Type of River: Beginner to intermediate.  Some shoals, but mostly calm water

The best place to put in the Chattahooche is at Gwinnett County's Jones Bridge Park or the CNRA (Chattahoochee National Recreation Area) unit to Don White Memorial Park. This is a great place to go kayaking to get away from the city! The trip is around 10 1/2 miles and varies from relaxing to exciting.

Starting at Jones Bridge, the water is pretty smooth with a few rocks here and there that are easily avoided. The water isn't deep at all and you can stand in it although it is a little cold. There are also a lot of people fishing in this area, and interesting birds. Once you get to where Holcomb Bridge crosses the river (about 2 1/2 miles form starting point) you can only pass on the left side, close to the Dekalb County Water Treatment/Collection plant. It gets a little tricky maneuvering here because the plant feels like it is sucking you towards it.

Once you get past that point, it is smooth sailing, with no rocks sticking up or trees in the way. This is the point of the river where you start to see all of the fancy houses, and can sit back and let the river do the work. This section of the river is definitely Class I, you barely have to paddle. You won't get bored because there are lots of birds, reptiles, and animals to observe. We saw huge blue herons, cranes, hawks, and more. There are tons of turtles sunning themselves on river logs. We even saw a family of otters. The river remains like this for 4 miles until you get around to Old Riverside Rd. The first challenge comes when you get to the point where you have to choose between 3 ways. Paddle all the way to the right and you won't have any problems.

After this point...hold on and pay attention. The river goes up from a Class I to II ride. You start seeing ducks and people on rafts around here. Rocks start coming out of nowhere and the water gets really shallow. At the point when you reach the Island Ford Shoals CNRA there is no way to get around any of the rocks, and there are two ways to go. If you go to the left, you will have an exciting ride. The bottom of the kayak got scraped frequently by rocks and can get stuck very easily. To the right there is a bunch of trees sticking up and a narrower channel of water that is sometimes easier to negotiate.

After you get around Island Ford, your journey is nearing the end. The water calms down here.  The total trip time is about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. You'll know when it's time to get out when you see and hear GA 400, the Don White Park is on the right exactly under GA 400. Although the river is developed heavily with houses most of the way, it still is a great trip to take if you live in the area and don't want to deal with the traffic while traveling to a father destination.

The perfect day trip close to home.