Sweetwater Creek, |
|
| Usual Difficulty | III-IV(V) (may vary with level) |
|---|---|
| Length | 4 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 50 fpm |
| Max Gradient | 180 fpm |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWEETWATER CREEK NEAR AUSTELL, GA | ||||
| usgs-02337000 | 2.40 - 9.00 ft | III-IV(V) | 01h26m | 14.66 ft (rc= 1.9 ) |
Gauge Description: Class 3 at low flows below 4 feet. Class 4 above 5 feet on the gauge. The
falls are 4+ At 7 feet the falls are a class 5 drop. The river has been run a few times over 10
feet and possibly as high as 13. Floodstage class 5 at these flows. LOCATION.--Lat 33°46'22",
long 84°36'53", Douglas County, Hydrologic Unit 03130002, on right bank 100 ft upstream from
bridge on Interstate Highway 20, 400 ft upstream from Blair Bridge, 3 mi southeast of Austell,
and 5.5 mi upstream from mouth. More gauge info in text below. Sweetwater's drainage area is
nearly 250 square miles, so it usually holds its water for a couple of days after a heavy
rain.
The first thing you should know is that this run is seriously polluted. It's not a good place to
be upside down or to be swimming. There used to be warning signs at the put-in not to eat the
fish due to heavy metals contamination (lead, mercury, etc). With that said, Sweetwater Creek has
the best whitewater in metro Atlanta.
User Comments
Brad Roberts 2001-03-21 16:17:07
Description:
The Put-in for this run is in Sweetwater Creek State Park. Walk down the nature trail until you
hit water.
A general rule of thumb is run down the left side channels from the first ledge until you get to
the falls.
Below the put-in the river goes around a bend to the left. Just around the bend is a small
riverwide ledge with some good surfing potential. Below this little wave hole is an island. Run
to the left side of the island. Just past the island the gradient will start to pick up and the
river will drop over more small bedrock ledges. Take out on the left above the obvious horizon
line.
The first major drop encountered is a riverwide ten foot tall sloping ledge. This is generally
scouted and run on river left. There is also a route on river right. Its a good idea to scout
this ledge as wood tends to gather at its base. At higher flows a nasty low head dam type hole
develops on this ledge in the center of the river.
In October 1995 a pair of novice boaters swam out of this hole at high flow and ended up spending
the night on one of the islands. One of the local TV station's helicopters was used to drop food
and blankets to the stranded boaters. Following this incident the park rangers were not
particulary fond of kayakers for awhile. At the moment the Ranger/Boater relationship appears to
have improved (Actually the current crop of Rangers are a great bunch).
After the ledge the rapids thru Mill Shoals are pretty continuous for about a mile until the
falls. From the ledge to the falls there are multiple channels and multiple routes. Our usual
route is down the left channel. Above 6 feet this is one long class 4 rapid that would not be out
of place in West Virginia. Be aware that every time the water comes up, all the wood in the
stream relocates. Keep your eyes open.
According to the topo maps this stretch of river drops more than 80 feet in less than half a
mile.
"The Falls"
When you get to the downstream side of the islands, start working back to river right. When you
see the observation decks past the ruins, and an obvious horizon line, contemplate scouting.
Take out to scout on river right above the falls.
The falls are not really a vertical drop, but a big convoluted broken ledge. It's the biggest
rapid on the river.
At low flows the usual route thru the falls is down the middle.
At medium to high flows, drop over the first ledge into the eddy on river left. Then bust the
move across the big curler from river left to right. From there, peel back out to midstream and
thread your way between the center hole, the big hole on river left, and another smaller hole
midstream.
At flows above 5 feet you can sneak the drop by boofing down the ledges on river right, or just
use the nice trail beside the river to portage the whole thing.
Around 7 feet on the gauge the falls bumps up to class 5.
Park & Play boaters have the option of boating down to the falls, then hiking back up to the
put-in via the river right nature trail. There is detailed trail info below. The hole below the
falls is pretty sweet in the 2.5 to 4 foot range. There is another hole on river left just below.
Below the falls are 4 more rapids of note, and some good play.
There is a good wave at high flows below the Powerline.
Take out is at the bridge on river right.
Gauge Info:
These days everyone just goes by the online USGS gauge. The USGS gauge is on the north side of
I-20 and does not readily correspond with the old bridge gauge.
You can no longer access the original gauge painted on the Blair Bridge piling just north of the
park on the south side of I-20. There is a Douglas County water intake at that location with the
usual homeland security fencing. The gauge is on the downstream river left side of the bridge
piling. 2 feet should be considered low, 4 feet good, and 6 feet would be high. The creek has
been run upwards of 13 feet.
