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Chattahoochee Camp and Paddle Reveals River on the Rise

May 6, 2026 by Joe Cook

Chattamanasty. Dead River. Cesspool. Those were all words to describe the Chattahoochee River downstream from metro Atlanta’s numerous wastewater treatment plants from the 1960s to the 1990s. Those, like me, who grew up “shooting the hooch” in the 1970s and 80s knew that you didn’t venture downstream beyond Peachtree Creek. We were told it was too nasty, too dangerous, and I believed them. My family crossed the river and passed Atlanta’s R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment at the mouth of Peachtree Creek every Sunday on our way to and from church. It stunk. Bad.

Fast forward 50 years, across a Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Clean Water Act lawsuit and the City of Atlanta’s multi-billion dollar investment in sewer infrastructure. Now, not only do we have a cleaner river, we’ve got people USING the river downstream from the big city–like, actually getting in the river and taking fish from the river. The “Dead River” of yesterday is very much alive.

The latest development in the transformation of the river downstream of Atlanta are “paddle-in” campsites along its banks in South Fulton. Working with local governments, the Trust for Public Land has ushered the installation of access points and campsites from Peachtree Creek in Atlanta to McIntosh Reserve in Carroll County. And, these aren’t just any campsites. They are Cadillac campsites, complete with covered picnic areas, flush toilets and showers and even outlets to charge your devices (a camping essential in today’s digital world).

The campsite at Chattahoochee Hills’ Campbellton Park. These paddle-in campsites feature covered picnic pavilions with power, water, flush toilets and showers.

May 1-3, some 40 people joined Georgia Rivers for a two-day, two-night journey from Campbellton to McIntosh Reserve making use of these campsites and enjoying a river that, while still showing the signs of a major metropolitan area upstream (the occasional trash flotilla and the unmistakeable “laundry water smell” of wastewater discharges), displays an unexpected wild beauty. There’s few signs of development along its banks; there’s playful shoals where turtles periscope in the eddies behind ancient rocks, there’s impressive bluffs and abundant wildlife. Paddlers spotted turtles by the dozens, bald eagles, beavers, snakes and more. Georgia Rivers Kendon Townsel even landed a six-pound large-mouth bass during the journey.

Conclusion: the Chattahoochee beyond Peachtree Creek in Fulton, Cobb, Douglas, Coweta, Carroll and Heard counties is now open for business and every bit as worthy of exploration as the popular stretches of the river upstream through the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. You can make reservations for campsites at riverside parks at Campbellton and Chattahoochee Hills through the City of Chattahoochee Hills website.

During the journey, Amy McCollough, one of the Trust for Public Lands communication folks, asked me if I experienced anything new or different on this journey. I am as familiar with the Chattahoochee as any river in the state and have journeyed on this particular stretch of river often, but the old adage “you never step in the same river twice” holds true. Within minutes of answering her question, my daughter Ramsey and I were led down a narrow channel behind a river island by Les Duncan, Aja Embry and AmmaSosi Jenkins. I’d never ventured down it before. We discovered a beautiful passage blocked in places by channel-wide rock outcroppings and in other places flanked by soaring bluffs. The route placed us back on the main river channel above the final shoals of the trip at McIntosh Reserve. We paddled on to our take out where the Friends of McIntosh Reserve greeted our party with drinks, sandwiches, special canoe and tent cookies and hospitality I suspect was reminiscent of that rendered to travelers in the early 1800s who made use of Chief William McIntosh’s ferry here.

The boat launch at Chattahoochee Hills RiverLands Park. This floating dock and gangplank features a kayak/canoe launch made for those with mobility limitations. It made entering and exiting your vessel–and the launch of some 30 boats–a breeze.

Other observations from the trip: a bald eagle nest less than a quarter-mile upstream of the Whitesburg bridge; gar stacked up swimming at the mouth of the Dog River; mountain laurel and white-flowering rhododendron blooming side-by-side on bluffs in Carroll County where the brittle exoskeleton shells of dozens of dragonfly larvae were found clinging to riverside rock outcroppings. These are signs that despite more than a half century of neglect, the river here is on the rebound and very much alive.

Catchphrases for the weekend: Numb Bum and Gristle Butt. Aja Embry brought forth Numb Bum, that feeling in your behind after sitting in a kayak for a few hours. Tom Miller asked for an extra life jacket to serve as padding for his canoe seat. My butt is nothing but “gristle and bone,” he complained. Gristle Butt–the condition of having insufficient posterior padding.

Arthur Benson of Brunswick shoots through a small Chattahoochee River shoal in Carroll County.

Joe Cook

May 2026

Here’s additional photos from the weekend…

Joe and Lori Moore of Athens inspect the Dog River reservoir Dam operated by the Douglasville-Douglas County Water & Sewer Authority.
Aja Embry and AmmaSosi Jenkins of Conyers run shoals at McIntosh Reserve in Carroll County.

Arthur and Linnett Benson portage around a rock outcropping blocking a narrow channel on the backside of a Chattahoochee River island.

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Ogeechee Observations: Birds…the Most Beautiful Creatures on the Planet?

April 27, 2026 by Joe Cook

At this weekend’s Georgia Rivers Ogeechee River Adventure during our participant introductions Friday evening at the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center, everyone put forth their favorite bird. Ospreys, hummingbirds, bald eagles and pileated woodpeckers were among the picks. Later in the weekend, birds became one of the highlights of our journey down river.

