Chattahoochee River

". . . paddling the Chattahoochee is like simultaneously paddling through a national park and an industrial park."

-- Joe Cook, in A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Georgia

In north Georgia's mountains, the formerly moribund community of Helen re-invented itself as an "Alpine Village" with such success that weekend traffic jams now are a greater hazard than logging trucks. At this point little more than a creek, the Chattahoochee winds its way though suburban and downtown Helen. As urban streams go, the Helen 'Hooch is fairly well-treated, despite developmental encroachments such as retaining walls and overhanging restaurants.

Rarely does the Helen 'Hooch flow enough to navigate by canoe; however, entrepreneurs such as Cool River Tubing will happily rent you a colorful float tube for a cool downstream journey on a hot summer day. Go ahead; everybody does it.

Cool fun for everyone (ca. 40 cfs)

For your entertainment, a passing pastel parade (ca. 40 cfs)

Near the end of the run, a little action (ca. 40 cfs) Photo: Cool River Tubing

While not quite wild and pristine, the un-dammed Chattahoochee River above Lake Lanier offers easy-to-intermediate whitewater in a mostly-natural river corridor with convenient access. Conditions on the Upper 'Hooch vary with rainfall, from vigorous, turbulent high water -- sometimes tainted with chicken poop -- to clean but very technical low water. ("Technical" in this context means "lots of new scratches on my boat.")

This popular 4-mile section is served by Wildwood Outfitters, conveniently located at the Duncan Bridge Road take-out. The State of Georgia plans a new park at Buck Shoals, about a mile downstream of the put-in at Georgia Highway 115.

Buck Shoals at low water (ca. 270 cfs)

Resting below Buck Shoals ca. 270 cfs

Cheering the kayak train through Horseshoe ca. 270 cfs

A sit-on-top runs Horseshoe ca. 270 cfs

Built in the 1950s, Buford Dam impounds the Chattahoochee and Chestatee Rivers to form Lake Lanier, providing flood control, recreation, a modest amount of hydroelectric power, and a predictable water supply for Atlanta. Below Buford Dam, the 'Hooch runs clear and cold (ca. 50 deg. F), a delight for trout but not for swimming humans. Between the dam and mid-Atlanta, segments of the Chattahoochee corridor are protected from civilized encroachment within the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA), as well as other municipal parks. Considering the pace of development around Atlanta, that's a damned good thing.

When Buford Dam releases water (usually for a few hours a day, during late afternoon / evening), flow quickly jumps from ca. 500 cfs to something like 10,000 cfs. In the photos below, scoured banks and stained rocks indicate elevated levels during release. During "normal" (low) flow, the river segment between Buford Dam and Settles Bridge offers a few modest shoals and an entertaining chute at "The Hump," which becomes much more interesting during dam release.

Buford Dam powerhouse outflow channel (ca. 500 cfs)	Dowmstream from Buford Dam (ca. 500 cfs)	Below Buford Dam (ca. 500 cfs)	Tubing "The Hump" (ca. 500 cfs)
Upstream from Settles Bridge (ca. 500 cfs)	"No Climbing On Bridge," the sign says. Sure . . .	Yeeeehaaah!	Upstream toward Rogers Bridge, also defunct (ca. 500 cfs)
A warm Sunday afternoon at Jones Bridge Park (ca. 600 cfs)	Rock shelter at Island Ford	Beaver at work, Island Ford	Island Ford Shoals

In the dear dead days of yore (Martha, get my cane!), hordes of happy drunks rafted the Chattahoochee from Morgan Falls Dam or Johnson Ferry Road to I-285. While almost no-one misses the trash, rowdiness, riverbank-trampling, and public excretion/emesis associated with the '70s Great Raft Race, it is lamentable that so few Atlantans boat on the Chattahoochee nowadays. Maybe it has something to do with those Health Risk signs posted at access points? Or maybe our minds are elsewhere. But where better than the 'Hooch?

Morgan Falls Dam: 100 years old and showing its age	There is no whitewater between Morgan Falls and Cochran Shoals!	The once-busy Johnson Ferry put-in looks like a ghost town	Downstream toward Johnson Ferry Road from put-in ramp ca. 1300 cfs.
There may be no whitewater, but there are otters!	And some very nice houses	Bluffs above Cochran Shoals	Cochran Shoals at last! (I-285 in the distance) ca. 1300 cfs.
A Great Blue takes wing at Cochran Shoals	Cochran Shoals, center approximately east

Despite all my years living in Atlanta, I had not run the "Metro 'Hooch" section of the Chattahoochee River until mid-2005. I found it an eye-opening trip: this section runs within a mostly undeveloped corridor of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA), cutting across thoroughly urbanized Atlanta. Except a few civilized intrusions at major road crossings, the Metro 'Hooch looks almost natural. In this development-crazy city, who'd 'a' thunk it?