At this point I know that 2500 cfs equals about 8 feet on the bridge gauge.
More Gauge info: 850cfs = 4 ft bridge gauge = 3.5 ft USGS gauge.
Shuttle:
Put-in: Exit off I-20 to Thornton Road southbound. Take a right at Blairs Bridge Road, the
first light next to the Toyota dealership. After about 2 miles take a left onto Mount Vernon Road
and follow the signs to Sweetwater creek state park. After crossing the lake, take a left into
the main entrance of the park. Follow the signs to the Nature trail parking lot.
Take out: Thornton Rd south to the last traffic light before you cross the Chattahoochee.
Turn right on Riverside Pkwy. The takeout is the bridge over the river about 2.5 miles down the
road.
Hike out: Hop out of your boat just below the falls on river right where the wooden stairs
hit water level. Grab your boat and go up the stairs to the top of the hill. At the crest of the
hill, take a left on the trail that keeps going up the hill, don't follow the riverside trail
back down to the falls observation deck. When that trail ends, take a right on the Blue trail.
Follow the very nicely groomed Blue trail back to the Mill Ruins. At the ruins veer right to the
Red trail. Staying on the blue trail will take you on a scenic three mile hike. The red trail
will stay by the river back to the put-in. From the put in take the obvious trail back to the
parking lot. The hike out takes between 30 and 45 minutes.
You can also hike out by following the riverside trail all the way back to the put in. This is
much more difficult than the blue trail option.
Georgia DNR Sweetwater
Website.
NGeorgia.Com page on Sweetwater.
Friends of Sweetwater Creek Website has
more good info including some good photos of the park.
Last updated May 2006
Class 3 at low flows below 4 feet.
Class 4 above 5 feet on the gauge. The falls are 4+
At 7 feet the falls are a class 5 drop.
The river has been run a few times over 10 feet and possibly as high as 13. Floodstage class 5 at these flows.
LOCATION.--Lat 33°46'22", long 84°36'53", Douglas County, Hydrologic Unit 03130002, on right bank 100 ft upstream from bridge on Interstate Highway 20, 400 ft upstream from Blair Bridge, 3 mi southeast of Austell, and 5.5 mi upstream from mouth.
More gauge info in text below.
Sweetwater's drainage area is nearly 250 square miles, so it usually holds its water for a couple of days after a heavy rain.
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWEETWATER CREEK NEAR AUSTELL, GA | ||||||||||||
| usgs-02337000 | 2.40 - 9.00 ft | III-IV(V) | 01h26m | 14.66 ft (rc= 1.9 ) | ||||||||
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| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Put-In |  | |
| 0.2 | Warm up ledge. | II+ |  |
| 0.3 | First Ledge | IV+ |  |
| 0.3 | Mill Shoals | IV | |
| 1.0 | The Falls | IV+ |   |
| 1.0 | The Hole below the Falls | IV+ |  |
| 1.2 | Creek Right | II+ | |
| 1.9 | 2nd Island - Surf right, play left | III | |
| 2.3 | Powerline Waves | II+ | |
| 2.3 | Big Island Rapid, aka Last Ruin Rapid | IV | |
| 3.5 | Pumping Station | III | |
| 4.0 | Take-out : Riverside Parkway |  |
The sneak is just below the island on the left that is immediately above the drop. Be aware this sneak turns into a nasty hole above 7.6 feet.
There is also a far right line, but it is hard to scout and ends in a log pile. At flows above 8 feet consider the channel by the jogging trail on the river right bank.
This one is best in the 5 foot range. It starts to wash out about 7.5 feet.
Pre 2006 description:
The wave, or hole, or ledge at the pumping station is a whole lot of different rapids depending on how high the hooch is and how far it is backing up into sweetwater and how much water sweetwater is sending downstream.
If the hooch is really high, it backs up and covers the entire rapid.
Just above the bridge on the left is a cement culvert. At higher flows the culvert makes for a much better take-out. From there, carry up the trail to the road. Watch for snakes, poison ivey & broken glass.