Yellow-crowned night herons were among the most conspicuous, but there were also swallow-tailed kites, Mississippi kites, ospreys, prothonotary warblers, kingfishers, great egrets and more. Paddlers used the useful merlin app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to identify (by sound) dozens of birds. Indeed, we saw just a fraction of the birds that were actually flitting about the river corridor. Getting an up close look at their beauty proved illusive. Birds are skittish.

A yellow-crowned night heron along the Ogeechee River.

Today, back in Rome during a morning walk, I stumbled upon a rose-breasted grosbeak…dead on the sidewalk. It was sad to see. But, it provided the rare opportunity to inspect the bird’s striking beauty. It’s black-and-white chessboard wings; it’s brilliant red breast. It’s compact ivory beak. Even in death, it was stunning.

A prothonotary warbler along the Ogeechee River.

Part of the joy of riding rivers is stumbling upon beautiful creatures, and birds, by anyone’s rankings, rate as among the most beautiful creatures on the planet. Encountering one in its natural habitat is a thrill. If we are lucky to get close enough to see the intricate beauty of their plumage, well, that can be a transcendent experience. Occasionally, it happens. I got lucky with a pair of prothonotary warblers building a nest this weekend. They flitted to and from a tree cavity, bringing moss and other material, pausing after each deposit to curiously inspect me before continuing their work.

I am not a birder, but I understand why folks chase certain species across the globe just for the chance to see one in person. In the midst of a world with so much wrong, a bird can remind us of all that is right.

Other highlights from the weekend…

Carolyn Phillips Morris of Thomasville, who grew up in South Georgia and learned to swim in the Ohoopee River, provided what is bound to become a favorite colloquial simile of mine. Her parents operated the Glennville Sentinel newspaper when she was growing up. The printing press was in a dark windowless room near the rear of the paper’s offices. The operator of the press described the room as “darker than the smut walls of hell.” That’s a keeper.

Doris Boggs of Palm Harbor, Florida, joined us for another journey, noting in her “medical information” during registration “very arthritic knees.” Arthritic knees or not, you’d never guess that Doris is 86 years old. The take out and launch in the historic Savannah-Ogeechee Canal was challenging, but she met it head on. One word for Doris: impressive. She was not the only participant born in the decade of World War II. Ed Evangelidi of Deltona, Florida kept us on our toes, as always, with his never-ending puns, riddles and jokes. Ed’s capacity for wordplay is only outdone by his capacity for intrepid exploration of water. Here’s a few Ed-isms…

Whether or not the fish will take my line is open to de bait.

The mackerel was fishing for jokes but was hooked on a one liner.

After the fish was hooked once, it quit having anything to do with one liners.

Blooms. The Ogeechee River’s banks were aglow with blossoming swamp spider lilies, iris and native clematis. Unlike birds, we can inspect their beauty up close. That was a treat.

In honor of Ed (and birds and blooms), there’s this:

What did the ibis say to the iris? I-C-U!

Joe Cook

April 2026

A few more photos from the weekend…

We crammed quite a number of boats in one of the locks at the historic Savannah-Ogeechee Canal. The canal was built in the 1820s and operated through the 1870s. The Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center served as our campsite for the weekend.

John McCoy of Roopville slides past a stand of swamp spider lilies along the Ogeechee River.

Emily Card of Athens floats along the Ogeechee River during a sandbar lunch break.

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A Garden of Eden Better Known as the Okefenokee Swamp & St. Marys River

April 14, 2026 by Joe Cook

We recognize the Garden of Eden as an unspoiled place. Such places are untouched and untampered by the hand of man. Today, there are few places that fit such descriptions. The Okefenokee and St. Marys River aren’t among them…but they seem pretty darn close when they are flush with spring–when swamp spider lilies, irises, pitcher plants, hat pins, rose begonias, spatterdock, water lilies and wisteria scream, “Look at me! Aren’t I beautiful.”

Yes, yes you are.

A swamp iris surrounded by hat pins along the Tater Rake Trail in the Okefenokee Swamp.

April 10-12, some 60 adventurers set out to explore these blackwater paddling alleys during Georgia Rivers Spring on the St. Marys. The Okefenokee Swamp is the source of the 130-mile river that forms the “thumb” along the Georgia-Florida line so our journey started there.

With low water constricting the swamp, we spotted more gators than I can ever recall seeing. They are the swamp’s megafauna mascot. They say there are more gators in the swamp than there are people in Charlton County. I believe it. Yes, they are fearsome predators, but as we drifted within feet of them, I was struck by their sheer cuteness. They forever wear a grin. They move slow, stealth-like, coyly like a cat. Am I strange if I find myself wanting to cuddle up with one?

Cute or not so cute? Alligators are the Okefenokee’s megafauna mascot.

The other stars of the spring time swamp are the blooms. We paddled past endless stands of tiny white hat pins that provided the stage for towering purple swamp irises. Brittle and dried pitcher plants leftover from the previous season gave way to showy yellow blossoms, heralding in another season of the carnivorous plants swallowing swamp insects. And hidden amongst the grasses were the spectacular blooms of the rose begonia orchid. Odd how brown muck and peat can give rise to such exquisite beings.

Note to reader: if you have not visited the Okefenokee Swamp yet, you must before you leave this Earth.

For all its beauty, the swamp is far from unspoiled. We’ve poked and prodded it for generations. Just recently, we almost dewatered it with an ill-conceived mine along its eastern flank. Georgia Rivers and a host of other organizations led the charge to stop that mine. Thankfully, the property is now slated to become a state wildlife management area.

