Cubic Feet per Second (CFS)
Front Royal Gauge
River Conditions Summary
Wednesday May 13, 2026
The Shenandoah is absolutely gorgeous right now. It’s at summer flow and is chrystal clear. Guests have reported fun trips and seeing literally thousands of fish swimming in the clear water, all the big birds (we have several breeding pairs of bald eagles on our floats) and lovely weather.
Water levels are below average for this time of year so we’ve been working closely with guests to pick the right activity and length of float to fit their schedule and their interests.
Tubing is in full effect. Some mornings are cool so most tubers have chosen the 10AM -12Noon slot for departure. At this water level we generally select our 1.6 mile float instead of the 3 mile float. Guests are free to lounge around in the river, pull over on islands, go for a swim, pull up on a rock and enjoy the day. But most guests seem to want to be able to end their trip after 2.5 hours or so. Therefore we select our float lengths that allow for a 2.5 hour trip if you just let the tube drift. If you want to stay longer, be our guest.
We have no real time limit for our tubers, we just ask they everyone be off the water by 5PM so staff can clean everything up for the next day and get home to family dinners.
Current River Level:
1.22 Feet on the Front Royal Gauge and falling slowly. River crystal clear and absolutely gorgeous.
Tubing: Starting May 15, 2026 we’ll be running tubing trips water temperatures dependent. For the early part of the season consider choosing a late morning-early afternoon start time to take advantage of the lovely afternoon temperatures. We generally won’t launch tubes unless water is in the upper 60’s and air temperatures in the 70’s. Sun is our friend during the early season. During the summer we recommend the morning time slots since the days start out warm and then get hot. Our weather forecasts show a chance of rain or showers in the afternoon most days, and the morning time slots experience the least disruption. About one out of every five or one out of ten afternoon trips will experience some precipitation.
As always, if space is available on our hourly tube shuttle bus, all guests are free to jump on for a second run if they’d like! Last trip goes out at 2PM. Naturally, guests with reservations will get first seats on the bus. Guests should not expect to have room on the bus on Saturdays, but generally the rest of the week there is availability on the 1 and 2PM shuttles for repeat trips.
Kayaking and Canoeing: We’re offering our 3 and 5 mile trips for most guests. The 9.5 and 15 mile trip is also a great option and quite an earlier season float with one or two class 2 rapids. Guests can generally run them without upsetting their boats, and can also avoid them with some instruction and attention.
Current Water Temperature:
62 Degrees Fahrenheit, which combined with afternoon warm temperatures is just about perfect tubing and paddling weather. Refreshing temps.
Current Water Condition:
The Shenandoah is fairly clear and cold right now. Once April rolls around the river becomes more friendly to casual recreational boating. Mid may marks the time when temps and water levels (barring heavy rains) become suitable for all activities.
Helpful Hint: Changing conditions are normal and we recommend checking back before you make a trip out to see us without a reservation. If possible, get those reservations in! Reservations help us prepare for you before you arrive, and also greatly speed up the check in process.
(NOTE: If the graphs above don’t show today’s levels, it means you have visited the site before. Hold down the ctrl button and click the page refresh icon, top left on your browser, to reset cache)
What different water levels mean for our river and your adventure:
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- Flatwater Paddle By The Hour is a great option – launching at our site offers deep water with almost no flow and is perfect for exploring during low water with none of the hassles of going upriver
- Tubing ages 5 and up
- Inner Tubing shortened to Private Access at 1.6 miles – but still expect nearly continuous shallow rocky water with lots of scraping and some walking – Average Trip Time 3.5 -4 hours.
- Upriver Kayaking and Canoeing trips will be shortened to 3 or 5 miles, and experience with reading shallow rivers and paddling through small slots of deeper water will help keep things fun
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- Tubing for ages 5 and up
- Inner Tubing shortened to Private Access at 1.6 miles – expect low scrapy conditions which will require your full attention at times in order to choose the deepest path down the river – Average Trip Time 2 – 3 hours
- Upriver Kayaking and Canoeing Trips will be shortened to 3 or 5 miles for most paddlers. 9 miles possible for very experienced river goers who can read shallow water and move their boats nimbly, and who catch the first trip of the day
- Flatwater Paddle By The Hour is a great option – launching at our site offers deep water with almost no flow and is perfect for exploring during low water with none of the hassles of going upriver
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- Tubing for ages 5 and up.
- Inner Tubing Trip from Luray Avenue is 3 miles – expect gentle flow with occasional navigation required to avoid obstacles or shallow bars and shelves – Average Trip Time 2 – 3 hours
- Upriver Kayaking and Canoeing Trips – 3-15 mile trips offered. However, we suggest guests who want the 9 and 15 mile option to arrive early and eat their Wheaties, especially at the 1.4 – 1.8 foot levels.
- Flatwater Paddle By The Hour is a great option – launching at our site offers deep water with slow to moderate flow and allows guests to decide how long they want to be out, as opposed to having to cover X number of miles on one of our upriver 3-15 mile trips
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- Children 12 and up may tube without being tethered to a parent or legal guardian
- Children 5 and up may participate but parents must keep children of this age group with them, preferably by twine tether, to help them navigate the faster river current.
- Inner Tubing Trip from Luray Avenue is 3 miles – expect gentle flow with occasional navigation required to avoid obstacles or shallow bars and shelves – Average Trip Time 2 hours
- Upriver Kayaking and Canoeing Trips – 3-15 mile trips offered. However, we suggest guests who want the 9 and 15 mile option to arrive early and eat their Wheaties, especially at the 1.4 – 1.8 foot levels.
- Flatwater Paddle By The Hour is a great option – launching at our site offers deep water with slow to moderate flow and allows guests to decide how long they want to be out, as opposed to having to cover X number of miles on one of our upriver 3-15 mile trips
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- All participants must know how to swim within this range of levels (2.5-3.5) and age restrictions are necessary because younger tubers with short arms simply can’t move their tube around efficiently when necessary.
- 2.5-3.0 feet on the gauge means tubing is for those who are age 12 and up and who are swimmers
- 3.0-3.5 feet on the gauge means tubing for those who are age 16 and up and who are strong swimmers. Trip time is reduced to about 1.5 hours unless you find a place to hang out, which you are welcome to do as long as you’re back by 5PM
- 3.5-4.5 Tubing may be offered on our flowing reservoir, decisions to be made the day before, and it will require us to move to tubing only status.
- Great Level for Upriver Kayak and Canoe Trips 3-15 miles. The river flows freely with moderate to fast flow. Good time to try a longer float if you have some experience and endurance
- Too High for Flatwater Paddle By The Hour option because our normally quiet flatwater area picks up quite a bit of current which makes paddling back to our takeout more of a challenge. We prefer not to mess with it at these levels.
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- Too high for inner-tubing our regular stretch of river from Luray Avenue to our headquarters, but a great level for our reservoir tubing if we’re able to move over to tubing only.
- Upriver Kayaking and Canoeing Trips for VERY experienced paddlers who are also strong swimmers in the event of capsize or difficulties
- We will be running rafts at this level on our 3- and 5-mile sections. For experienced paddlers and strong swimmer
- Guided Trips are still on
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- Reservoir tubing may be offered at levels below 4.5 feet, but this requires us to go “tubing only” which we normally will do on weekend days in the summer with high water. Please inquire.
- Guided River Trips are still on
- All Non-Guided River Trips Cancelled
- Riverside Camping may be possible with levels between 4.0 and 5.0 feet, but please call to check. These sites get inundated with water at 5.0 Feet on the Gauge
- Riverview Campsites are still lovely