Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe

We came on a Monday morning around 11am in the summer, when there was plenty of equipment available and no rush. We chose to come early based on the previous reviews. It was manned by one guy, who was friendly and helpful. We were deciding between a 2 or 4 hour rental and weren’t sure how much we could handle. The guy working suggested the 4 hour and was nice enough to offer us a partial refund if we decided to come back before 2 hours. It was only a $ 10 difference, but still that’s good customer service.
The river is quiet and has docks from other homes along the way, but we only saw two people out fishing the whole 3 hours we were out there. They had SUPs, kayaks, and canoes. Note the kayaks don’t have kayak skirts, so obviously expect a little water.
I do see how the stock is limited and may not be available if you come late in the day on a busy day, which could be a bad experience. Just go early or call ahead to see how busy they might be. I do hope they have come up with a better system of dealing with waiting people, but I’m not sure if it’s changed since we didn’t have to deal with that.

Really poor service staff. The two guys at the counter really don’t care. When we got back and went to the counter we were told we would have to go back to the dock and bring back the the paddles and lifr jackets why when they had to go down to retrieve the kayaks.

After calling the company and confirming they were open until 7, and reviewing the website, I packed up my 3 young boys, 70 year old parents, and 18 month old nephew for a late afternoon paddle. When I called and said we’d be there between 4:30 and 5:00 they said they can’t reserve any kayaks, but there should be plenty available. We arrived at 5:05 and were told flippantly by the teenage boys there «sorry we don’t rent after 5 pm.» Keep in mind this was last Saturday and it was 97 degrees out. There were 9 of us standing there, cash in hand, and there were 5 kayaks ready to go. They wouldn’t budge.
What horrible customer service. No where on your website or when I called was it stated that you can’t rent after 5 pm. It was such an incredibly negative situation –my boys left in tears since I promised them after a long hot day of baseball we’d get to go on the river. They were so excited about. Not too mention my elderly parents being in town and looking forward to a fun adventure with their grandkids.
So disappointing.

THE HUNGER GAMES OF KAYAKS
I usually only use Unilocal to give businesses kudos but this one is one of the few where I say, «I wish I could give negative stars.»
As a business owner for years, I can’t believe they think this business model works. Last weekend my boyfriend and I went there to rent a Kayak. We knew it would be busy so we called to make an appointment. They don’t take appointments. When you have four hour rentals, and very limited supply, this sounds like a bad idea, but ok.
We get there at 1:45 and they say they don’t have any and we can’t be on a waiting list. the boy working (who is either stones or is running some sort of competition with the other guy working, for the person who cares less about their job) says that a lot of boat are coming back at 2:30. but again won’t put our name on a list.
We come back at 2:10, he says all the 2:30 boats came back early and were given out. THEN HE ACTUALLY RECOMMENDS that we go down the the doc and when we see a boat come in, we run up to the rental place and say we want that one. I look down at the doc and there are at least ten people there doing the same thing.
SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT. In order to get a kayak, I should race a bunch of other people, old people, children, whoever, up a steep hill to accost one of your employees before someone else does, and scream over the crowd, that I want that kayak that is coming up the hill?
Maybe I should just jump in the water and kick the person who is returning it, out of their boat and just shoot you a text as I paddle away before someone else kicks me out.
This is not the way to run a business. Either the teenage boys who run it are lazy and the owner has no idea what is going on down there, or the owner is running this business as an experiment into what people will do to each other for a kayak.

This was a good experience however the landing for entry to the water could be designed a bit better it’s high up and hard to get in and out of the boats. The water was calm and the employees polite. Call ahead to see how busy they are because it’s first come first serve. Also the store is hidden way back from the parking lot walk down the concrete path to the water and you will see it.

Before we took the plunge and bought our own kayaks (yes plural) and canoe, we rented from Alder Creek. Back then the people that ran the store had the most beautiful Burmese Mountain dogs. Now this rental office is operated by Alder Creek, which has other retail and rental locations around Portland.
The Tualatin River is a very smooth river so you don’t need to be experienced paddler to rent a canoe and have a great time. There are a number of parks along the river as well (Tualatin Community, Jergens, Cook Park), so you can stop along the way for a picnic.
I recommend you call first to make sure they are open since they operate from Memorial Day through mid-​September, but sometimes they are only open on weekends.
Also, I do recommend a canoe or a single kayak. They call double kayaks divorce-​makers for a reason.