crystal river

Deb and Robert go out of their way to help guests feel welcome. The rooms are clean and comfortable; the food superb without being sloppy syrupy. The grounds are natural and gorgeous. What more needs to be said?

it was right behind our B and B and we used a trail to visit in a quiet atmosphere. Lovely place for children to play, and quiet place to meditate. Great place to have a wedding ceremony.

Every year we go down the Crystal River on inner tubes. We start at the Red Mill parking area, hop on our tubes and you are suddenly thrown into a world of relaxation going down the "lazy river." Floating effortlessly(sometimes not) down the Crystal River transforms life's daily grind into a magical relaxing dream.Time seems to stand still while going down the river meandering through the dense trees and floating on "Crystal" clear water. The water never gets deeper than a few feet deep and sometimes is a challenge to not get your "butt" stuck on the bottom or get hooked on a fallen tree branch or rock. Tell me, does life get any better than this? If you need "time away" from life's daily grind, go down the Crystal River with friends and family and experience a truly rare moment in time that doesn't cost anything except...time. These are the moments we don't get enough of.After floating down the river, you will need to be picked up in a vehicle that can accommodate however many tubes you have plus the people who went down the river. This would be the most challenging part of the trip...getting picked up. Remember, you are soaking wet when you get out of the water. Enjoy the Crystal River trip. Worth every penny!

My wife and I took the "long" tube trip with Ding's Dock down the Crystal River. The river is best experienced this way instead of in their goofy little canoes. They have nice tubes with head rests.The river is full of little riffles and a few small rock gardens and rapids. The trip is pretty short - about 1 1/2 hours. You can make an many circuits as wish until 4:00, but one trip was enough for us.This was my wife's first time tubing down an river and it was a good experience.

Lovely natural, windy river. Great for relaxing. The current helps you along, and if you start to doze off, there's a bend in the river or a tree snag to grab your attention. Lots of easy fun.

Our Scout troop took 9 Scouts on this river, renting short fiberglass canoes from a local dock. The trip was fun, but the low water level did require that some of us get out and walk at times. I would advise that you have true water shoes (not flip flops) as you WILL have to get out and get your canoe unstuck from time to time. All in all, it's a nice river, you don't have to worry about anyone floating away in the low water, and a stop at Grandpa Weller's at the portage for 25 cent ice cream cones is cool.

My husband has done the trip a couple times in the past but it was my first time along with our 13 year old. It was a perfect day! But be sure to wear sunscreen everywhere. Also eat something before you go because it took us 3.5 hours to get down the river. The water was so clean and refreshing. The trip is beautiful and could be relaxing if you know what you are doing. I've never been on a canoe before so I never got the hang of steering especially when rocks and logs are in the way. So we had our fair share of crashing and tipping. Hubby saved us many times. I would recommend everyone do this at least once, it's a great adventure and teaches you how to communicate well and rely on each other. Then you should buy the Tshirt saying 'I survived the Crystal River Canoe trip'.

Seventeen years ago on May 31, Dave and I walked through the covered bridge to be married in the charming little Chapel in the Woods. Pink and white blossoms along the Crystal River add to the beauty and romance of this setting. We come back each May and walk through the bridge and recall that special day we married. It's described in the book I wrote, Decision or Destiny, a love story about coming home. The covered bridge and chapel are surrounded by trees and flowers and paths along the crystal clear river - a place to experience the beauty and serenity of nature.

It was my second time ever taking a canoe trip, while my husband is a veteran at canoeing. Took our two children (ages 14 and 10) with us. We were not informed as to how rocky the river was. The canoe that I was in with my daughter, we ended up sinking 2 times and getting stuck a handful of other times. We didn't plan on going canoeing so we didn't have the right kind of shoes. My feet got all cut up as I would have to get out a lot of times. Would consider canoeing on the Crystal River again, with the right gear.

My husband and I got married at the Chapel in the Woods which is at the Red Mill. You have to cross the covered bridge to get there and there us water on all sides. It was beautiful! We now enjoy going back each year with our kids. The gift shop is old but the owner is sweet and loves to tell you about the history of the red mill. Worth the stop!

We went the week of July 4th and the water was too low to canoe. We pushed the canoe most of the time and hit rocks the rest of the time. There was one extremely dangerous part that tipped over all the canoes and caused a bottleneck. One woman had her leg stuck between two rocks and another girl hit her head on a rock when her canoe overturned. She was definitely seriously injured. Make sure you ask if the water is high enough before you go. We had 24 in our party, including 15 kids and not one of them wants to go back.

Go tubing or canoeing!! So much fun! If you go in Waupaca, you can get a canoe rental $35 (if i remember correctly), but the water is so clear and it is a lot of fun!

I go here as my "place of serenity", even though it is an hour ten minute drive for me. My father used to go here with his 9 brothers and sisters when he was a child, and has passed the tradition on to my brothers and myself. It is a wonderful place. Good fishing, tubing down the river, a history lesson, a place for weddings, and family get togethers. There is just an angelic peacefulness here. It's like a magical place, such as Camelot, almost forgotten, but to those who open themselves to it, it enchants :) GREAT place.The caretaker is the old man who runs the shop. He has wonderful stories of the mill. It has been in his family & movie directors have visited. It does seem out of repair, but that is because it does run on donations and money from the gift shop, and from weddings held there. There have been news articles and groups about "saving the Red Mill". It is a magical place.

I love the crystal river canoe trips and I've been going since I was 8. Be prepared to get wet. You need to jump out of the boat into the water to get into your canoe. The trip is very scenic and is relaxing. Be prepared to push or drag the canoe in several spots, especially when in drought.

There was nothing even remotely fun about this trip. Before paying we asked if the water was high enough to canoe, given our recent drought. We were assured we might have to push 2-3 times. The water was so low we walked/pushed 80% of the trip. Tthe other 20 we spent crashing into rocks and getting caught on logs and other debris. Awful trip.