Whitewater kayaking in the southeast

The Ocoee river will probably be your best bet.

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The Ocoee river will probably be your best bet.

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I grew up in the area.

You need to be a pretty good kayaker to handle the Ocoee. Gotta be able to roll the kayak consistently. And you need to jump on with some others who have kayaked the river before.

We have a cabin on the Hiwassee, which is right below the Ocoee. Much easier to maneuver and safer if you are a beginner kayaker. Some great rapids, as well.

There are two main outfitters for the Hiwassee. Hiwassee Outfitters and Webb's. Ocoee has a ton. You can take a guided raft guide on the Ocoee which is a ton of fun. Especially if you get a good guide.

if you don't know how to roll then you have no business kayaking anything above class II. You will end up swimming.

There are not any places that "rent" kayaks but you can demo from any place that sells them for a small fee. You will need to have your own equipment though- sprayskirt, helmet, pfd, paddle, drytop or neoprene, etc.

If you have no ww kayaking experience then your best bet to have a similar experience without killing yourself is to ducky (inflatable kayak) and you can do this through many raft companies. A great place to do this is the Nantahala River. The water is cold but its a great river to learn on and really pretty.

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Depending on the location you choose, I'd be all about this trip. I've been wanting to hit some real rapids for a while now.

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Nice. I'm thinking about going later this week and making it an extended southeast trip.

Nantahala....been ww kayaking for almost 15 years, they are head and shoulders above the rest with beginners.

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When your ready the BEST ww river/creek in the southeast by far, right off I26 near Hendersonville, N.C.

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Hell, I might be down to go again. There's lots of breweries in the area too.

I am an avid whitewater kayaker. You want to at least have some experience before hopping on the Nanty, it's not too big-but swift. Ocoee, no way if you can't roll consistently.

Yeah man, the Atlanta whitewater club is pretty active. You are in a great spot, actually. The hooch is some decent flat, swift water. Check out Atlanta whitewater on Facebook. I know ORGT outdoor rec at ga tech, has open pool sessions quite a bit.

The key is learning to roll, everything else comes after that IMO.

I drove through Glenwood canyon Wednesday and the CO river is class 5 right now. This will be a good rafting season out here this year.

Safety is a personal thing, so do as you wish, but If you don't have a lot of experience, horsing around in rapids solo isn't something you would probably want to do. I solo trip in my canoe a lot and have seen stuff no where near class 2 or 3 get some inexperienced kayakers in trouble. I actually had to pull a guy out of a strainer one time on a very benign river. Like I said though, your safety is yours so do what you will, just beware that those hydraulics can be very strong and get you into some real precarious situations.