But, man has always tried to extract resources from the swamp. Indeed, the main water route into its heart is a canal dug by logging operations intent on “draining” it. They failed. The swamp, left to its on devices, cycles through drought and fire and rain and just creates more beauty. We serve it best by not meddling with it too much. In turn, it serves to the St. Marys and the Suwannee rivers clean, pure water.

Our two days on the St. Marys–though lacking the primordial landscape that is the swamp–were equally inspiring, even with low water that had us zigzagging between shallow sandbars. Notable among the sights…

A bald eagle along the St. Marys River.

Bald eagles. We chased several adults and juveniles down river. Sadly, we even found one dead along the bank of the river. They are majestic birds, and like the swamp’s alligators, they are awesome predators…should they choose to hunt. They are as likely to eat carrion. I inspected the dead eagle closely. It’s not often you are afforded close inspection of such a creature. I confess I’m not drawn to them like I am gators. They are not particularly “cute.” A gator’s grin masks its piercing teeth; there’s no hiding the raptor’s fierce talons or hooked beak. An eagle is killing machine whose good looks mask what Benjamin Franklin famously described as a “bird of bad moral character.”

Redbreast sunfish. The redbreast is a highly-sought after game fish of South Georgia’s blackwater rivers. Folks love to catch them…and eat them. We didn’t see a single one. But, we did see their handy work…or rather fin work. During the spawning season, males sporting bright redbreasts (to attract females) hollow out circular depressions in the river’s sandy bottom. Once constructed, they strut about and hope to attract gravid females to their particular river bed. Low water gave us exceptional views of these structures. One stretch of river bottom looked like a honeycomb, a kind of redbreast apartment complex. Cue the Barry White tunes.

Redbreast sunfish beds along the bottom of the St. Marys River.

It’s been said that part of what draws us to wilderness is the thrill of knowing that there is something out there that is bigger than us…and can eat us. That’s certainly true of the gators of the Okefenokee Swamp (though such has never happened in the nearly 100-year history of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge).

Given that there’s really nothing in or along Georgia’s rivers that is going to eat us, perhaps the real draw of our rivers is the sense of wonder we derive from visiting these places. Places where there’s a veritable suburb of fish homes on the river bottom, where blooming hat pins blanket acres of swamp prairie and where lounging, grinning apex predators can make you think, “They’re so cute I just want to cuddle up with them.”

Joe Cook

April 2026

A few more photos…

Mike Henry cuts through the fog and blackwater of the St. Marys during an early morning launch from Traders Hill landing.

Lena Rhoades, daughter of Jamie Rhoads and Colleen Smith, inspects a cricket captured along a St. Marys River sandbar.

Sami McKinney explores a spatterdock-filled backwater slough along the St. Marys River.

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Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure Report: Stories that Inspire, Bring Us Together

March 16, 2026 by Joe Cook

Everybody loves a good story, and on our Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure March 13-15, we shared some good ones.

Alan Stewart paddles on Brier Creek within the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area during Georgia Rivers’ Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure.

That’s due in part to the rich history found along these Savannah River tributaries. The Savannah was the first path into inland Georgia during the colonial period and as such, there’s more recorded history along the Savannah than there is on any other Georgia river. Indeed, by 1800, the three largest cities in Georgia were Savannah, Augusta and Petersburg–all on the banks of the river. Along the Savannah, there are stories everywhere.

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the question of what stories are told and by whom haunts us. Do we squash stories of injustice that are integral to our nation’s founding and growth? Or do we own these injustices, grapple with them and strive to form a “more perfect union” as the preamble to our Constitution suggests?

On our journeys down Ebenezer and Brier creeks, we confronted these questions.

On Ebenezer, we stood on the very place where an untold number of recently liberated enslaved men, women and children chose to cross the rain-swollen and frigid creek in December 1864 rather than risk being returned to slavery or killed by Confederate cavalry. They were forced to make this choice because the Union Army, which they believed they were following to freedom, pulled up the pontoon bridge across the creek before they could cross. In the chaos that ensued, hundreds drowned trying to reach safety on the other side of Ebenezer.

Paddlers make their way down Ebenezer Creek in Effingham County. Ebenezer is one of three state designated “Georgia Scenic Rivers” and is home to ancient and massive bald cypress trees.

The incident directly led to the federal government’s Reconstruction-era “40 acres and a mule” policy for liberated slaves and set aside hundreds of thousands of acres to be distributed to them along the Georgia coast. That promise of a promising future was later broken with the assassination of President Lincoln and the ascension of President Andrew Johnson who rescinded the policy.

On Brier Creek, we visited the Revolutionary War battlefield site where Patriot soldiers were routed and ran into the Brier Creek and Savannah River swamps to save their lives. Many perished trying to swim across the big river. Most of the names of those who died in the battle and chaotic retreat are unknown. Our docent at the battlefield site, John Derden, made note that in this battle it was not imported British soldiers fighting Patriots. It was instead a battle between fellow colonists. The vast majority of loyalist soldiers in Georgia were also colonists, just like their Patriot adversaries. It was not a battle against a “foreign army;” it was a battle between neighbors. To this, I thought, we have been divided as a country from the beginning.

