Whitewater rafting the Ocoee?

[Punisher84]

So my wife, and her siblings, and their spouses all do a family trip every year and this year the trip is to the Ocoee for a rafting trip. I've never been and honestly have never had an interest in it. Risk vs. reward kinda thing in my opinion. I was just curious if anyone here had ever gone or had any stories/advice/opinions about it.

[daddyo]

I grew up in that area and have been down the river many times. It's a lot of fun. You'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

Just wear a swimsuit, t shirt , and either watershoes or some sneakers that you don't mind getting wet. I also like to wear a ball cap under the helmet to help keep the sun out of my eyes. And don't forget sunscreen.

 

Which outfitter are you going with?

Edited January 18, 2013 by daddyo

[JReedEsq]

You'll have a blast.  I've been down in a kayak and in a raft.  Super duper fun either way. 

[Punisher84]

I grew up in that area and have been down the river many times. It's a lot of fun. You'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

Just wear a swimsuit, t shirt , and either watershoes or some sneakers that you don't mind getting wet. I also like to wear a ball cap under the helmet to help keep the sun out of my eyes. And don't forget sunscreen.

 

Which outfitter are you going with?

Not sure of the outfitter's name. The owner of the company is a friend of our sister-in-law's family though.

 

I'm slowly getting over my apprehension about it. I've never been a risk adverse person, military service, security/LE work, motorcycles, horse riding,  etc., but something about whitewater has always made me kinda hesitant. Thanks guys!

Edited January 18, 2013 by Punisher84

[Guest Lester Weevils]

The least athletic scenic cruise down "gentle" whitewater is a raft down the Hiwassee (in the same neigborhood, Reliance TN). In a 4 person raft a couple of people can paddle about three hours and not exert much. The main paddling is occasional steering and pushing off an occasional rock.

 

More exciting is tubing the hiwassee. You bake on top and freeze on the bottom. Its generally relaxing and you don't have to do much, but expect to get dumped at least once or twice, and have to work yer arms fairly hard occasionally for steering. Wear swimsuit and either tennis shoes or water shoes. There is one "suck" whirlpool, if you get stuck in, you have to work pretty hard to get out of. If you manage to get dumped and lose your tube, its a walk back on the adjacent railroad tracks. :)

[mikegideon]

I've been down a few whitewater rivers in rafts. The Ocoee is my favorite. Just lock your foot under the seat in front of you. Falling out is about the only danger. The rocks are somewhat hard.

 

There should be a guide on the raft to steer you through the rapids, and usually safety boats (kayaks). You'll be pretty well padded with your helmet and vest.

 

I've only been out of the raft once, and that was an unguided one. Went over Nantahala falls upside down (not our fault BTW). The safety boater tossed me a line, and had me out of the water pretty fast.

 

It's a blast

[Guest Brent1973]

my wife' s family owns one but I have never went down

[frankmako]

both rivers in the area are fun.  you will have a blast. 

[Will Carry]

I have been kayaking whitewater rivers in Tennessee since 1977.  The Ocoee is a lot of fun and not as dangerous as the Upper Gauley or Chattooga.  I don't paddle it much anymore becuase it gets crowded a lot. You'd think being run over by a raft would be like getting hit by a big marshmallow, but it's not.  The Nolichucky is fun also, The New River in West By God is my favorite. In Tennessee I like to paddle to Obed system a lot.

[leroy]

Never been on the whitewater on the ocoee; but spent quite a bit of time workin in that territory right next to the river.  It looks like a great thing and lots of fun.  Havin said that; if you are young and the kids are pretty good sized (....say 14 or so up....); whitewater is the way to go.  If ya are older or the kids are smaller; like Lester says; ya might be better with a canoe trip down the hiwassee.  Ive seen a bunch of 'em pulled out of the ocoee right at Ocoee Powerhouse #2.  Some of 'em looked pretty ragged by the time they were retrieved.  If i wuz from about 18 or so up to 40; i would have a big time doin the whitewater thing.  Sadly; im well a passed that and i aint sure i could go down the hiwassee on a float boat.

 

Have fun!!

leroy

[Punisher84]

Never been on the whitewater on the ocoee; but spent quite a bit of time workin in that territory right next to the river.  It looks like a great thing and lots of fun.  Havin said that; if you are young and the kids are pretty good sized (....say 14 or so up....); whitewater is the way to go.  If ya are older or the kids are smaller; like Lester says; ya might be better with a canoe trip down the hiwassee.  Ive seen a bunch of 'em pulled out of the ocoee right at Ocoee Powerhouse #2.  Some of 'em looked pretty ragged by the time they were retrieved.  If i wuz from about 18 or so up to 40; i would have a big time doin the whitewater thing.  Sadly; im well a passed that and i aint sure i could go down the hiwassee on a float boat.

 

Have fun!!

leroy

Thanks Leroy, and everyone else, awesome replies! All involved on this trip will be in our 20s and 30s. No kids. This is the adults only sibling trip that we do so we can unwind for a bit sans kids lol

[Guest Lester Weevils]

The hiwassee rafting, any kid over age 6 or so or even fairly old folks, no guide necessary, unless the adults just don't have a lick of sense. You get life preserver along with the raft.

