Description:
No matter how many times a person paddles the Chattooga or hikes along its banks, the river is always a thrilling site to see. The Chattooga begins its life as a dendritic pattern of rivulets up high near the crest of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina between Whiteside Mountain and Cashiers. Once large enough for a name, it flows southward down through a steep gorge in North Carolina for 10 miles, then continues as the state boundary between Georgia and South Carolina for 40 miles. Except for the wide valley of GA 28, the river runs between forested ridges for nearly all of its length.
Congress declared the Chattooga a national Wild and Scenic River on May 10, 1974. This designation, the first of its kind in the South, delivered the river from a planned chain of dams and protected it from shoreline development, both residential and commercial. Not only did this legislation preserve the flowing river, but it also established a buffer zone – a narrow corridor, averaging a quarter-mile in width – to either side on both banks. Road building and logging were forbidden within this corridor. Mechanized intrusion, which emphatically includes all ORVs and
ATVs and four-wheeled drives, is also prohibited, at least on paper.
Only four roads cross this linear wild area of approximately 16,150 acres. Most of the private property that was once within the corridor is now in public ownership. Since 1974 the US Forest Service has blocked dirt roads, removed buildings and allowed fields to return to forests. Today, from Grimshaws to Shoulder Bone, the Chattooga is wilder, more isolated and more scenic than at any other time since the 19th century.
Guides and Outfitters
A wide range of guides and outfitters provide canoe, kayak and rafting trips on Georgia rivers and excursions through marshes and estuarine systems where the rivers meet the oceans. For profiles of these businesses and links to their websites, click here.
Getting Involved: River Protection and Education
If you are interested in learning more about Georgia rivers, there are a number of state, regional and national river advocate groups that promote river conservation, protection and education. For profiles of all river-related organizations in Georgia, along with their websites, click here