At night we camped on the site of New Ebenezer, a settlement of German Lutherans established in 1733 along the west bank of the Savannah about 30 miles upstream from Savannah. The preacher-leaders of this community were required to send daily reports to their church sponsors in Europe. We learned from historian/archaeologist Dan Elliott that the reports, once published by the church and shared with the public, were heavily redacted to paint a perhaps more pious and rosy portrait of life in the New World. It wasn’t until the modern era when the pastor’s original handwritten reports became available that a fuller portrait of life at New Ebenezer was revealed. It was not all silk and roses.

Unless all the stories are told, our real history is incomplete.

Historian, farmer and Savannah tour guide Dr. Jamal Toure joined us for a portion of our paddle down Ebenezer Creek and after the trip painted a fuller portrait of the “camp followers” tagging behind the Union Army as it made its way to Ebenezer Creek. Among the travelers was a woman named Betty who gained notoriety on the journey by cooking for her fellow sojourners. Each night she asked about for “Nan,” the daughter who was sold from her arms as a young child. Miraculously, after days of searching, the mother and now-grown daughter reunited amidst the chaos of the journey.

“We need African-American stories, Asian-American stories, European-American stories, Native American stories,” Toure said. Only then can we fully understand our collective history, he said. That understanding has the power to bring us together.

Josiah Eason and mom Lisa Williams slide into the hollow of one of Ebenezer Creek’s massive bald cypress trees.

One More Story

Among our band of some 35 travelers on Ebenezer and Brier Creek were Marion and Harriett Nelson of Milledgeville. Avid bicyclists, the couple was on a ride in the early 2020s when a wreck sent Harriett cartwheeling over her handlebars and crashing into the pavement. Harriett and Marion shared her story with us:

She broke her skull, ribs and pelvis and lost an eye. She suffered a severe brain injury, was unconscious for two weeks and spent five months in the hospital and the Shepherd Clinic just trying to learn to walk again. Shortly after she was released and back home, she told Marion, “I want to ride my bike again.” To which he replied, “Absolutely not!”

But, she kept insisting. Said Marion: “She’s as stubborn/hard headed as she was before the accident.” Marion ultimately gave in saying he couldn’t abide living a life indoors for fear of getting hurt. Before long, Harriett was back on her bike. Now they routinely ride 20-30 miles together.

Our route on Brier Creek included a 1.5-mile paddle upstream on a Savannah River flowing at 6500 cfs. Harriett was the first one to finish the slog against the current.

If you’ve ever afeared of that next adventure, remember Harriett. Never stop. Keep going. Inspire someone else.

Harriett Nelson emerges from a limbo beneath a massive deadfall across Brier Creek. After suffering a traumatic bicycle accident and severe brain injury in the early 2020s, Harriett has kept going. She regularly cycles 20-30 miles and paddles.

Joe Cook

March 16. 2026

Leandra Taylor goes eye-to-eye with a brown water snake perched atop a stump on Brier Creek.
Nathan Forde strokes down the cypress-lined banks of Brier Creek within the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in Screven County.

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Spring Creek-Chattahoochee River Adventure Report

March 3, 2026 by Joe Cook

Feb. 28-March 1, nearly 40 intrepid padders set out for a Georgia Rivers weekend adventure on Spring Creek and the Chattahoochee River. In various groups, by night we made our homes at Seminole State Park and Kolomoki Mounds State Park and dined in restaurants in Blakely, Donalsonville and Bainbridge. By day, we explored some of Southwest Georgia’s most scenic paddling paths. Here’s some highlights:

New Discoveries

Waterfall over limestone escarpment on Bakers Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochee River in Alabama.

No matter how many times you visit a stream or river (I’ve visited these paddling routes on multiple occasions), you are bound to make new discoveries. First, as the proverb rightly states, you never step in the same river twice. Second, when you travel with a group, many eyes make for revelations. I followed Les Duncan, Leandra Taylor and Joy Tabatabai up Bakers Creek from the Chattahoochee and together we found a limestone escarpment that created a most special, narrow, 10-foot-high waterfall on the Alabama creek. Totally unexpected. Throw in some beautiful Atamasco lilies and a basking river cooter along the creek banks and the short excursion proved a rewarding adventure within the adventure. But, the discoveries got even better…

Millions of Years

During our planned stop at Coheelee Creek in Early County, Georgia, we paddled up to a series limestone escarpments that the creek falls over between an historic covered bridge and its mouth at the Chattahoochee. The limestone and rushing water kind of stole the show, so much so that I missed the real treasure right under my feet. Spilling from the soft sedimentary rock along the banks of the creek were dozens of sea shells–shells that have been preserved in the sediment for…oh, 30 million years or so. Likely dating from Oligocene epoch (34 to 24 million years ago), these shells were a reminder that all of South Georgia was at one time the ocean floor. We geeked out collecting these shells and got left behind by the main body of paddlers.

Shells preserved in the sediments along Coheelee Creek in Early County, Georgia. The shells likely date to the Oligocene epoch–34 to 24 million years ago.

Peer Pressure

On Spring Creek, the highlights are the stream’s many freshwater springs. The creek is appropriately named. While most property owners prohibit boaters from venturing up the spring runs, one generous property owner keeps one of their springs open to the public. And, a beautiful place it is. We paddled up and admired the deep, turquoise-blue hole. There’s something about these springs that speaks to our primordial selves. Some contend that at some point during our evolution, we spent a large portion of our time in the water. Whether that’s true or not, one thing is certain: when you see these springs, you want to dive in. BUT, this day was a cool 75-degree day and that spring water is cold…about 70-degrees too!

