Rill Adventures Raft and Gear Rentals

We had a great rafting trip last week down the Upper Yakima. The water was calm enough and shallow enough that I took 3 kids down the river by myself, with no problem. Beautiful setting. Rill’s is completely set up to help you with extra dry bags, snacks, etc. which you can purchase or rent. They drive you to the put in point, and then you raft down to the take out point at their little office. We lucked out and some guys happened to be at the put-​in point and helped load the raft in the water — that would have been pretty hard without them. The take-​out was surprisingly tricky — we had trouble getting the raft to shore, and kind of expected the guide on shore to pitch in a little more when he saw us struggling. Other than that, it was a great day and we will definitely come back next summer — with more friends and more boats.

This was a great time. Everything was easy, on time and friendly. We rafted the lower canyon and it was so relaxing. We are coming back next year!

Greatly accommodating to last minute changes, used them for a large party of 12 – 14 and they were very helpful all the way through. Equipment was supplied, lunches were packed, and pickup and drop off were exceptional. No complaints from the business owners even though we were even late, and when we finished the section of the river we initially agreed to do, it was deep enough to keep going to the lower half, and we called while on the water, and were told to knock ourselves out — amazing trip, great fun, perfect scenery — great for truly all ages and abilities, and truly great staff.

This river float experience is fantastic but I wouldn’t recommend Rill Adventures.
I’ve actually done this float several times in the past with large groups (upwards of 25) and we rented rafts in Seattle and brought them over in a trailer. We had a smaller group this time (15 people) and decided to use Rill Adventures because we thought it would be easier if we didn’t have to organize everything ourselves. Indeed, it was nice to have all the equipment all ready to go and the shuttle was fantastic because in the past we’ve always had issues driving back and forth getting people to and from the landing point.
The equipement is in great condition and the shuttle is super convenient which is why I put two stars instead of one. As mentioned in the other review, it’s the customer service that is just downright rude. The lady on the shuttle was very gruff and yelled orders at people but I accepted it in stride since I was so happy to have the shuttle. My problem was the employee who met us at the landing point (I’ll bet it was the same guy mentioned in the other review) who was very rude, practically ripping life jackets out of my hand and throwing them on the ground as I tried to help gather equipment after the trip.
One of our rafts also had the misfortune of missing the landing point since it’s right around a bend and they had to pull off down the river, past the point. Several of us went after that raft so we could help carry it back but when we encountered that rude employee on our way and asked him how we should help and if he knew where the raft was he completely ignored us (seriously, wouldn’t talk or acknowledge our questions at all) and stalked off down the road back towards the landing point. He wouldn’t even tell us that the company had already taken care of the situation so we wasted half an hour walking around looking for a raft that was already back in their posession.
If you have no way of planning this trip yourself, I’d say use Rill Adventures just because the experience itself is great and tons of fun and at least they give you quality equipment. Just be prepared for rude employees. Definitely use a different company if there is one available.

I went with a large group of friends Sunday August 23. We arrived a half hour before the shuttle was supposed to take us to the drop off point. We then waited a half hour for the shuttle to appear. The shuttle did finally appear and the woman driving it (the owner?) was very rude, started barking orders, and yelled at all of us on the bus as she was taking us to the drop off point. She talked down to us like we were children and clearly had control issues. Apparently they do not want large groups riding the shuttle to the drop off point, only drivers, and the drivers are supposed to drive their friends to the drop off point and come back. The entire time we were waiting at the station no one told us that. We get to the drop off point and her two helpers (possibly her sons) started helping get boats blown up and handing out life jackets. One of the helpers, the older one, was extremely rude to everyone. Made comments like, «you will want to wear this color life jacket when you are trapped under water so everyone can see you.» The comments were appalling, and borderline abusive. Each boat only got 4 paddles each, even though the boats held 8 people each. Once they filled the boats with air, they sent us on our way. No quick tutorial or safety speech, no tips on dealing with hitting large rocks or navigating rapids. Its a «raft at your own risk,» «we don’t care» operation. The woman barking orders actually told us to ride our rafts into the last set of rapids before pulling out of the water. The last set of rapids (just past the second bridge) were so strong one of our boats got caught on the rock and we started sinking. We had to abandon the raft and climb on the rock. Needless to say this was a close to death experience for one of our crew. We then were trapped on the rock with no way to get off, with rapids and current so strong it was too dangerous to swim. Two people floated down the river and had to be plucked out. The rest of our party got back to end point and went to get help for us who were on the rock. However, there were only teenagers standing around, waiting to put equipment in the van, and they knew nothing about how to handle an emergency. We had to rescue ourselves, someone in our party from another boat climbed down the cliff from the road on the left side of the river and fished us out with a large branch.
If you are going with a large group, I dont recommend this company at all. Its a cracker shack business that makes you sign waivers and then lets you fend for yourself. Only experienced or professional rafters should go. But even then, do you really want to pay someone to be rude to you? It’s unacceptable.

My friends and I decided to spend a day rafting during our recent trip to Yakima for Memorial Day Weekend. I booked our rafting trip with Rills during the week before the trip. The booking was fairly easy. I just called up the main number from the website and asked a lot of questions to figure out which trip would best suite our group.
The lady behind the phone recommended the upper river trip since we were only going to have 1 car with us on our trip. This would allow us to park our car at the bottom of the river and then take the shuttle up to the top. Anyway, she recommended the 6 person raft for the 4 adults in our party. This way we could carry a cooler with us and have some extra room to move around on the raft. After making the reservation and providing payment information, she emailed me the confirmation in an email with the forms needed to sign before the trip.
For the Upper River trip, we had some difficulty in finding the small shack on the side of the road where we would park our car before taking the shuttle. Just keep an eye out for the railroad crossing, it’s right after that. Anyway, we checked in inside the shack, handed in our signed forms, and then boarded the shuttle. The shuttle ride was only 15 minutes or so and the driver showed us helpful landmarks for places that were good to stop for lunch or sightseeing.
When we arrived to the beginning of the rafting trip, we were outfitted with life vests, listened to a quick paddling instruction, and then headed down to our raft. We boarded the raft and with a quick push we were headed down the river.
The rapids were classified as Class 1, which really was a leisurely float down the river. In fact, as a group we intentionally paddled in Class 2 rapids (which probably were barely Class 2). We had a blast rafting and enjoying the float. We pulled over the raft twice to explore some of the river banks and then have lunch and even enjoyed a couple Rainiers.
When we arrived at the bottom (back to the shack), we pulled the raft up the river bank and then called Rills to have them come pick up the raft. A few minutes later, one of the employees arrived and took care of the equipment. I did have a slight problem with my payment, as they initial credited me for the entire trip and then charged me twice the cost of the trip to make up for the mistake. They did send a letter to me in the mail to apologize and explain the mistake, which I really appreciated.
I’d definitely plan a trip with them again as for 4 of us the trip was only $ 105 (inclusive of everything).