink-stamped our hands to show that we’d paid rather than giving us tickets. We then made our way over to pick up our life jackets and tubes.

There are different sized tubes, so they have a board explaining what size you need.

The tubes have a map of the river on them to give you a general idea of where you’re heading, although I don’t think you can really get lost provided you don’t miss the take out location at the end.

After receiving some safety spiel from one of the staff members, we made our way down to the put in area.

Just in case you weren’t listening to the safety information, there’s a sign recapping it as you head down. Probably the most important thing to remember is to not stand up in the river, especially when heading over the rapids. It’s possible to get knocked out of your tube and get your foot stuck under the rocks, so you obviously want to avoid that happening.

With all that in mind, we got down to the put in area and put ourselves in.

Fairly early on in the journey there are three sets of rapids. The first two aren’t too strong, but the third set is much stronger and so they have safety staff by the side of the river to ensure you’re OK. It would’ve been fun to take a video going over that third set, but I’m glad I didn’t as my tube almost got tipped over, so I’d have likely lost my phone if holding it in my hands.

To help keep my phone dry between photo taking, I kept it in this waterproof case (our Amazon affiliate link). You can actually take photos while it’s in that case, but it’s easier unlocking my phone when it’s not in there, plus the photo quality is a little better that way.

When we went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef a couple of years ago, I kept it in the case the entire time seeing as we were in the ocean. Given that I was on a tube the entire time on the Farmington River though, I wasn’t as worried about it getting wet or falling in.

You’re not allowed to take ropes with you on the river, so if you’re tubing with other people and want to stay together, you’ll have to hold on to each other or each other’s tubes.

Despite it being relaxing, you do have to be aware of your surroundings as there are numerous rocks along the way that you could hit. The tubes bounce off them fine – it’s your head that might not do so well if you’re laying back.

The river’s speed changes as you go along, so you might hit some fast mini rapids at one point, then shortly afterwards come across a more serene part of the river.

Sure enough though, you’ll then come across more rapids. The set in the video below was more mild than the third set of rapids we came across on the river, but it’s still fun going over them while tubing.

As you tube down the river, you’ll notice some numbered signs along the river banks. I’ve no idea if these have anything to do with Farmington River Tubing or if it relates to something else, but once you see number 14 then it’ll be about 20-30 minutes until you arrive at the take out.

I don’t think the take out was too far distance-wise from number 14, but the river slowed down and so it took a little longer to tube that stretch.

Before setting off, we were told to look for a red tube in a tree as that marked the take out location. That tube’s color is pretty faded now, so you need to keep an eye out for more of a light pink tube now. There’s also a sign marking the take out area, along with a wide bank that’s noticeable from a distance, so you have plenty of time to paddle over there.

Once we’d made our way over to the bank, there was a bus waiting to take us back up river. There’s only one row of seats on the bus – the other side is where the tubes get placed to be transported back with you.

Final Thoughts

Shae and I both enjoyed our time tubing on the Farmington River. It wasn’t quite as relaxing as when we went tubing on the Chippewa River in Wisconsin seeing as there were more rocks to look out for and you can’t take cans of alcohol along for the ride. However, getting to go over several sets of rapids did make it more exciting, so it was definitely worth the trip.

Cost

Tubing was $20 per person which included tax. That fee included the tube rental, life jacket and bus ride back to the parking lot.

Just FYI – we paid for this out of our own pockets as we don’t write sponsored posts – here’s why. This post therefore wasn’t written in conjunction with Farmington River Tubing – I just wanted to share something we enjoyed.

Address

Farmington River Tubing, 92 Main St, New Hartford, CT 06057