 

I took the stepkids, neighbor kids, daughter and nephews tubing on the hiwassee starting about age 8, at least once or twice every year for decades and nothing tragic ever happened. I'm old enough probably won't go tubing any more. It isn't hard work except a few spurts, but would be a shame to get a heart attack on one of the spurts. :)

 

Taking younger kids down, they would spend some of the time hanging onto my feet in their little tube, me steering for the best spots to go over the "relatively gentle" drops. Then they paddle around by themselves in the long flat stretches. Kids and women set "lower in the tube" lower center of gravity and less likely to get dumped. I set higher in a tube and get dumped more often. Just remember to hook the tube with an arm when you get dumped. One time a stepson lost his tube so we shared my tube for more than a half hour hard paddling and kicking to catch his tube. They move fast without a passenger. :) Last time I took a kid down, a few years ago, the water level got that one suck whirlpool sucking pretty good. we got trapped in it and I had to pump a good ten minutes to drag us out of it, and was pretty bushed for awhile afterwards. Somebody younger, no problemo. The suck isn't powerful enough to trap any craft bigger than a tube.

 

Hiwassee is "almost boring" in a raft unless you enjoy a slow drift downstream and beautiful scenery. A little more exciting but still basically boring in an inflatable kayak. In a canoe or real kayak, you could probably get yerself dumped or beat up if you never had been in one before and have zero experience.

 

One time we took several neighbors and neighbor kids along, and rented an assortment of tubes, raft, inflatable kayak, and did some "switching out" between different modes of travel. With a few people along, having a raft might be useful to give a ride back in case somebody loses their tube, but I only saw one instance of that, described above.

[mikegideon]

Never been on the whitewater on the ocoee; but spent quite a bit of time workin in that territory right next to the river.  It looks like a great thing and lots of fun.  Havin said that; if you are young and the kids are pretty good sized (....say 14 or so up....); whitewater is the way to go.  If ya are older or the kids are smaller; like Lester says; ya might be better with a canoe trip down the hiwassee.  Ive seen a bunch of 'em pulled out of the ocoee right at Ocoee Powerhouse #2.  Some of 'em looked pretty ragged by the time they were retrieved.  If i wuz from about 18 or so up to 40; i would have a big time doin the whitewater thing.  Sadly; im well a passed that and i aint sure i could go down the hiwassee on a float boat.

 

Have fun!!

leroy

 

Actually, my dad did all those rivers in his 50's. I watched him come out of the boat in the middle of Sock-em-dog on the Chatooga. In fact, he wound up smimming a few notable rapids. He never got banged up, but did get a nose douche or two.

Edited January 18, 2013 by mikegideon

[.357SIG]

I have been down the Ocoee 5 times, and I LOVE IT!!! I would definitely recommend it you will have a blast! Don't worry about the safety part so much just listen to what your guide tells you to do. The only advice I can offer is to go in the hottest part of the summer otherwise you will be freezing and won't enjoy it as much.  

[mikegideon]

Yep. You're gonna get wet. I'm sure they'll put you in a wet suit this time of year.

[gregintenn]

It's great! I intend to do it again.

[enfield]

My youngest daughter did it and thought it was mild.  She then went and rafted the Gauley River in WV.  Said it was better.

[MattCary]

Rafting the Ocoee is fun, but swimming it is better.

 

Swiftwater Rescue classes that I took were on the Ocoee. 

 

(Also, try not to think too much about the fact that the Ocoee is where they filmed the whitewater parts of Deliverance.)

[peejman]

Great fun!  Go when it's HOT because the water is COLD.  Sneakers, wicking type t-shirt and swim trunks.  Do what the guide says and you'll be fine.

[mikegideon]

Rafting the Ocoee is fun, but swimming it is better.

 

Swiftwater Rescue classes that I took were on the Ocoee. 

 

(Also, try not to think too much about the fact that the Ocoee is where they filmed the whitewater parts of Deliverance.)

 

I thought all the filming for Deliverance was done on the Chatooga. There's a movie camera at the bottom of on of the rapids on the Chatooga.

[Punisher84]

I think we are going in June, so says the boss lady.

[UncleJak]

If you hear banjos, paddle faster. 

Seriously though, I have done it and it was a great experience. 

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Yep, the water is "you've got to be kidding" cold in the hottest day of the summer. Take a real man to do it other than the summer.

[MattCary]

Mike, it's always been my understanding that the whitewater rapid scenes were filmed at Ocoee and the wide calm river shots were shot in GA. Not 100% sure, but it's a fun razz for people going to Ocoee. = P

[mikegideon]

Mike, it's always been my understanding that the whitewater rapid scenes were filmed at Ocoee and the wide calm river shots were shot in GA. Not 100% sure, but it's a fun razz for people going to Ocoee. = P

 

Our regular outfitter guided the movie crews. I know some of the whitewater stuff was shot on the Chatooga. I can believe they were shot in both places. I think the Ocoee is moving a lot more volume. There was a period of time when the river was shut off and diverted through the flume and powerhouse. The whitewater folks lobbied to get the river opened back up for rafting. The powerhouse stops producing when the river is flowing. I think the movie was shot during the period when the river was diverted full time, but not sure. Gotta dig.