Malaysia Marshall floats in one of Spring Creek’s springs.

That did not stop Lynn Thompson from hopping in. Once Lynn was in, the rest of the women with her jumped in one-by-one. Each leap was accompanied by screams of shock, excitement and joy. Soon the spring pool was filled. As no man had yet jumped in, I felt obliged, as trip leader, to join the fray. It was a plunge worth the initial shock.

If you haven’t yet joined a Georgia Rivers on-water adventure, this is what you’re missing. Join us and make some new discoveries.

Joe Cook

March 3, 2026

Here’s a couple more discoveries from the weekend…

Les Duncan has a close encounter with a Chattahoochee River gator (he’s not as close as it looks! telephoto lenses compress space!)
Lind Powers”chills” in the 70-degree spring water along Spring Creek on a 70-degree day.

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Obstacles Overcome: Doing “It” Anyway When Others Say, “You Can’t” or “You Shouldn’t”

December 23, 2025 by Joe Cook

This is a story about doing “it” anyway when others tell you: “You can’t!” “You shouldn’t!” “You’d be a fool!” or “You don’t belong!”

As a young adult, when I set out to hike all 2,000-plus miles of the Appalachian Trail, I was told that I would never finish it. I did.

When as beginning paddlers, my wife and I planned a 540-mile canoe trip down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers, experienced canoeists thought us foolhardy and asked with concern, “are you sure you know what you’re doing?” In fact, we had no clue, but we did it anyway.

When in 2005, Dana Skelton, April Ingle and I determined we’d organize a week-long, group canoe/kayak journey down the Chattahoochee River under the banner of Georgia River Network, similar questions surfaced: “You’re doing what? With 300 people!?” We did it anyway. What was launched in a fit of ignorance and confidence has become the country’s largest week-long paddling sojourn.

Paddlers stroke down the St. Marys River during a recent Georgia Rivers Paddle Georgia adventure.

Over the past 20 years, we’ve paddled some 2,000 miles with some 7,000 people and raised more than $1 million for river protection. 

On the brink of my sixth decade on this Earth, I take this lesson from life thus far. When society tells you, “No;” calls you “foolish;” or says, “you don’t belong;” do it anyway. It’s likely to prove worthwhile, perhaps even life changing.

I was reminded of this recently during Georgia Rivers Okefenokee-Suwannee River Adventure when I met Ann (she asked that I not use her last name) and her friend Elizabeth. As we ventured down river, I noticed the two paddling stern-to-bow with Ann tailing close behind in her solo kayak, following Elizabeth’s every stroke with occasional instruction from Elizabeth: “left,” “right.” Though odd and unconventional, it seemed to work. I inquired.

Ann, as it turned out, is visually impaired (words she prefers to ”legally blind”) and on this trip, she was fulfilling a dream that she’d held for 25 years. To go paddling. With Elizabeth’s guidance, she navigated 22 miles of the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River’s narrow and winding path. I was impressed and inspired.

Recently retired from a career as a physical trainer, she was looking for new challenges and adventures. She shrugged off my admiration. When people tell her she’s courageous, she said, she dismisses it. She’s simply doing what she needs to do. “It’s just another obstacle,” she said.

Visually impaired, Ann participated in Georgia Rivers recent Okefenokee-Suwannee River adventure, navigating 22 miles of a twisting path through the swamp and down the river with the assistance of her friend Elizabeth, fulfilling a dream of paddling she’s held for more than two decades.

This set me to thinking about other paddlers and the obstacles they’ve brushed off to “do it anyway.”

My friend, Alan Crawford, a scuba diver who once cleaned and repaired boats for a living, lost use of his legs to a rare neurological condition. His love of water brought him to kayaking and to Paddle Georgia. As his health permits, he’s logged hundreds of miles in his boat. Unbroken.

After he lost full use of his legs to a rare neurological disorder, Alan Crawford took to paddling and as his health permits, he’s logged hundreds of miles on Georgia’s rivers

Long-time Paddle Georgia participant Marcelle Harris, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease several years ago, was still stroking this summer, despite that disease’s relentless and brutal progression. Persistent. 

Long-time Paddle Georgia participant Marcelle Harris did not let Parkinson’s disease prevent her from paddling all seven days and 80-plus-miles of Paddle Georgia 2025.

Then there’s the Barkes family—Philip and Liliana and their seven children. When they first inquired about joining us on our trips, I was dubious. Their youngest was under two, the oldest 14. As a young paddling parent, I could barely manage one daughter. Seven? In fact,  the Barkes DID know what they were doing. Those kids controlled their canoe better than most adults! Seven children? Obstacle? Overcome.

The Barkes family at Nickajack Lock and Dam during Paddle Georgia 2025. Two parents; seven children? No problem!

Across twenty years of leading paddle trips, I’ve come to understand there’s obstacles that culture throws up as well. This has been especially evident during the past year as Georgia Rivers has worked to get underserved youth, women, people of color, people with physical challenges, recent immigrants and lower income families on our trips.

Lets be honest, the paddlesports world is one dominated largely by white, upper-middle class men of a certain age. For those that look different, entering this world can be intimidating.

Thankfully, our rivers don’t discriminate. They welcome all. Over the past year, I’ve paddled with a lot of folks who look, talk and act different than me…folks our culture might say don’t fit on wild rivers: refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine; a Black mom and her four children; a non-binary mom and her daughter…to name just a few. 

