sugar valley canoe trips

I have paddled this creek extensivly for about 6 years. The way you described this creek is how every creek and river in the state is. "Big rocks, trees sticking up" Sounds like you have never been on a creek or river in your life. The creek is not unsafe for kids. What is unsafe, is parents who takes their children on canoe or kayak trips when the parents themselves do not have the skills necessary to provide their children with a safe trip. I have done more trips with this livery than I can count in the last 6 years. Probably did close to 15 trips in 2014 alone. I cannot tell you how many families I have seen make fun, safe trips down this creek. Perhaps you should limit your water activities to the shallow end of the pool at the local park.I am very glad your child was not injured because of your negligence.As for Sugar Valley Canoes. They offer a great trip for a very fair price. You can go down the road and pay nearly twice as much. The trip is on the same creek, same scenery, same dangers. (Whether real or imagined)If you are interested in going canoeing. Give Sugar Valley Canoes a shot. If you have never canoed before, check out some you tube videos. Just remember, there are very few places on this creek where you cannot stand up and have your head out of the water. Come out , be in a good mood and you will have a great time.

We took a 10 mile kayak trip and it was really a great experience. The people at Sugar Valley are very nice and made our trip very pleasant. I'm not sure what is more cool, the covered bridges, the peaceful creek, the incredible geology in the creek banks, the plant fossils and fantastic rockhouding at the sandbars along the creek, maybe just the whole adventure!

We read multiple bad reviews about this place but gave it a chance anyways. Glad we did had a great time. The staff was fine, the canoe and equipment were in good shape. The river was fun, we did the 10 mile run and had a blast. Not sure why others had a bad experience.

We have been using SVCT for some time now but things have changed in the last five years. While the trip itself is always enjoyable, the SVCT facility is in drastic need of new management or a new buyer. The ramshackle-plywood-jumble bathrooms are a joke and only slightly better than a port-a-john. There weren’t any paper towels in the men’s room or even a soap dispenser (Make you wonder what the teenage boy are washing their hands with…). The stall doors had to be pried apart to close and had no way to lock. The women’s room had a sign to not close the exterior door and no paper towels. The once well-stocked store was neglected. While the canoes were durable Old Town polyethylene models, I could tell the teenage staff had no investment in their replacement. They shoved them off the highest rungs of the canoe trailer onto the gravel bar so it is no wonder that we had to pick through to find one in good shape.My recommendation is to get prepped in Rockville or some other nearby gas station or restaurant so that you won’t need to use the restrooms at SVCT.Will I go with SVCT again? I don’t know. There are other canoe outfitters in the area so we may have to shop around next time. Just an FYI, they charge extra if you bring a dog.

First time canoeing and the experience was awesome! We did the 3 mile first which had great scenery going through Turkey Run State Park ( which I also recommend to go see). Then we did the 6 and 10 which was neat because they dropped us off at different locations which allowed us to view new sites! The people were nice and always asked us if we enjoyed our trip and offered help when needed. I definitely recommend trying this place out :)

They advertise a 6 mile trip but it is 4.6 miles. My son and I canoe/kayak with BSA a lot and we know what 6 miles are and what we were told we were getting and what we paid for was not 6 miles. The pickup at the end with the buses was not handled well at all. The bus driver was yelling at everyone as if we were a bunch of children. She said she is a school bus driver but I would not want my child being yelled at like that and as a paying CUSTOMER we did not deserve that.

Let me count the ways NOT to run a business.....Staff - Worthless....Rude as hell; barely speak and when they do it's with a "leave me alone" attitude...slow...just overall lack any speck of professionalism. Facilities - Worthless....All of the canoes were in piss-poor shape. Life vests were torn, straps broken...filthy...Restrooms looked like they had been cleaned probably for the last time in 1985....Pricing - You get what you pay for...They are lower than the competitors in the area and it shows.I would avoid and go to another place for your canoe trip.

When we first arrived, we thought things would be fine. The ticket buying process was easy. It all went down hill from there. We had a group of 10 - 3 canoes and 1 kayak. Majority of our life vests had rips or no straps. Then when we were getting on the buses, we were told only kids needed seats and adults could stand. Not the safest on just a painted school bus with no handles to hold on to. On top of that, the emergency exit was broken!Then we get to the drop off place and there weren't enough canoes for everyone they dropped off. There were at least 30 people left waiting for canoes. The canoes they did drop off were just thrown around! No wonder why our canoe had a hole in the bottom and someone else's had a big gash!I will say the walk down to the river was impressive that they had a ramp for wheel chairs, coolers, etc. the return from the 3 mile trip was not as nice. The ramp was steep and slick. It was not easy to make in sandals - let alone carrying the canoes up ourselves. That's right - the teenage boys who worked there would only take the canoes from you once you made it up the steep, slippery slope. So on top of you having to carry your belongings, coolers, kids, pets, etc you also had to carry their canoes! The most disturbing part was after we got back, another bus came barreling through while pedestrians were walking to their cars! Little kids were walking too!This company was lazy and inattentive to their equipment and passengers! Stay away!

