Chattahoochee River in Georgia

Trip Overview

Whitesburg, GA to Franklin, GA

My ten-year-old son and I put in the Chattahoochee at Hwy. 16 outside of Whitesburg with a friend and his son, also ten. We encountered a rough spot at plant Yates, causing temporary problems. We paddled past McIntosh Reserve Park, where we stopped on some rocks for a snack. (Ten year old boys think that they have to eat constantly)

Continuing downstream we encountered many shoals, but none were any challenge. We stopped briefly to look around at the BRAND NEW Chattahoochee Bend State Park. See Launch Site Map for this location here:
www.paddling.com/launches/showLaunch.html?lid=16727

The only signs of life after Chattahoochee Bend were deer and birds (even saw bald eagles). We stopped at Red Bone Creek to camp for the night just for fun. There is a really cool waterfall at river right.

Day two we encountered the five islands of Bush Head Shoals State Park, followed immediately by Bush Head Shoals, which was a very fun Class II run. Not far downstream, we manuevered through Daniel Shoals, also Class II's.

From there it was a calm paddle to the city of Franklin. The take-out is on river right immediately after you cross under the Hwy 34 bridge. This trip can be done in a day, but you have to get a fairly early start as it is 27 miles in length.

Outfitting:

There is an outfitter in Whitesburg, GA called "Georgia Trail Outfitters." If you need gear, they can rent you what you need. They can also provide shuttle services.

Fees:

There is a fee if you put in at McIntosh Reserve Park which I recommend only due to the unpredictable nature of the "rock dam" at Plant Yates.

There is a free park at the Hwy 16 put-in (map link).

Resources:

The only thing we used was a hand-held GPS and earlier research using on-line maps.

Hwy 16 put-in

Chattahoochee Bend State Park Launch