Tennessee
Ocoee River Whitewater Rafting Area
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Located in the Cherokee National Forest in
Polk County Tennessee, the Ocoee River Whitewater Rafting Area is
loaded with
hiking trails and other outdoor recreation, but is best known for it's
whitewater rafting.
Due to it's location within the National Forest, no
lodging or restaurants are located at the whitewater rafting area.
Visitors to the area have several choices of near by communities for
lodging and eating.
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On the "Put In" end of the rafting area are the towns of
Ducktown, TN and the twin cities of Copperhill, Tennessee and McCaysville,
Georgia. Further down the road, but close enough is
Murphy, North Carolina.
On the "Take Out" end of the rafting area are the towns of
Benton and Cleveland, Tennessee.
Each of the above communities offer their own advantages.
Ducktown, TN is the closest community to the river action,
but has a more limited choices of services.
The cities of Copperhill, TN and McCaysville, GA are about
4 miles down the road from Ducktown but offer a few more choices of places
to eat and drink. Because these towns are located on the state lines of GA
& TN the towns have painted a line along the street and up the walls of
the businesses to show visitors which state they are in. It has become
popular with visitors to the area to stand with one foot in each state.
Blue Ridge, Georgia is about 20 minutes further away (on the Atlanta
side), but offers a much larger variety of lodging and restaurants.
About 45 minutes-to one hour from the Ocoee area on the
"Put In" side is the town of Murphy, North Carolina. Murphy along with
Blue Ridge, GA offer the largest variety on this end of the River. Murphy
is also close to the Nantahala River which also a popular area for
whitewater rafting. Murphy is about 1-1.5 hours from Cherokee, NC.
Located on the "Take Out" side (the Chattanooga side) of
the Whitewater Rafting area is the city of
Cleveland, Tennessee. Lodging and restaurants choices in Cleveland is
greater than all the cities listed above added together. If a larger city
is where you are more comfortable then Cleveland is your best bet.
Although larger than all the other choices, Cleveland is still small
enough to feel like a small town.
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