We love children and do our level best to help parents get their kids out on the river - sometimes in their own boat and sometimes in their parents' boat. Depending on the age of the child, this river can be something straight out of Disney or Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn or maybe even Northwest Passage. Just up river from the bridge there is a magnificent old wildflower log jutting up out of the river with a deep part of the river below it. The side of the log has been worn smooth by bare feet. Up past that, at the confluence of the north and south forks of the river is the rope swing. (If you don't have children of your own, our advice is to think seriously about borrowing kids from a neighbor so that you won't feel self-conscious about using the rope swing.) We should probably also tell you that the river starts out cold at its headwaters, but is usually nice and swimmable when it gets down to the swing and the log. There is a lot of history associated with the Gualala River. Native Americans used the river in many different ways. Russian and Aleut fur hunters unquestionably visited. Doghole schooners used it as a refuge from heavy seas. Lumbermen worked here. During prohibition, "the mob" even had a hideout just up the north fork a ways past the swing. Jack London fished here and probably conceived story lines while he was waiting in the old hotel in Gualala for the mouth of the river to open so that the salmon could come into the river. Festive parties were organized on the river and we still do that today from time to time. We have arranged parties, team building adventures, school outings, weddings, and sometimes, if the conditions are just right, we organize a moonlight flotilla.