One of our favorite things to do during the summer in the Lehigh Valley is go tubing down the Lehigh River. The first time that I mentioned this to Andrew he was immediately all in. Although, the first few times were definitely full of trial and error. Our tubes weren’t quite right, we didn’t have our cooler figured out, and we flipped our stuff into the water twice. Let’s just say it was a good thing we didn’t have an audience… From then on, we’ve continued to streamline the process and I think we finally have it all figured out, so obviously I wanted to share our system with you! If you wind up going or you have any questions, shoot me a message on Instagram and tag me in your posts!

What You Need

Tube with cupholder

Floating cooler

Tag-a-Long Floatie

Rope

Sunscreen

Single Serve Snacks

Trash Bags

Turkish Towels

Waterproof Pouch

Large Ziploc Bag

Case of Spiked Seltzer

Slim Can Koozies

Waterproof Speaker

Water Shoes

Where to Start + Parking

You’ll park your car to begin your float at Canal Park in Allentown. Park at the top right off the gravel road. Instead of putting your tubes in down where the boat ramp is, walk around the top where you will see a trail (it’s a little steep!) down to the water. Entering in this area is great because the water runs pretty quickly so you can gain some momentum to get things going.

You will want to put your second car either at the parking lot of Wooden Match, the parking lot by the Ice House or in the Riverport Condo parking lot. Parking at the Wooden Match or by the Ice House puts your car closer to if you’re getting out at the boat ramp. If you park at Riverport, you will finish up your float and walk across the Fahey Bridge back to your car, which can be a nice walk in the sun.

Pro Tips

  • We always go to the Dollar Tree before tubing to pick up our snacks for the day. Save the shopping bag for all of your trash to collect at the end of your trip.
  • Don’t forget to wear sunscreen! You really just need to focus on your shoulders, tops of feet, and chest/belly. If you don’t flip over in your tube, everything else is pretty safe.
  • Put your second car in the parking lot for the Wooden Match and end there to enjoy some nice lunch outside. You can set all your stuff by the tree-line and sit outside under a gazebo.
  • Get out of the river right before the first bridge where the boat ramp is at Sand Island. It’s easy to get out and there’s a trash can for everything you have at the end of the float.
  • If you have an electronic car key, make sure you put it in a waterproof pouch. Our first floating experience killed one of my electric keys – oops!
  • I always wear rubber sandals or Crocs to float. They are waterproof, they float, and if I am walking in the water they will protect me from stray fishing hooks and sharp rocks.
  • Cut the mesh out of the bottom of your tube so you can put your feet through if you want. We have done this for all of our tubes and we haven’t had any structural issues.
  • If you don’t buy the double tube that has the attached cooler and extra compartment, definitely buy an extra floating snack tube that you can tie to your main tube. You can fold your dry clothes and towels down into a large Ziplock and squeeze the air out to put in the extra tube for when you get out to go to lunch.
My go-to shoes are rubber sandals. The Intex tubes I’ve linked in this post are really good quality and hav cupholders!

What to Expect

The float is a really nice experience. You can expect to encounter some small rapids – and I mean REALLY small – that will give you some good momentum and bring some excitement. If it hasn’t rained, you might hit some shallow parts so watch your butt – literally! In a typical float, you will see tons of painted turtles basking on logs near the edge of the river. You will likely also spot a heron or small egret fishing along the edge. Sometimes you will see some fish jumping as well. Other people on water might be in small boats, tubes, or kayaks and sometimes you might even float past people in small fishing boats or out on their jet skis.

The float takes 4 hours from start to finish. No matter how fast or slow it feels at the time, it always comes within just a few minutes of being 4 hours for the total trip. This is definitely something you want to do when the weather is nice since you will be sitting in water for 4 hours, so you don’t want to be cold. It’s also better if you have the whole day so that you don’t feel rushed.

Everything You Need

Whether you’re floating the Lehigh or any other river, I am linking all of our favorite supplies for tubing below so you can shop the exact brands and items that we trust. If you buy anything, let me know what you think!!