Thank you, Jimmy Carter!

The short Metro 'Hooch -- about 3 miles according to the CRNRA map -- runs approximately from I-285 southwest to US Hwy 41. Put in at the Powers Island unit of CRNRA, north of I-285. Immediately you float under a triple bridge: I-285, flanked by Interstate North Parkway and Powers Ferry Road. Pass a short developed section (Ray's On The River, etc.), then into the CRNRA Twilight Zone: a wooded, wild piedmont river in the unlikely environs of north Atlanta. After a couple of miles of modest whitewater, pass under I-75 and take out about a quarter-mile later at the Paces Mill unit. If you're paddling without a shuttle, it's a short walk to Laseter's Tavern, where you can call a cab. Or you can walk back to Powers Island in little more than an hour.

This section has enough whitewater to keep you awake, but nothing threatening (even for someone of my modest skills.) Water quality and flow are highly variable, both depending on rainfall runoff and releases from Morgan Falls Dam.

Through much of its course in north Georgia, the Chattahoochee flows from northeast to southwest, following the Brevard Fault Zone. During the past 400 million years or so, tectonic and erosional processes have raised rhythmically-spaced parallel ridges in the Brevard Zone; those ridges constrain the Chattahoochee's course until the river breaks through them in northwest Atlanta. Eroded remnants of these ridges form sets of shoals in the Metro 'Hooch: Cochran Shoals, Devil's Racecourse, Thornton Shoals, and nameless others.

Upstream from Interstate North Pkwy (I-285) bridge ca. 2000 cfs. Powers Island put-in at photo right center	Downstream from Powers Island put-in ca. 4000 cfs.	Downstream toward Interstate North Pkwy (I-285) bridge ca. 4000 cfs.	Downstream from Powers Ferry Road (I-285) bridge ca. 2000 cfs.
Ray's on the River (river left) ca. 1200 cfs.	Riverbend Apartments and geese on river right ca. 1300 cfs.	.	.
Approaching first set of shoals, Devil's Racecourse ca. 1100 cfs.	First set of shoals Devil's Racecourse ca. 1200 cfs	First chute on river right Devil's Racecourse ca. 1200 cfs	Upstream at first chute Devil's Racecourse ca. 3000 cfs (?)
Side-surfing ca. 4000 cfs.	First set of shoals, Devil's Racecourse ca. 1200 cfs.		Racing through Devil's Racecourse
Second set of shoals, Devil's Racecourse ca. 1300 cfs.	Playing in the second segment of Devil's Racecourse ca. 1700 cfs.	Goose negotiates second segment of Devil's Racecourse ca. 1200 cfs.	Upstream at Devil's Racecourse from Indian Trail overlook ca. 2000 cfs.
Devil's Racecourse, looking east as evening approaches left: looking upstream at second set of shoals right: looking downstream toward shoals around Charlie's Island			Playing around the pourover rock, Devil's Racecourse ca. 1100 cfs.
Exit from Devil's Racecourse looking upstream from Charlie's Island ca. 1200 cfs.		Palisades ca. 4000 cfs.	Thornton Shoals ca. 4000 cfs. (Shoals? What shoals?)
Upstream from Whitewater Creek ca. 2000 cfs.	Upstream from I-75 bridge ca. 2000 cfs. Long Island at photo right	Approaching I-75 bridge ca. 4000 cfs.	Downstream from I-75 bridge ca. 2000 cfs. Long Island at left
Chute below I-75 ca. 2700 cfs.(?)	Upstream at chute below I-75 ca. 3000 cfs(?)	Approaching Paces Mill take-out ca. 4000 cfs.	Upstream from Paces Mill take-out ca. 2000 cfs.
Upstream from US 41 bridge ca. 2000 cfs. Paces Mill at photo left	Laseter's Tavern, your cab shuttle terminal	.	Google Maps Aerial Photo

See also:
American Whitewater Metro 'Hooch river description
US Geological Survey Atlanta river gauge