Register Now for Week-Long, Family-Friendly Kayak Adventure

Grab your paddles, it’s time to register for Georgia Rivers’ annual week-long canoe/kayak camping adventure!

Register Now for Paddle Georgia 2025

Registration is now open for Paddle Georgia, the Peach State’s annual kayak/canoe and camping adventure, hosted by Athens-based Georgia Rivers (formerly Georgia River Network).

This year’s Paddle Georgia event will venture across three states this summer (Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama) and will cover 80+ miles! More than 300 paddlers are expected to join in on the adventure, set for June 15 -22, 2025.

Considered the largest event of its kind in the country, the journey will highlight the South Chickamauga Creek Water Trail and the Tennessee RiverLine, a transformative water trail initiative that encompasses a continuous 652-mile-long system of outdoor recreation experiences along the Tennessee River.

Interested parties can register online HERE.  

While most participants join in for the entire 7-day journey, 2-, 3- and 4-day registration options are also available. Registration fees for adults range from $160 for two days to $460 for seven days.

The fees include campsites with showers and flush toilets, shuttle and guide services, daily educational programs, event t-shirt and decal, overnight boat security and daily river maps and guides. Substantial discounts are offered for children and families. In addition, a limited number of scholarships are available for women, people of color, recent immigrants and low-income individuals. 

Catered meals for the week and special indoor accommodations may be purchased separately during registration. Participants must provide their own boats or boats may be rented from nearby outfitters. 

Paddle Georgia Trip Details

The trip will begin in Ringgold, Georgia on South Chickamauga Creek, a narrow stream that flows beneath spectacular limestone bluffs, over playful shoals and (unusually) underground before emptying into the Tennessee River just east of Chattanooga. The journey’s final five days will follow the course of the Tennessee River as it winds through Chattanooga and the river’s historic and scenic gorge into Nickajack Lake. After locking through Nickajack Lock and Dam in their vessels, participants will float into Northeast Alabama for the adventure’s final two days. The seven-day trip will cover more than 80 miles.  

“This is our 20th year of doing these annual adventures,” said Rena Peck, Executive Director of Georgia Rivers. “We’ve skirted South Carolina on the Savannah River and even stroked into Florida on the Withlacoochee and Suwannee, but this one will be unique. It’s a GA-TENN-BAMA adventure!” 

On the water by day, Paddle Georgia participants will have the opportunity to visit the region’s iconic off-water destinations throughout the week, including downtown Chattanooga and the Tennessee Aquarium, Rock City, Russell Cave National Monument, Nickajack Cave Wildlife Refuge and Neversink Pit.

Billed as an environmental-education adventure for the family, it will feature enrichment programs and children’s activities on the water and each evening. Paddlers will also have the opportunity to become certified as Georgia Adopt-A-Stream volunteer citizen water monitors and collectively, the group will remove trash from a seven-mile portion of the Tennessee River during the journey. 

“Participants like to call it summer camp for adults and families,” said Joe Cook, Paddle Georgia Coordinator, “It’s an opportunity to embark on an epic adventure, meet great people and see our region’s natural beauty from a unique perspective. And, the best part, we do all the planning for you. You simply show up with an appropriate boat and gear.” 

Protecting Georgia Rivers

The purpose of the event is to connect people with Georgia’s rivers and raise funds to help protect those rivers. Georgia Rivers uses a portion of each event registration fee to advocate for policies to protect Georgia’s water and improve public access to Georgia’s 70,000 miles of rivers and streams. Since 2005, Paddle Georgia events have engaged more than 7,000 participants and generated more than $900,000 for river protection and water trail development in Georgia. 

“The result of this participation is that Georgia’s streams are getting cleaner as more people advocate on their behalf, participate in river cleanups and hold state regulators and water users accountable for protecting our water,” said Peck.