Buffalo River Outfitters COVID-19 Response

May 7, 2020

We hope this finds you all healthy and safe. We are excited to learn that the Buffalo National River will be reopening on May 15th. We here at BRO wanted to reach out to our customers and inform you of our current reopening plan and schedule.

Our plan to reopen is evolving as we assess our situation and the amenities available to us. We desire above all to keep our clientele safe while also protecting our staff and local community. In our effort to do so, we have decided to reopen our business in phases to give ourselves time to adapt to the new standards and guidelines we plan on following closely. As Phase One of our reopening, please be advised of the following:

We will only be renting out a smaller amount of boats per day, and those boats will only be available by advance reservation.

Any floating or cabin reservation must be made at least 48 hours in advance of desired float or stay times. Reserved put-in or take-outs can not be changed by the customer after reservation is confirmed, and any large changes to reservations within 48 hours of reservation times may not be permitted.

You may still rent boats for specified put-in and take-out locations, but those locations are subject to change at any time and without notice. We will be determining our daily floats based on access point congestion and ease of delivery of boats and above all, the safety of our guests.

We will not be providing any shuttles at all as part of “Phase One” of our reopening. If you rent a boat from us, we will only shuttle the boat, you will be responsible for moving your people and personal vehicles in and out of the river access points.

As of this writing, our opening date is tentatively set for May 15, although that may be subject to change.

We are working on ways that we can best provide our outstanding customer service while still keeping with CDC guidelines for safe business operation. We will be putting up an online retail store as soon as we can. Our retail building (gift/tee shop) will be closed to the public at this time, but we will eventually have our famous shirts and souvenirs available at our location for pick-up orders or limited on-site shopping. Stay tuned for updates on that.

Overall, we are of course practicing enhanced sanitization techniques of our storefront and of our equipment, and our staff will all be masked and trained for doing business as safely and cleanly as possible. Thank you for your continued patience and patronage at this time, and we look forward to enjoying Summer 2020 on the Buffalo National River with you!

Happy Paddling,

The Staff at Buffalo River Outfitters