River Alert
State News
River Links
NWRI - Sweetwater Creek Sweetwater Creek State Park to Chattahoochee River (mobile)
User Comments
rapids laying across the recovery pool. Very easy to pull out before the tree. Higher levels may
make eddying out more urgent. We had to walk around at 3.09 guage (seemed more like 4ish- see Chuck
Kirk's comment 2009-10-17). Edit
shape except for the staircase down at the river. The steps were ripped away so you have to climb
up beside the first platform to get up there. Also the water level is way off. The new guage read
about 3 foot but the water level was more like what it was when it read 4 foot or even a little
higher. I noticed this a week or so ago as well when the guage read 4.3 but it seemed more like 5
foot. The rapids have had rocks move around in them and seem to be cleaner actually.
have roped off all trail access to the river. The usual run here is from the top of the rapids down
to the falls, then you drag/carry your boat back up to the parking area at the park. This is no
longer possible as all the bridges are gone and some of the trail has washed away. There is also
raw sewage coating almost everything. If you do want to brave this run you will need to put in
above the park, which is almost impossible as all the roads crossing Sweetwater Creek are closed
all the way up to Thornton Road due to bridge damage. You will then need to take out at Riverside
Parkway. I spoke with Park staff yesterday and they don't have any dates set for repair of the
trails and bridges. When they are rebuilt, the staff will need to rely on volunteer efforts to help
complete the project. If you are a fan of Sweetwater Creek I suggest watching the park website for
posting of upcoming workdays and please go volunteer. Edit
almost all the islands in the river. lots of big rocks have been moved around.at the time there
were no trees in any of the rapids we scouted.the red trail was washed away along with several foot
bridges and the overlook deck at the falls, it looks pretty bad. there was a tree down on river
right just below powerlines blocking the right channel.
have to put in somewhere besides the state park Edit
but this is WRONG.... the sneak is on the far river right bank. It can still be pretty sketch if
the water is high though. If you drive the bow up and right as go go over the dam you'll slide down
a little ramp into some out flow (far far right) . If it is high water and you F it up you CAN get
stuck in the hole..... and that would really suck (the water is nasty and the hole will keep you,
with or without a boat). Also.... if you decide to portage go river right and you can do a really
fun 45 degree 50 ft long seal launch down what looks like chain link fence holding the soil in
place. Super fun and super fast. Dallas Shaw Edit
is about 1/2 way between the falls and the takeout bridge. There used to be a little wave train
there, but now, at 1500cfs, it is a serious hole.
Factory Ruins Trail: 1.2 miles one way. Blazed red. Rated moderately difficult. The toughest part
is downhill to the creek; the rest of the trail is easy. Trail follows Sweetwater Creek past the
1840s mill ruins to the falls (a large rapid). After the falls, pick up the Blue or White trail to
return. A trail guide is available at the Visitor Center, in the brochure box in front of the
building.
Blue Trail: 2 miles one way. Blazed blue. Rated easy to moderate, with one steep climb down to the
falls deck. Visits ruins and then the falls (a large rapid) via a trail up the ridge side rather
than along the creek. At the falls, return via the red-blazed Factory Ruins Trail or Blue
Trail
White Trail: 3 miles one way. Blazed white. Connects the ends of the Red and Blue trails back to
the parking area. Remember to add the 3 miles to the distance already traveled on Red or Blue
trails. Follows Sweetwater Creek downstream, turns up into the hills past a small lake, then up
through an area of early 20th century farm fields.
Yellow Trail: 3-mile loop. Blazed yellow. Rated easy to difficult. Follows Sweetwater Creek to
Ferguson's Crossing, crosses the creek on a metal frame bridge, climbs the ridge on the east side
to the top of the ridge, then loops back to the bridge leading back to the parking area.
the painted gauge was 4 ft. Is this acurate? Any one having info on this please post here. Thanks,
Shayne
that you can take out really easily on the left where the culvert comes in.
the one that is kind of on the falls, it is an extremely shallow L shaped hole at the bottom of the
slide. It is a really fun surf, And the next one is right below it, it is really good for 360's and
maybe cartwheels.
Two kayakers stranded in Sweetwater Creek
Author: From staff and news services Date: October 8, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The
Atlanta Constitution Page Number: F/2 Word Count: 628
Two experienced kayakers were stranded on a small island on Sweetwater Creek inside Sweetwater
Creek State Park in Lithia Springs for more than 24 hours after their small craft was swept away.
Robbie Martin and Scott Dalton, both of Lithia Springs, huddled together all of Friday night and
most of Saturday as they waited for rescuers. Rescue attempts were thwarted several times because
Douglas County firefighters and volunteers could not get across the rain-swollen creek to the small
island
i believe it is somthing to the tune of riverside pkwy? There is a sign that says this and points
to it. Sorry about not knowing the exact name
unbelieveable. 4 feet tall, 15 feet wide, good eddy access, it was incredible!!!! Unfortunately the
river was dropping fast and the wave dissappeared as the river dropped below 5 feet.