Features
About this place
A recognized Georgia Water Trail, the Etowah River offers a scenic paddle with convenient put ins and take outs along the way. No technical paddling, the river is beautiful, relaxing, and offers great fishing.
The nine mile stretch of river between Euharlee Road and 411 provides a beautiful getaway near Cartersville. As it sits downstream of Allatoona Lake, this is considered the Lower Etowah, and the temperament of the current depends largely on whether or not the Corps is releasing water upstream from the lake upstream or not. When not releasing, the river is a slow, docile waterway, and you should expect a pace of 1 - 3 miles per hour. When releasing, a pace of twice that is not unusual. You can (and should) call the Dam Operations Center at 706-334-7213 before your trip to confirm what conditions to expect.
For this trip, I put in at the boat ramp on Euharlee Road (34.1478371,-84.9200577) and took out at the boat ramp on 411 (34.208265,-84.9798635,246). Both locations are clean and well maintained. There is also a ramp now at Hardin Bridge (34.1886547,-84.9245493), so if you need to bail out before 411, you can do so there.
In Georgia, you can float the river but you aren't allowed exit your boat on foot, as this entire stretch of river runs through private property.
Wildlife is plentiful along the river, and seeing otters, turkeys, gar, striper, carp, turtles, eagle, and muskrat is not unusual.