Russian River
This is the most American activity I have ever done.
The idea is to float down a river, in the middle of Santa Rosa County, with friends or family while having food and drinks and enjoying the nature.
You begin at Steelhead Beach and end at Mother’s Beach, which is about two miles in distance.
This does require a bit of organization and preparation.
First, you need to arrive at the river with floats for everyone, a floating cooler, ropes, a pump for the floats, food and drinks (no glass), sunscreen, a waterproof bag, a hat, and of course, a swimsuit.
On the day you do this, you will have to leave from Stanford quite early because it is a 1h45m drive to reach Steelhead Beach, and the parking lot generally fills up quickly.
You certainly won’t be the only ones doing this, so be there before 11:00am. There is a $7 fee per car.
This will require two cars.
Once your group arrives at Steelhead Beach, you will have to drop off one of the cars at Mother’s Beach and return with the other car.
Once your friends or family all float down the river and reach Mother’s Beach, the drivers will then have to drive back to Steelhead Beach and pick up the car that’s parked there and bring it back to where the group is so that everyone can pack up to leave.
It is less than a 10-minute drive between the two beaches.
Once the transportation is in place, you can start to prepare: blow up the float, fill the floating cooler with food and drinks, etc.
When you are finally ready, and believe me it takes time, you all carry your things down to the river.
The last step is tying all of the floats together with rope so that your group stays together as you go down the river. It takes about 3 hours to reach Mother’s Beach.
It is generally a bit warmer than Stanford, so I would go on a day where the weather is nice, but not too hot. Be careful of sunburns!
This adventure is a great day trip and it is not expensive nor is it far from Stanford. You will get to spend the entire day in nature and live out a funny American experience.