When some friends and I rented 4 kayaks, we discovered around the first bend that two were missing plugs. We had a terrible time trying to make these work, having to stop and drain them several times when our makeshift plugs failed. When we mentioned our problems to the staff, they were incredibly rude and basically called us stupid for not checking for plus first (this was our first time kayaking) and not talking to the "right people" about the problem (how are we supposed to know that ahead of time?) Several other families had similar plug issues. Do not support this business that obviously does not care about its customers.

Their website said tube trips depart from 9:00-3:00 and that reservations were recommended, especially on the weekends. We called before making the 2 hour trip up to make reservations and were told that we didn't need them and that tubes depart until 2:30. Ok, this was different than their website, but no biggie. We arrived at 2:10 and were told by the 16 year old working the counter that the last tube trip departed at 2:00. When I said their website site said 3:00, her snotty reply was "Yeah, well, it also says we reserve the right to change this late in the season". It was the first week in August, hardly "late in the season". Then I told her about our phone call, still nothing. Then I spoke to the manager and went through the whole thing again. Still nothing. They were unapologetic and made no attempt to make it right and they even made it sound as if I were at fault. We've used these guys before and they are just, OK. They're the cheapest in the area but as the saying goes, you get what you paid for.

We made reservations for a 15 mile canoe trip, the 3 mile tube float trip, and 4 nights in their cabins. Overall we had a great experience. We had no problems with rudeness as others have mentioned. We followed rules and instructions and everything was fine. Actually, we decided to take out at the 12 mile point while on our 15 mile canoe trip (kids were getting very tired). When we returned, not only did they give us our deposit back, but refunded us the difference from the 15 mile fee to the 12 mile fee. I really did not expect that. The food at the grill is great, we ate there twice during our stay. You cannot beat the price of the cabins at Sugar Valley; the cabin we were in is older and a bit run down, but I didn't expect it to be new either. The only down side was that the shower house was run down and too dirty for my liking, but we made it work and like I said had a great time. Thanks to Sugar Valley Canoe for a great 4 day adventure!

we arrived as walkups this last weekend. there is a festive atmosphere when there are groupsof people waiting for the bus but be warned, no one is going to guide you or drop hints asto how to proceed, especially the staff. you will have to ask questions, so get those lifejackets and be ready to listen up when the drivers call out start times. The short informational given by the bus driver was appreciated, but it is in fact a free for all down at the water to get into a decent canoe, no thought to let people know to grab paddles before proceeding down thebank. at the conclusion of the trip ( 10 mile for myself and the wife and 9 year old was perfect ) there is a clear desire by the staff for customers to drag the canoes up the steep inclinethemselves, for obvious reasons, and they very much want you to think that you must do exactlythat in order to get your form initialed for deposit $ return. dont fall for it. the river itself is awonder of natural beauty, but Sugar Valley needs to put smiles on and get some friendliercustomer service going.

My husband and I did the 6 mile canoe trip south of Turkey Run and had a great time. We had meant to do the 10 mile but forgot that Indiana is on Eastern Time and got there an hour too late. Oops! The staff was friendly and helpful and told us where to watch for difficult spots in the creek that required careful manuvering. Most of the trip was very relaxing, there were just a few points near the end where there was a lot of brush in the water that made it touchy. Lots of families on the creek with us and all seemed to be having a great time. Beautiful area and mostly shallow water so not a lot of real danger. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

The people here are unbelievably rude! Customer service was terrible! Booked a trip of 12 canoes and was treated like crap as soon as I got there. As though l inconvienianced them by booking so many people?? Which was all fine on the phone when I made the reservations. Waited until they had all our money and then proceeded to chew me out. Go to Clements. These people need to be shut down.

The owner was driving our bus at a higher rate of speed. He skid around curves. His personal attitude was terrible. He was rude crude and agrumentive. Bus was old, equipment dirty and worn, facilities old and out dated, and bathrooms were unsanitary . The ladies bathroom had a sign 'only put paper in trash can." All in all a bad experience. I would not recommend.