I came across the documentary Who Owns Water, where two men travel the length of the Chattahoochee River to the Gulf around Apalachicola. I am trying to do a similar trip this spring from Atlanta to the gulf, which would be a little shorter. Has anyone done this trip before? I am still trying to decide between a kayak or canoe for this trip. I need to travel about 25+ miles per day to stay on pace. Does this sound feasible in a canoe? I like how a canoe will be able to carry more supplies, but I still feel like canoes are slow and cumbersome (I haven’t spent much time in them unlike kayaks). Thanks!
I’d say kayak personally.
Sounds like a ambitious trip!
I honestly don’t know much about canoes and the distances/speed of them. I have been canoeing several times at a livery however.
I just finished a 3 day trip down a local river in a kayak and I think a nice touring kayaking would be my choice over a canoe…
On the Chattahoochee you will
have to cross several major reservoirs and portage the dams that created them. Some lakes are so large that you would need care and patience to navigate the main channel.
The best Atlanta to the sea route is down the South, Ocumulgee, and Altamaha rivers to Darien and the Atlantic. However, the South is small, often too low, punctuated by rapids and downed trees.
The Flint to the Gulf is an alternative, but it is not negotiable by paddle craft until around Griffin.
So, your Chattahoochee route has the fewest problems at the beginning, but then there are those boring reservoirs.