Hudson River in Georgia

Trip Overview

I paddled the beautiful Hudson River during high flows that made this a much more challenging river than was expected. I was paddling a Mohawk Odyssey without flotation. Guidebooks say its the "prettiest of the tributaries of the Broad River and several drops never exceed easy class 2". I agree with the first half but the second half is totally dependent on flow.

I paddled the stretch from hwy 106 bridge at Fort Lamar down 6 miles to the hwy 29 bridge just before it empties into the Broad River. It was very muddy and since the gauge on the Broad was around 2000cfs, I think the Hudson was providing about half of that flow. It had some nice bluffs, rocky outcrops and about 6 well-defined drops, three of which needed scouting and were certainly class 3 due to big holes and invisible boulders just under the surface that could not be seen until they were impacted by your boat.

I do think it would have been better to wait one more day until the flow was around 300-500 cfs. It is otherwise a very enjoyable paddle that has a pretty easy shuttle. There are some pockets of homes along the river,..concentrated around the rapids. This seems to be a common thing with Georgia rivers.

Overall, I am looking forward to paddling the river again at about half the flow I endured.

Accommodations:

Fairly rural area but Athens about 25 miles away. Small towns of Franklin Springs and Royston are only a few miles away

Fees:

None

Directions:

From Athens GA, take HWY 29 NE about 25 miles to the takeout bridge. The put-in on hwy 106 bridge is reached by going south from the takeout about a mile and take hwy 174 west about 2 miles, then take a right on Shiloh-Ft Lamar road about 4 miles to Ft Lamar where a right on 106 gets you to the bridge in about a mile.

Resources:

Delorme Atlas and Georgia Rivers guidebook