camping with small kids near rivers

[stopitatonce]

I know it would be loads of fun, but is it a crazy plan in terms of being dangerous / meaning you have to spend every second watching out for mishaps? They are 4 - 11

If you have sufficient adults to clearly hand off to then no worries - in the sense of saying "you've got the children now " "yes I've got the children"

If not then a no from me

thanks! I suspect it might be too much worry ... don't think I'd relax at all

We've just come back from a few days at a site in the Lakes where the river was separated from the camping field by a drystone wall - perfect as we could all wander over to play in the river for a bit when they wanted to, or the children could play in the field without us worrying about them going near the river. I don't think I would be able to relax if I knew small children could access a river without us noticing.

Depends on the size of the river, how fast it is flowing and hoe sensible your children are?

Mine love camping near streams they can jump / swing over, play pooh sticks and make boats out of leaves and sticks to chase down mini waterfalls. It does mean lots of wet feet and changes of clothes but if you are relaxed about it, it's OK.

I wouldn't leave them completely unsupervised and mine are a little older.. 7, 9 and 11. We have had quite a few water based trips this summer (stream, sea, lake) and loved them all. When we stayed by a lake, everyone had life jackets on. My children are quite sensible and I have an adventurous approach to risky sports.

Last year we camped in a site which had a river running through it. It was idyllic. There was a dam at one spot where the water pooled and you could swim, an artificial lake for paddle boats and a slow flowing part with a shingle "beach" where you could light a campfire. There was one incident where a child in a swimming ring slithered over the dam and went down-river and had to be rescued by a lady who was very heavily pregnant!

Chipmonkey what was the name of that site please? It sounds beautiful.