Like Ann, the visually-impaired swamp paddler, each, in their own way, were overcoming obstacles. As one first-time paddler told me, “It was challenging, but in a good way.”

Paddlers with Refugee Womens Network gather before launching on the Oconee River in September. The Summit Foundation, established by the family of Margie Cohen (a long-time Paddle Georgia participant), has supported a scholarship program aimed at getting women, people of color, recent immigrants and lower income individuals and families on Georgia Rivers adventures.

We need more folks on our rivers overcoming obstacles and staring down challenges. If the folks enjoying our rivers grow as diverse as the host of  critters that live in them (Georgia ranks 3rd among states in aquatic biodiversity), Georgia’s water will have a powerful voice. 

Old white guys alone cannot save a river, a stream or a swamp. It takes everyone. And, everyone needs to experience our rivers.

Joining a Georgia Rivers stewardship paddle trip or training class is a great way to challenge yourself. We welcome beginners and avid paddlers alike! See our full list of day trips, weekend adventures, and kayak training classes at garivers.org/events.  (or button). If  you’d like to donate to support our scholarship program aimed at diversifying the paddlesports and river advocacy communities, CLICK HERE!

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Poop Pipe Portages and Swamp Saving: Making the “impossible” possible…with a little help from some friends.

June 27, 2025 by Joe Cook

Have you ever been told,  “that’s impossible?”

Wilderness adventurers know the response well…”You’re doing what? That’s impossible.” Still, we make first ascents of mountains; first descents of rivers; we travel afoot or in the saddle on epic long-distance journeys. We go where no man or woman has gone before.  For those of us bent towards adventure, doing the “impossible” is the difference between living a comfortable life of existence and a rich life of experience.

Terry Stewart celebrates her arrival in downtown Chattanooga on Day 3 of the seven-day, 82-mile, 3-state Paddle Georgia 2025 journey.

For most of the 400-plus people that participated in Paddle Georgia 2025, there was nothing “impossible” about our 82-mile journey. The seven-day float was very doable. With a modicum of courage and strength, your average adult could “navigate the whirl and the suck” on the Tennessee River with little trouble (that’s not to say there were no sore muscles at journey’s end).

But surely there were some participants whose friends and neighbors, upon hearing of their intentions to paddle seven days through three states, likely shook their heads in disbelief—or concern—and muttered under their breath, “that’s impossible.”

Among the finishers in the sweltering heat of Stevenson City Park Sunday were Connie Hollis, our oldest participant, approaching her 80th year and still stroking. There was Marcelle Harris, past 70-years-old and battling Parkinson’s disease. I can only hope to have the courage, strength and determination of these women two decades into my future.

The Mohr family beats the heat by exiting their boats during a 90-degree journey from Bridgeport, Alabama to Stevenson City Park.

There were Ukrainian refugees, Denys Skrypnyk and Emilia Fedun, participating in Tixie Fowler’s River Strong youth program. Who’d have thought that their flight from war would bring them to this place and this epic journey?

Undoubtedly, there were among us countless other individual stories of folks accomplishing something they—or someone they know—never thought possible.

To be honest, as the trip organizer, I harbored some doubts myself. How would we safely get nearly 300 people around the lowhead dam at Graysville? And what about that massive, strainer-choked sewer line on South Chickamauga Creek?

Some locals in the know, I’m certain, shook their heads and muttered “impossible” at word of this crazy endeavor. But many of those same locals pitched in.

Tennessee Valley Canoe Club members like Eric Fleming, B.G. Smith, Jim Ledbetter, David Snyder and others responded: “possible.” They mustered their fellow members to create truly remarkable solutions to these obstacles. Every boat and person made it safely over Graysville Dam via a footpath cut by Fleming and an innovative bamboo chute engineered by Snyder.

Marcelle Harris steps down to the floating dock, the final stage of the South Chickamauga Creek sewer line portage. Scaffolding on the upstream side of the sewer line brought participants to the top of the 6-foot-high sewer line; scaffolding downstream brought them back down to the water, and their boats, which were transferred over the sewer line using wooden chutes. Members of the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club helped build the structure, man it during the portage and disassemble it following the event.

At the sewer line, the City of Chattanooga connected us with Tommy Ireland, a structural engineer, who suggested using scaffolding to span the sewer. Meanwhile, Fleming and Smith designed a boat chute and sewer cage decking that made operating atop the six-foot-high sewer line safe and efficient. They not only helped build (and dismantle the structure), they pulled and pushed boats for hours during the 300-person-portage. The number of man-hours put in by TVCC volunteers is easily in the triple digits. They don’t call it the “Volunteer State” for nothing!

Then, as always, our own Paddle Georgia participants chipped in, helping fellow paddlers lift their boats up and over the sewer line. Finally, a sponsor, Kayaarm, donated the simple aluminum arm for our floating dock that helped get every last paddler safely back in their vessel.

There’s not much that is truly impossible if you have a little help from some friends.

Mid-week we saw the manifestation of that truth when we learned that the proposed Okefenokee Swamp titanium dioxide mine had been stopped in its tracks,  thanks to a $60 million land purchase.

The prospects of “saving the swamp” seemed dim just recently, but the swamp has lots of friends.

