Is there anywhere on the chattahoochee around Roswell, GA that someone could do a quick solo paddle and not have to shuttle? So, a place that one could paddle up and back to their put in spot? I’d like to do some quick paddling after work sometimes and can’t always depend on a shuttle…
Sure
I know of three places.
The first is Riverside Park. You need to lug your boat a bit to the launch which is a small dock or beside it. If you are in the park facing the river, it will be up on the far right, where a little stream enters the main river.
It is the finish for the annual up coming race they have every year.
The next one that is much closer to get your boat to is continue driving (down river) past Riverside Park, and not too far beyond the first big intersection there is another road side park
And then there is another at Holcombe bridge that has a ramp. That is where the race starts.
Jack L
Thanks!
That’s great!
So, is there a maximum distance I can travel at these spots before would need to turn around and paddle back?
I suggest you use Google Earth which
has a mileage calculator. You can see the Island Ford rapids and the flatter sections quite clearly from space.
The last few days, the Corpse has been running water levels from 4 to 10k cfs which makes upstream paddling rather difficult.
I mostly paddle down between Powers Island and the hwy 41 take out. I have in the past pole my canoe up from 41 to Powers Island. This can also be done fairly easily by kayakers, and if I were still young, I could paddle it in canoe as long as the water level is not too annoyingly low. (It’s actually easier to ascend most rapids at medium water levels.)
Azalea Dr & Roswell Rd
less than a mile west of Hwy 9 (Roswell Rd) on Azalea Drive there is a park with a boat ramp that would suit your needs perfectly. Morgan Falls Damn is several miles downstream and so the current is almost non-existent in that direction. Paddling upstream the current increases and there are some shoals a couple miles up. you could spend a couple hours in either direction round trip.
There used to be an unofficial access
right under the hwy 400 bridge, on the north side. Has that been closed by the Park Service?
One can go to Park Headquarters and use their ramp on the NE side of their headquarters building. That gets one on flat water above Island Shoals, and one can paddle upstream a good ways.
Garrard Landing Park
I agree with the previous poster. I took my 14’ Necky out last Saturday and it was a perfect day. You can put in at Garrard Landing Park on Holcomb Bridge Road. The best to enter on the South Side of Holcomb Bridge road next to the new treatment complex that looks like an old mill (across from the fire station).
It’s a great area. But a word of caution… If you want to go upstream I would carry the kayak immediately above the stone dam that extends about halfway into the river. I tried to paddle up the river last year and the volume of water squeezing past the semi-dam flipped me like a leaf a couple of times. I donated a nice pair of Ray Bans to the sediment in the river.
Azalea
I agree with the previous post about Azalea Park. You can go a couple miles in both directions from there without much of a problem.
Azelea Park
In my opinion, Azelea Park tends to be a boring afternoon, plus you have to contend with the rowing crowd. When I go I generally head south to Morgan Falls Dam where the new park has opened. It’s better to put in there and go up river since there is very little current. There are some great cliffs and nice views.
Still there…
…but it’s a parking lot with retaining wall, etc. They have made it a park from the Nature Center all the way to that overpass. Drove threw a couple weeks ago. Bumper to bumper traffic and people everywhere for miles.