Southeast Smooth Sailing

September 1, 2011 By Brian Yaeger

The most popular sections of the river for rafting are near Clayton in northeastern Georgia, a little over 70 miles from Athens and Greenville, each. It’s also near the Tennessee border, making Knoxville not unfathomably far.

Sign up with Southeastern Expeditions (southeasternexpeditions.com) to ride the tamer Section III of the Chattooga, featuring mostly Class II and III rapids while enjoying the bucolic scenery, or dare to tackle Section IV where more technical Class III-V rapids reside. In addition to ones such as The Corkscrew and the aptly named Seven Foot Falls, one feature is Deliverance Rock, named for the actual monstrous boulder that shared screen time with Mr. Reynolds. Sign up for the overnight camping trip and the company’s chefs will prepare trout plucked right out of the river.