Our Difference & Green Ethics

We custom built our River Dance Lodge to be Idaho’s outdoor adventure resort, your homebase for active adventures, cultural day trips and a all-inclusive vacation packages in Idaho’s pristine wildnerness. We encourage you to consider the differences between what we offer at River Dance Lodge and your other vacation accommodation options:

ORIGINAL & INVOLVED COMPANY OWNERS

Because Mother Nature can sometimes throw us a curve ball, consistency and experience of leadership are critical for an adventure travel company. ROW Adventures owners, Betsy Bowen and Peter Grubb are also the owners of River Dance Lodge, and bring the experience and knowledge of consistent family ownership since 1979. Peter and Betsy continue to be active in all company operations.

THE BEST IN LUXURY WILDERNESS LODGING

We have 8 private log cabins, each with its own unique theme and hot tub, as well as 3 Glamping Tents. Our staff works hard to make your vacation the best it can be! Curl up with a book next to the fireplace, or a chair on the deck, and sip your favorite beverage as you listen to the Clearwater River flowing gently by.

WE LOVE FAMILIES

In 1988, ROW pioneered Family Magic Rafting trips to best meet the needs of children and their parents or grandparents. These rafting trips on the Salmon River are staffed with a "River JesterTM" who leads games, nature exploration, and other activities and are “families only” assuring all participating kids plenty of playmates. Our kids' menu would make Dr. Seuss drool! From the knowledge we gained from this family program, we’ve created our adveture vacations that cater towards all families.

CREATIVE VACATION PACKAGES COMBINE LODGING WITH ROW ADVENTURES

For groups of 10+ we offer all-inclusive packages so you can relax, have catered meals and simply schedule (in advance) your guided activities with us.  These include guided rafting, gentle float trips, hiking, biking, fishing and more, all based from River Dance Lodge.  We also rent tubes and sit-on-top kayaks and can provide shuttles.

RICH CULTURAL AND NATURAL HISTORY INTERPRETATION

On our guided trips, learn about the rich history of this area including early Forest Service history, wildfire management, the making of US Highway 12 and the WWII Japanese Internment Camp that was located at Canyon Creek.  We are also near the Lewis & Clark Trail.  Our guides give entertaining, informative presentations on cultural and natural history. Many of our professional rafting guides have college degrees in wildlife biology, geology, anthropology and other related fields.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY (Green Ethics)

ROW Adventures has always been an active supporter of river conservation, and we've carried the tradition to our Idaho adventure resort. Throughout our operation we practice the Three R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Our cabins use on-demand hot water systems to conserve resources. Daily maid service is offered however we encourage the use of towels and sheets for more than one day. We used the highest quality construction at River Dance Lodge to create a heritage resort with cabins that will never go out of style and should last hundreds of years.

Our concern and love for the environment has guided every decision made at the River Dance Lodge from construction of our cabins to our daily operations.

First, we built with logs that were harvested as dead-standing lodgepole pine. We built the highest quality construction because we are confident that these buildings will still be strong in 100 years and will never go out of fashion. (Contrast that to cheaply built motels/hotels that have a certain 30-50 year life span.) We built the cabins to be comfortable, but not large so heating requirements are minimal. We did not install air conditioning, but do provide fans and if people keep the doors closed on hot days the cabins stay cool. We don't have phones or TV's in the cabins, which means less electricity usage but also encourages people to connect with each other, spend time outdoors, and simply relax in nature.

Some of the other things we do include:

  • we have on-demand propane water heaters rather than hot water tanks. Energy is used only when people are using hot water.
  • we have our own septic system
  • we have our own well and there are no chemicals added to the water
  • we use all compact flourescent light bulbs
  • we recycle and have recycling bins set up in each cabin
  • we have landscaped with native plants
  • we offer daily maid service but unless requested change sheets only every three days if people are staying longer than that
  • we encourage guests to re-use towels
  • we use all "green" cleaning products