Rentals

Enjoy the majesty of Lake Tahoe while kayaking in one of our kayak and standup paddleboard rentals.

You could also have your rental kayak or paddleboard delivered to a Tahoe destination of your choosing

The Truckee River from Tahoe City to River Ranch restaurant is a pretty mellow (and beautiful) stretch of water. There are a few rapids, but they likely wouldn't even classify as a class 1 rapid (the easiest rating for rapids). Most people float this stretch of river without a guide or any whitewater experience. The float takes approximately 3 hours.

Tahoe City Kayak has durable float tubes and inflatable kayaks for rent for use on the Truckee River. While these options are more affordable than most other services in town, you will need to transport yourself and your rented tube or kayak to and from the river.

We Rent:

1. Float Tubes - $25 per day
2. Single Inflatable Kayaks - $60 per day
3. Double Inflatable Kayaks - $90 per day

We also sell inexpensive tubes and rafts, ranging from $20 to $65 in price.

Call our shop to reserve your tubes or kayaks.

Parking for the Put In:
Tahoe City has a large, free, public parking area with a small boat ramp into the river. The parking area is called "64 Acres" and it's located just behind the Tahoe City Transit Center at 180 West Lake Blvd in Tahoe City. You'll pull into the entrance for the Transit Center, and keep driving straight past the bus stop building, and the driveway/road will take you to this large parking lot and boat ramp.

Getting Back to your car:
It will be quite obvious when you reach River Ranch Restaurant and Lodge, as there is a large dock and a restaurant deck out over the water. There's a marked public pull-out area where you can take your tube or inflatable kayak back up to the parking area. Getting back to your vehicle at 64 Acres, where you started your river journey, can be done a few different ways:

1. If you have two vehicles available, you can leave one of these vehicles in the public parking area near the River Ranch docks before you begin your river float. If you're driving away from Tahoe City, toward River Ranch, you'll see a left turn into a gravel driveway about 100 yards (meters) before the parking lot for River Ranch. This is a free public parking area where you can leave your vehicle while you float.
2. If you don't have a second car, but you have a bike and a bike lock, you can lock your bike to a bike rack at River Ranch or a tree in the public parking area described above. There is a bike path that follows the Truckee River that can take you right back to where you started. One person can ride back to get the car and return to retrieve the rest of your party , and your river tubes.
3. The TART (Tahoe Area Rapid Transit) has buses that stop by the River Ranch once per hour. They also have a shuttle van service called "TART Connect," which allows you to schedule a pickup using their App. You can download the app at TART Connect – TART. During busy vacation periods, the TART service can be very popular/busy, so be patient. We recommend our river tubes, not our inflatable kayaks, when using this service (due to carry on size when deflated).
4. Uber is available in Tahoe, although wait times can be a fair bit longer than you may have experienced in cities. We recommend our river tubes, not our inflatable kayaks, when using this service (due to carry on size when deflated).