If we have our own floatation devices. Is it possible to have 1 of our vehicles park at the top, and the other vehicle park at the bottom to avoid having to take the shuttle at all? If so, where would we park?

For a "full river run", all 11 or so miles, leave your pick-up vehicle at the Granite Reef Rec Area, then take your drop-off vehicle and tubes/kayak/canoe/rafts to Water Users Rec Area, 9 miles further east on Bush Hwy. To shorten your float, you can also Enter/Exit at Pebble Beach Rec Area or exit at Point #4, which is the Official SRT Exit. Full run takes approx 4.5 hours in a canoe! DO NOT FORGET $8/car/day PARKING PASSES AT WALGREENS. (All Rec areas mentioned can be found by name on Google Maps for easy GPS navigation)

Yes, there is parking at sites #2 & #4 for sure. We didn't make it to any other locations on our visit. There are no fees for parking.

Yea we do it all the time .

Yes and it's free! There are 4 entry points. Point #1 is blocked by downed trees.. I suggested viewing your map via satellite to locate the parking lots.

Not sure where but should be easy to figure out once you get there.