Rockin' R on the Guadalupe
- Food
- Gruene, after you are out
- Kids
- Marked for kids
Crowd level: Mixed. Go early, or pick a weekday
Good with kids
Best season Their 2026 pass ran through September. By mid-October that float season is over. Book next year only after they post it. Weekends and holidays inside the season are the crowded days. They say an early start is the calmer river.
A rented tube and a shuttle on the Guadalupe, from a company that has worked this river since 1979 and keeps a base in the hamlet of Gruene. The water is a hill-country float with small rapids, and on a hot weekend it is crowded. It is not a secret creek.
Worth knowing
Who can go
Rockin' R says every guest must be at least 6 and able to swim, with no exceptions. Their pages do not agree on life jackets: one says children under 13 must wear one, another recommends them for weak swimmers and children under 8. Put a jacket on a child, and read the page for the location you booked.
What to bring
Their list is sunscreen, a towel, water shoes, a waterproof bag, and an ID. They rent the tube, a life jacket, and the shuttle. No glass and no foam. Inside New Braunfels city limits, including the Gruene floats, a city rule bans disposable containers. Their upriver bases, Riverbank and Huaco Springs, are outside that ban. Know which float you bought.
Water
They do not print a single flow number that means go. Shallow days mean walking. Flood days mean staying off the river. Check the outfitter the morning you leave, not a gauge screenshot from last month. The 2026 access pass was listed at $25 a person before taxes, and the season pass at $99. Next year's prices are next year's page.
With kids. Six and able to swim is their line, not a toddler float. They suggest walking young children around the tube chute. Life jackets are free with a rental. Read the jacket rule again the week you go, because their own pages do not match.
With a group. They will shuttle a party, and weekends crowd the river. No private stretch was listed. Book ahead if you need the tubes on a holiday.
The short version
Rockin' R's site says it has five locations on the Guadalupe and the Comal, and that it is the outfitter with a Historic Gruene address: 1405 Gruene Road. A 2026 season pass on their site was valid from mid-March through September 2026. That window is the season they printed. It is not a promise about next spring.
Food nearby
Gruene, after you are out
The hamlet is the end of the social float. This page is not picking a restaurant or a dance hall show.