You wrote and called the governor and your legislators; you told Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division not to issue permits for the mine (200,000 of you!). You supported with your money and time organizations like Georgia Rivers that provided frontline soldiers like Rena Ann Peck that fought daily in the “mine pits.” Your individual actions created a mighty movement that could not be ignored. Wealthy philanthropists bankrolled the purchase, but your collective voices ultimately won the day…just as our collective brain and muscle overcame the seemingly impossible obstacle of a poop pipe during Paddle Georgia 2025.

As mighty rivers are formed by tiny tributaries, likewise, mighty movements begin with the actions of individuals.

Pat yourself on the back. You not only completed an epic journey; you saved a swamp!

Next up? Saving your “freedom to float.”

Our week-long journey took advantage of two established water trails–Tennessee RiverLine, a 650-mile recreational boating trail spanning the length of the big, commercially-navigable waterway–and the South Chickamauga Creek Water Trail, a small-boat-only recreation destination that’s continued use by the public is not guaranteed because of Georgia’s vague and ambiguous policies regarding which streams canoeists and kayakers have the right to float. Currently, it would take only a single property owner intent on making South Chickamauga Creek a “private stream” to close the water trail to the public and effectively shut down a local outfitter and an important outdoor recreation tourism amenity for Ringgold and Catoosa County.

Georgia Rivers is actively working to make certain that never happens on South Chickamauga Creek or any of the state’s other small stream boating destinations. Learn more at our Freedom to Float website.

Now a few photo favorites from the week…

The Tennessee River Gorge did not disappoint. It’s soaring ridges provided a scenic backdrop to 13 miles of paddling.
A fog-shrouded Sand Mountain sent us down river from Bridgeport to our final destination at Stevenson City Park on the final day of our journey.
The journey through Nickajack Lock and Dam highlighted Day 6 of the trip. More than 100 boats fit in the lock with plenty of room to spare!
Astrid Arnesen practices her gymnastic moves between rows of boats at Tennessee River Place.

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Remembering 20 Years of Paddle Georgia on the Tennessee River–destination 2025

November 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

20 Years—that’s over a hundred years in dog years (more on that later). That’s how long Georgia Rivers has hosted its Paddle Georgia events. In 2005, we hoped to get just 100 people to register for that first epic journey on the Chattahoochee River; 300 people signed up.

On the last day of that inaugural trip, we stopped at Hilly Mill Falls, a beautiful cascade in Heard County that empties into an inviting swimming hole. When I reached the rise overlooking the falls, what I witnessed made it clear that we’d hit upon something special with this crazy idea of a week-long paddle trip.

Before me were a host of people from all walks of life—young/old, male/female, black/white, gay/straight—all frolicking in the cool water. It looked a lot like an earthly vision of heaven—a joyful collection of souls all celebrating a shared journey.

A group photo from Paddle Georgia 2005 at our River’s End Feast in Franklin along the Chattahoochee.

Next June, we celebrate our 20th anniversary (for those counting, we skipped 2020 because of a world-wide pandemic) with a 7-day, 80-mile adventure down South Chickamauga Creek and the Tennessee River. We’ll stroke through three states—Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee—in this one-of-a-kind journey.

This week, I ventured up to South Pittsburg, Tennessee (home of Lodge Manufacturing…think iron skillets) with my daughter Ramsey and scout dog, Oconee, to check out a portion of next year’s route.

It will be Oconee’s last scouting trip. She is 15 and nearing the end of her life. She “rescued me” on the Oconee River in December 2010 as April Ingle, Ben Emanuel and I scouted the route for Paddle Georgia 2011. Since that day, we’ve been mostly inseparable. She’s chased the scent of deer through the woods along the Oconee, wallered in dead fish on the Ogeechee (and every other river in the state!), chased gators off sandbars on the Ocmulgee and swam in the springs of the Withlacoochee and Suwannee.

‘Conee, the scout dog, on “rescue day” in 2010 with Ben Emanuel on the Oconee River.
‘Conee, the scout dog, in 2024 with Paddle Georgia coordinator Joe Cook on the Tennessee River.

The journey down the Tennessee with my good ole’ now-gray-haired dog and 25-year-old daughter who was just six on that first Paddle Georgia got me to reminiscing on 20 years of adventures: friendships formed, magic encountered, folly sometimes averted and often experienced.

An altered t-shirt after the wrong-way paddle on Carters Lake during Paddle Georgia 2009.

In 2005, Atlanta police tried to run us off the campus of North Atlanta High School, a campsite arranged and confirmed with the high school principal months in advance. “Unless you’d like to pay for hotel rooms for these 300 people, we’re camping here,” I told the officers. They called the principal; we stayed.

In 2008, Paddle Georgia became known as “Puddle Georgia” as Donna McCarthy, John Councilman, Dean Crist and the rest of the Dumb A— River Gang (plus 300 of their friends) drug their boats over the drought-stricken shoals of the Flint River.

In 2009 on Carters Lake and the Coosawattee River, one wayward paddler took a wrong turn and like sheep, everyone behind followed (not naming names…Bonny Putney!), only realizing their mistake after more than two miles of wrong way paddling.

Stan Sewell, Ray Levesque and Raymond Levesque at the Redneck Games in East Dublin during Paddle Georgia 2011 on the Oconee.

In 2011, we caked ourselves in white kaolin and jumped in a Georgia red clay mud pit as part of the “Redneck Olympics” in East Dublin on the Oconee River.

In 2015, Terry Pate and others posed “nude” on the Ogeechee River’s “Nude Beach.”

