Etowah River (Tunnel Section) ELF Run
| River: | Other |
| Skill: | Novice |
| Trip Date: | 04/01/2026 |
I debated whether or not this report is worth posting since this was not a club trip, nor was it an open trip, but rather a personal trip with family on Spring Break vacation. Ultimately, I figured since I have wondered about this section of river, which is already documented thoroughly in guidebooks, YouTube videos and AW website with I believe sufficient information on running it with flow, but not at ELF level, I figured I’d share my experience. When my wife mentioned she wanted to go to Atlanta for Spring Break, the Etowah River, one of my Bucket List rivers was an obvious trip to try and work in. The challenge, however, was that just like North Carolina, Georgia has also been unusually dry this winter/spring. I read as much as I could about required flow and it seemed that 200 cfs was the minimum and one website mentioned 135 as the minimum. The week before our trip and now the river has reached this level, but for us it hovered between 106 and 111.
I was determined to go through that tunnel, but with water levels where they were and this section of river being ~8 miles, this seemed like a gamble that could end horribly. On top of that, with four kids and my wife joining me, it was a potential disaster. We decided to take a look at the river though from the put in at Castleberry Bridge, which is privately owned, but a well maintained launch and camping site. The water actually didn’t look too bad here and the owners were very friendly. They offered a shuttle service ($39) for us and had a nice play area for the kids while I shuttled with one of the owners to the takeout at Hwy 136. I will mention that launching at the bridge from their property is $5/boat as well.
On the shuttle, one of the owners, George mentioned he is working on getting history plaques placed on the property which includes historical figures such as Jesse and Frank James and gang as well as gold miners, which is the reason why there is a tunnel in the first place.
We put in at Castleberry Bridge with my wife and youngest son in my Airhead Montana, my two older kids on my inflatable paddleboard and me and my younger daughter on my Aire Spud. There were a couple of fun ledges with just enough water to run them in the first 100 yards or so as we started to float downstream of the property. We made a left turn and the first rapid of consequence was next. It would be a class 2 with water, but it was a drag over two rock shelves. It gave us the chance to fine tune our drag technique, which would be needed about half a dozen more times. Small rapids and flat lasted the next two miles or so until another larger rapid, probably the biggest of the section just past a wide part of the river with a private wooden deck just past the river left bank. My wife and I managed to paddle the rapid properly, but I did need to wade back upstream to pull my son and daughter through on the paddleboard. We continued on down until we reached the highlight of the section river left, the old mining tunnel.
We broke out our headlamps and made the plan that I would go through first with my daughter in the Spud and would shout for the rest to come through after us. I will mention as well that just as mentioned elsewhere, you need to make sure that you see light at the end of the tunnel, since getting stuck in the quarter mile of dark enclosure would be a problem. We made it through fine and I set my daughter on the bank while I waded up through the tunnel to assist everyone else should they get stuck in the shallow water. They couldn’t hear me telling them it was ok to go through, but they could see us make it to the end and they went as well. No issues and everyone made it through ok. We then portaged a log pile just after the tunnel and again just a little downstream and carried on.
The second half was a lot less scrapey and deeper, flat water, but we did have to drag in a few places. At one point we found a deep spot with a rock outcropping for my son to do a quick jump. We continued downstream past several farms with private property posted on the banks, past what appeared to be an old dam wall on either side of the river right by a garden of bamboo. Eventually we made it to the takeout where several people were fishing. My wife brought the kids up the steep trail to the car and I unloaded everything and brought it to the car to pack up.
Now the big question you might be wondering is whether paddling this section of river was worth the extra low flow. To us, it was the highlight of our vacation with each of the kids saying paddling through the tunnel their favorite part of the trip. I don’t feel like it didn’t count despite it technically not being a true “run” of the river or the rapids. It was a great time with the family in one of the most unique features I’ve paddled. I felt it was worth the frustrating moments. However, if you have the luxury of paddling this section with proper water, I’d recommend it. If you are desperate to paddle through a long, dark tunnel, regardless of how great every other part is, then this low is doable and maybe less frustrating than you’d expect. The sights are great, the tunnel lives up to the hype and some of the rapids I would assume would be pretty fun as well with more water. There is a lot of flat, which reminded me a bit of the Lower Little River (Cape Fear tributary), but current moves along pretty nicely.