yaking in GA by Atlanta

Driving from FL to GA for a concert and want to find one or two rivers fairly close to Atlanta (clearly not in atlanta but even 2 hours away is fine), hopefully on or near a decent campground as we’re bringing our camper. Any thoughts?

GA
Looking for mild or wild?



Why not the Chattahoochee. Different sections offer a wide range of paddling conditions, all with easy access.



http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/maps/showmap.cfm?alphacode=chat&parkname=Chattahoochee%20River%20National%20Recreation%20Area






Chattahoochee Bend State Park
Chattahoochee Bend State Park is an almost brand new state park located near Newnan, which is roughly an hour from Atlanta. The state park has a very nice boat ramp with a trough beside it lined with artificial turf. When you drag your boat up the trough it cleans any mud off of the boat. You can put in a couple miles upstream from there where GA-16 crosses the river. The put-in also has a nice ramp, port-a-potties and a nice parking lot. There are some mild rapids but the riverbank through there is mostly undeveloped so it’s got a nice wilderness feel to it.

It’s hard to tell you much about rivers,
because I don’t know your experience level. But even though our drought is semi-broken, stream runnability is dependent on recent rainfall. The only exception is the Chattahoochee from Buford Dam through Atlanta.



If you needed to camp close in, Stone Mountain State Park is one possibility, but inquire and reserve early. They have a large lake for easy kayaking.



Sweetwater State Park also has a campground, and a lake, but I don’t think you’d want to kayak Sweetwater Creek unless you were with local experts.