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Updated: April 7, 2024 @ 11:09 am
Salt River tubing offers a refreshing, fun escape from Arizona’s blistering summer heat. (Special to GetOut)
Salt River tubing offers a refreshing, fun escape from Arizona’s blistering summer heat. (Special to GetOut)
With summer fast approaching, Salt River Tubing & Recreation has returned to take floaters on adventures throughout the season.
Since 1981, the family-owned company has provided tube rental and shuttle bus transportation to Salt River adventurers.
“We are celebrating our 42nd anniversary this summer,” says Lynda Breault, vice president of Salt River Tubing.
“We’re so excited. We think it’s going to be a phenomenal summer. We have hired almost our maximum number of employees needed so we are very, very blessed. Our buses are ready to roll, and our tubes are ready to rock on the Salt River rapids.”
Open since April 30, Salt River Tubing offers a lazy way to spend a weekend along the river’s cool waters with views of wildlife. Breault says her company’s mission is to present the public with safe recreational opportunities like these.
Each weekend is themed. Upcoming events include The Rocking Rodeo Roundup, 42nd Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, May 14; Bag It for Bucks: Take Pride in America from Saturday, July 2, to Monday, July 4; and 22nd annual Mardi Gras Magic on Saturday, August 20.
The company operates in the Lower Salt River Recreational Area of Tonto National Forest, 7 minutes from the Loop 202 East on North Power Road.
Dubbed the national forest’s “mini–Grand Canyon,” the area is home to wild horses and blue herons that frequent the river.
Salt River Tubing was launched by owner and CEO Henri Breault, whose family founded the first U.S. tubing company in Wisconsin in 1941.
He was vacationing in Arizona in 1980 when he was inspired to start a Salt River tour company. He sought to obtain a permit to operate under the USDA Forest Service in Tonto National Forest. The following summer, Salt River Tubing was up and running for the public.
Today, the company maintains a fleet of more than 30 buses and thousands of tubes, helping floaters venture out on “floating beach blasts” during Arizona’s hottest months and promoting the protection and conservation of the forest’s natural resources.
“We just want our public to come back. There is a recreational paradise out there,” Breault says.
“Help us keep it clean and beautiful, have a great time, but do it responsibly. If you all come out and enjoy us with happy faces, we are certainly going to enhance that joy on the river.”
If You Go…
Who: Salt River Tubing
Where: 9200 N. Bush Highway, Mesa
When: Open through Sunday, Sept. 25
Cost: $21 per person, plus tax, includes tube rental, shuttle bus ride and parking
Info: 480.984.3305, saltrivertubing.com
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