ETOWAH River | 7-Miles of REAL-TIME Kayaking | Dawsonville to Ball Ground, GA

Trip Overview

Historic Etowah River always delivers an adventure. This was a new section for me and my buds. And we were all ALONE! Launched in Dawsonville at Kelly Bridge Canoe and Kayak Ramp, paddled 7-miles to the takeout at Eagle’s Beak Park in Bal Ground, GA. The impact of Hurricane Helene was obvious, as the riverbanks were covered with beautiful white sand and the water was clear. The river was also cleared of the usual downed trees, improving this section significantly. This section was swifter than expected, making it easy to float down the river in about 2.5 hours. Sidekick Joe pulled in a couple of nice Spotted Bass. About halfway we started hearing significant gun fire from the River Bend Gun Club, making for a surreal nature scene. Sounds of guns lasted a couple of miles.

The TAKEOUT at Eagle’s Beak Park has a new Kayak/Canoe Pulley which worked great! It’s a steep concrete stairway, so the pulley was a godsend. This is a perfect EASY to MODERATE level kayaking adventure.

I'm attaching a movie I made of this trip. It's on my YouTube channel @RedKayakGuy-RKG - I filmed in 4K:60FPS so make sure to optimize your viewing experience and set your device to the highest resolution setting of 2160 if possible.

LAUNCH: Kelly Bridge Kayak and Canoe Ramp in Dawsonville, GA

$3 per person parking lot, bathrooms, ramp

Coordinates: 34.35330678188005, -84.20566743491234

TAKEOUT: Eagle’s Beak Park in Ball Ground, GA

Steep stairway take out with easy-to-use kayak pulley system, bathrooms, kids play area, plenty of free parking

Coordinates: 34.31249346999734, -84.22978718936186