In 2018, Rob, Robert and Beverly Benfield and the Paddle Georgia Navy dined on fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café in Juliette along the Ocmulgee River.

In 2019, a leaping sturgeon slapped Pat Hriczo on the Suwannee River.

And then there are the nightly animal jokes, a tradition that started with the robust redhorse in 2007…What do you call a robust redhorse that was just arrested? A robusted redhorse.

We’ve made humor with washboard mussels, Halloween darters, blind cave salamanders, gopher tortoises and more. What do you call a darter that had beans for dinner?…a farter darter. Or what did the elementary school mathematics teacher say to her unruly classroom of American shad? “SHHHHH! Add!” Or How do washboard mussels communicate? By shell phone. Or why are gopher tortoises (the official state reptile) listed as a threatened species? E-reptile dysfunction.

Groans or laughs. On Paddle Georgia one is as good as the other.

As Ramsey and I paddled down the Tennessee with ‘Conee resting peacefully between us, we talked of these Paddle Georgia adventures past and those things in our life that have been constant…those things that in tough times bring us comfort, assurance and joy.

I offered up the companionship and unquestioning love of a dog for the past 14 years. Ramsey who has shared with me each of the Paddle Georgia adventures since 2005, mused on the question a bit and said, “Paddling.”  

“Yup,” I said. “Being on the river is good for the soul.”

I suspect many among the 7,000 or so Paddle Georgia participants over the past 20 years feel the same way.

Hope we will see you on the Tennessee in 2025!

Ramsey Cook and ‘Conee drift down the foggy remains of a Tennessee River morning during a scouting trip for Paddle Georgia 2025.

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Paddle Georgia Day 7: Darien and River’s End Celebration

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

On Day 7 we celebrated the end of Paddle Georgia with a River’s End Party! 

Paddlers enjoyed a fish fry feast by B&J’s Steak and Seafood in Darien and toasted to a week of memories and new friends with sparkling water by EVRAH3 and beers by Molson Coors. A special thanks to the Darien Lions Club for hosting our celebration!

During River’s End Party we heard from Keith Parson and DuBose Porter who founded Georgia River Network 25 years ago. Keith shared how he sat at his desk at Georgia EPD and wished he could take greater action to protect Georgia’s natural resources, and rivers in particular. He contacted fellow fisherman DuBose Porter, a legislator from Dublin, and the two met up on an Oconee River sandbar to consider how they could form a statewide river advocacy group. They instantly knew the key to creating lasting change: build political will by engaging the public. And what better way to connect people with Georgia’s rivers than to get everyone on the river!  DuBose thanked us for growing Georgia River Network and continuing to bring hundreds of people to explore a different Georgia river each year on Paddle Georgia.

Unfortunately we were unable to paddle the last leg of the journey from Altamaha Regional Park to downtown Darien due to inclement weather. Menacing clouds throughout the day affirmed our difficult decision to stay on land. In the end, many paddlers enjoyed spending an extra day exploring Darien and the coast! And the good news is that we will be back to paddle the last section of the Altamaha River to reach Darien by boat. Stay tuned for a special paddle trip in the fall to finish what we started! 

We hope you join us for our reunion on the Altamaha River and join our many other paddle trips across the state! See our full calendar of events and sign up for an upcoming river adventure! 

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Paddle Georgia Day 6: Sansavilla Salsa

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

Day 6 of the journey down the Altamaha River offered numerous off-the-main channel exploration opportunities, such as Miller Lake and many sloughs and creeks. This section of the river is nearly entirely protected by state wildlife management areas. It’s certainly wild and full of wildlife! Sloughs were the perfect places to stop for an encounter with nature, from gators to egrets. The massive buttress tree trunks of cypress and tupelo trees around Miller Lake amazed paddlers who docked to stand next to their ancient roots. 

Paddlers passed rich history along the river and used Paddle Georgia maps to read excerpts from Joe Cook’s Altamaha River User’s Guide to travel back in time. For example, the route on Day 6 passed the historic Upper Sansavilla Bluff. Based on archaeological records, European colonists lived on this bluff in the early 1600s, some 130 years before the founding of the Georgia colony. Sansavilla Bluff is believed to be the location of a Spanish mission between 1615 and 1650. In 1741, the Georgia colony established Fort Mount Venture on the bluff where Mary Musgrove, the famed translator for Gen. James Oglethorpe, and her second husband, Jacob Matthews, operated a trading post. Following the Revolutionary War, Sansavilla Bluff became the site of one of the first settlements in Wayne County, Williamsburg, which was incorporated in 1792. Today, it is part of the 19,500-acre Sansavilla WMA that stretches to Altamaha Regional Park.


A highlight of the day was a giant sandbar that hosted dozens of paddlers for lunch. Everyone got out to dip and splash in the river. It became a Pop Up Sandbar Party!

After 17 miles on the river we spotted the iconic old train trestle that marks Altamaha Regional Park, our campsite for the night. As we set up our tents, the clouds rolled in… and it rained.  But the rain brought a beautiful rainbow! We all ran from dinner into the mist to admire the rainbow. Just when we couldn’t be more amazed by the picture perfect arch, we were surprised by a double rainbow just a moment later! 

After a low country boil dinner, Rachel Parish and Sarah Cameron Sunde joined us again to share more river stories from their journey paddling from Atlanta to the Atlantic. We then hosted our annual No Talent Talent Show! The youth group once again got a standing ovation for their rendition of “Altamaha”, complete with a saxophone.

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