DC Summer Series: A Guide to Tubing at Harper’s Ferry

Washington, DC has a very particular energy during the summer season. The universities are on summer term, those fortunate enough to have vacation days head out of the city, and even the most driven professionals feel the urge to sneak out a few minutes early. The interns take over the metro and bars, everyone sweats in their suits, summer Fridays are pervasive, business booms for restaurants with patios (and the servers hate the patio section), a Friday at Jazz in the Garden is a must, a couple rooftop happy hours are equally as essential, and suddenly Virginia and Maryland are more enticing for a visit. 

Recently, I went on a daytrip with a group of 18 people to go tubing at Harper’s Ferry. I had never been tubing before, and it was ridiculously fun as well as a learning experience in the art of young professionals getting together in a mix of carefree floating and some serious responsibility. Here is everything you need to know for planning a DC summer tubing trip:

• 

  Getting started: pick a tubing company (we used River Riders with great success), pick a form of transportation (your or a friend’s car, Zipcar, Zipvan, chartered bus, etc.), pick your squad, and make a reservation (note: make sure to reserve “cooler tubes” if you intend on bringing a stash of beverages as well).

• Pack list: bathing suit, complete dry change of clothes, water shoes, dry shoes, waterproof containers or bags, cheap sunglasses, snacks, drinks, towel, sunscreen, waterproof camera (optional), string, and a roadtrip playlist.
• Sign online waiver forms before you head towards West Virginia.
• Things to be extra responsible about: designated drivers, driving large groups of people, IDs and credit cards, house keys, car keys, AAA card, and your phone, especially on the water if you bring them on the river. If you’re the driver, you’ll have your keys/zipcard and should also keep your AAA card on you, just in case.
• Geography fact: after leaving DC, you will spend most of the drive in Maryland, enter Virginia for about a minute, and then barely cross the border into West Virginia.
• The drive takes about 1.5 hours. Upon arrival, your entire group needs to head up from the parking field to check in and get wristbands. They will not check you in if the whole party is not present. After a safety information session, you’ll get life vests and a school bus will take you to the river.
• The drive will look very different from DC. Forests. Farms. Cows. Etc.
• There may be local West Virginians who may be consuming moonshine watching as big city folk come to float down the river.
• Above all else, choose flat water tubing! We accidentally sat in on a white water tubing safety session, and attempting to navigate a tube “left!” “right!” “under the stone bridge,” “avoiding the wooden bridge,” “turning at the rocks,” “past but not too far past the deflated blue tube tied up by this concrete area,” and getting out “before the green bridge” sounded extremely stressful. Plus, loacl West Virginians apparently hang out in the middle of the river trying to misguide unsuspecting Washingtonians… Flat water tubing, however, is easy: get in on the left, cruise down slowly, get out on the left by the beach.
• On the water: Once out on the river, I suggest tying your tube to a buddy’s tube or a whole flotilla of tubes. Stay in the tube- rocks appear out of nowhere hidden beneath the surface and will scratch you or otherwise hurt you if you are not careful. Water shoes are super handy for getting in and out of the river for this reason.
• You can float down the flatwater river multiple times, provided that you get out and catch the last bus by 5:30 (on a Saturday at least). Instead of floating more than two or three times, you may choose to set up “camp” in the calm water about two thirds of the way through on the right by dropping your feet and anchoring there as a group.
• Food and drinks are available at the main building in case you need to fill up, as are restrooms.
• Get started as early as possible, and aim to be there one hour before your reservation. It truly takes all that time to park, wrangle your tubing mates and belongings up to the main building, check in, use the restrooms, sit through the info session. and actually depart at your reservation time for the river.
• Do tell your friends who tend to be late an earlier time, just in case.