east race waterway

In the summer time enjoy the most unique experience by renting a Kayak and shoot the "RACE" rapids. A training site for the Olympics. Bike or walk the couple miles of the "RACE" and relax in the quiet beauty of the St Joe River.

My sisters and my cousin and I did this per my Grandmother's suggestion as we visited her in South Bend. When we were getting "briefed" as first time riders, they did very little to explain how to paddle, what to do if we capsized, how or where we were supposed to stop, and how severe the water would be. I went down a four person boat and it tossed us around as we did not know how to row properly or how the rapids would be. We were just going with the current until the "stopping point" (which was not marked and no signs told us that the end was approaching") and we overshot it and continued to float out. One staff member kindly came out and assisted us but treated us as if we were dumb for erring. We went on a second run in a two person raft with just my sister and I. The rapids were way too strong for novice riders and we each got tossed from the boat. I got stuck under the heavy raft and was panicking until I luckily managed to gt out from under it. I didn't know what to do until people watching hollered at us to get back in. We even passed a lifeguard who said nothing as we struggled with it. We approached the ending point this time and grabbed the rope they tossed out to slow us; however, it slipped and they had to cast it out again. When we got to the dock, the staff member was extremely belligerent and rude and treated us badly just because we made a mistake. I personally will not be returning.

We went on a hot day. We were provided with helmets and a raft/paddles.It was a fun adventure that lasted a little over 5 minutes from beginning to end. The employees were helpful. The only thing that concerned us were the signs that stated that there was sewage in the water. Gross. Made me wonder why the kayaking people wanted go under that stuff! We were wet when we were done--but, not soaking wet. If you go, bring clothes to change into after-and wear sandals or some shoes that you don't mind getting wet. This attraction is weather permitting and only open on weekends. The rock climbing was open during our visit--that's only $1.00! The street rider things weren't available-which we really wanted to do. There are food trailers and out houses on site.

We've been here four times with our Scouts over the last ten years. Always fun. It can get quite crowded but our Scouts usually get 3-5 runs in the early afternoon. The waterway is about 1900 feet long so the ride generally takes 5-7 minutes. Our youth come away tired and very satisfied. (Note: all riders rafters must be at least 54 inches tall and anyone 16 and younger must have an adult in the boat.)This year, they also had a small climbing tower as well as two elliptical bikes for rental. The concessions are very limited, but you are in the middle of town so there are options fairly close (we bring our lunch and sit along the waterway and eat). Parking is easy and free.

We had a couple hours and rode our bikes down this path. The path was easy to ride. A few places are very close to the river and I am not a great bike rider so when I met someone coming down the path it was scary. The view is nice and the area seems very clean. We did see a couple of "homeless looking people" under one of the bridges but we felt safe. Not certain I would want to be here after dark.

A friend and I just rode bicycles from the Mishawaka River Walk to the East Race and back. It was a beautiful and fun ride. Loved seeing the East Race.

I like walking by the river. Some Olympians have trained there. It is a place to people watch. There are restaurants by the river as well.

My family and I went this past summer and had so much fun! It had enough of an edge for the adventure seeker and felt safe at the same time. I highly recommend this to people who love the outdoors! We will be going back next summer! My 10 year old son met the minimum height requirement but please check that before you head out!

Don't go here expecting colorado or west virginia... But don't be surprised if the rapids are powerful enough to flip your raft of 4 over either.This place is fun for what it is. $5 for a 7 min raft ride unlike anything you will get within a short drive from chicago. I take friends here every year and we have a blast.Theres not many other places in the world where you can raft with out a guide, but have life guards staged every 100ft... so if you have friends afraid of water, this is the place to get them wet!

our boat was way to big for the three of us in it (2 adults and a 12 year old) and when it tipped over and threw us out, one of us got trapped beneath the boat, and it was way to large to tip over. Staff was quite slow to respond and acted like it was no big deal to a very harrowing experience. We'll never do it again and are doing everything we can to keep friends away.

kind of cool but in a very bad part of town i use to go there alot as a kid and walk around with my dad but now its a diffrent time .

