Part of the issue is that getting on the river, and home again, is hardly straightforward, even if the actual drift is easy. “Tourism broadly, as well as the floaters that come, are absolutely tantamount to the success of my business, and, I think, the success of the other businesses in the area,” says Michael Volpatt, owner of downtown Guerneville’s beloved Big Bottom Market.īut float dollars have, in recent years, come with their own costs: crowds, trash, traffic snarls and parking congestion. The spike in visitors has presented opportunities and challenges for locals, particularly in Guerneville, a 9.8-square-mile resort town favorited by LGBTQ travelers since the 1970s, and now draws thousands of sun-seeking floaters. So it’s definitely a party scene,” says Heemstra, chuckling. “I’ve seen people have a whole keg in a tube going down the river. It can be just crazy,” says Scott Heemstra, store manager at King’s Sport and Tackle in Guerneville, which offers kayak rentals in addition to tubing supplies. “It’s like being on Spring Break for three months. Which means the vibe there isn’t exactly serene. Popular beaches on the river’s southern stretches can draw 600 visitors on a summer Saturday. Rodarmel is hardly alone in her love for floating the river, which meanders south through Sonoma County’s verdant landscape and then westward through Forestville and Guerneville to the Pacific. (Before visiting Sonoma County parks, check the county's Covid-19 status website and visitor FAQs.) Last week, as Sonoma County moved forward with reopening from shelter-in-place, the county announced it is allowing access to the river - music to the ears of many local residents looking for outdoor areas to visit as the weather warms up. “This is making me really excited for summer.” The ritual never gets old, Rodarmel says. Four or five hours later, they emerge, sun-saturated and hungry. (She won’t disclose its exact location for fear of drawing crowds.) Equipped with sunscreen, six-pack and floatable, she meets friends and together they shove off into the water. Rodarmel has spent the last 10 years tubing the same lazy 2.5-mile stretch of water in rural Sonoma County, near Cloverdale.
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