There are kayak and raft rentals summer weekend afternoons, but we mostly just walk the East Race. At the head of the race there's Seitz Park on one side, and the parking lot for the Emporium on the other. Weekend afternoons in the summer you can rent rafts and kayaks there; rental includes safety gear like helmets and life jackets. Be mentally prepared to fall out; seems to me most rafts seem to lose somebody. In the mornings you can walk along the East Race on the east side and find shade most of the way. You have to cross the river on walkway bridges a couple of times, which is usually in the sun as is the west side that time of day, and where East Race merges back into the river is also pretty exposed. The last half or so the east side path is narrow; most bicyclists go around the other way through that part but every once in a while one braves it. Weekdays the water is pretty mellow; weekends they reset the gates and the water can be pretty high and anytime the water's particularly high there are a couple of places the path can get wet; be careful in sandals and other potentially slick shoes!The Emporium Restaurant gets fair reviews, and is right by the Race; we usually go up one block on LaSalle or Colfax (20) to Macri's Italian Bakery to get a snack. Macri's also has a restaurant, Carmela's; haven't eaten there but it gets good reviews.If you cross the river on the north side at Colfax, there's the John Hunt Memorial Plaza in front of the Morris; Friday afternoons in the summer there's usually a band playing there. If you cross on the south side of Colfax, you can cut back down behind the Century Center and get a great view of the waterfalls at the dam from the island behind the Century Center (a couple of afternoons a year it's closed for parties). Or, you can stick to the road and do the South Bend Museum of Art (not a big deal, depending on the temp exhibit, but not very expensive, either), or head up past the former College Football Hall of Fame to the South Bend Chocolate Factory, which at this site is just a cafe and a candy store, but we like to stop there for a bite sometimes.If the weather's nice, wandering downtown South Bend might be worth doing. My kids like to check out Griffin Bookstore, behind the Morris, for gaming stuff, while I go downstairs to check out the s/f and fantasy books, We also like the Idle Hours Bookshop, which is a block past the South Bend Chocolate Factory; Idle Hours is a more straight-up used bookstore, while Griffin's specializes. There are some other little shops, but South Bend's downtown is more oriented toward serving the people working there than to tourists, so there's more food and drink than shopping.

Kayak course used for training and for pleasure by many. I don't kayak but do enjoy bicycling the East Race Trail. The trail runs between South Bend and Mishawaka, much of it along the river. Set back and relax watching the kayak competitions or enjoy a concert at Seitz Park.

I am a 31-year old, fairly athletic girl who had never white-water rafted. I went with my 26-year-old, also fairly athletic, female friend. We underestimated our ability to stay in the boat! The lifeguard said about 40% of people fall out, and I think that's probably about right. We fell out twice! But we never felt like we were in danger--more like embarrassed! I will definitely go again--now I'm more determined than ever to make it all the way IN the boat!!!

Who would have thunk it? But, after reading about it on this site, my husband and I decided to drive over and take a look since we moved to Indiana from Colorado where we had indeed white water rafted.The official time frame that includes renting a kayak or a raft right at the pier is June-August so it wasn't "open for business" yet. However, on this 42 degree day, there were some brave souls with their own kayaks in their wetsuits kayaking! BRRRRThey have diverted part of the St. Joseph River at this point and there are buoys of some type to create a small, calm, get started area. You put in off a dock here, get your bearings and then head towards the "rapids" which catapult you on your adventure. There are several boulders on the sides and in the middle that you must steer clear of but which add to the cascading of the waters. We stood on a bridge over the water to see how they were going to fare and they did well. We could tell they were experienced because they were able to pull over to the side and wait up for their friends and at times, to even hold their own in the middle, going against the strong current.There is a walkway on each side of this diversion so that people can watch and stroll and so that you can carry your boat back to the dock and do this all over again which you will probably want to do since the course is less than half a mile. Kind of reminds me of sledding in that way.Wish I had taken some photos to share.It might be worth a try for only $5 a pop for rafting if you've never done this kind of thing before. Ingenious, I say!