It’s that time of year already, time for Tallulah season on April 2-3 and April 9-10. However, this year, there are a few changes that the Tallulah Gorge State Park wants to pass along.
First, please don’t bring your dogs. Dogs at Tallulah have become a major problem for the event and the park. We are close to banning them completely. This spring, if your dog is off a leash at any point, tied off to your car, locked in a car or truck camper they deem unsafe for the animal, or walked on anything other than a six-foot leash, you will be:
— Fined for each offense
— If you are from out of state, you will have to appear at court
— You will be expelled from the park for the duration of the weekend/event
There will be NO WARNINGS and if this continues to happen we intend to ban dogs completely from the whitewater releases. We had to fight for this last chance, so please leave your dog at home unless you have someone to attend to it at all times.
Second, alcoholic beverages have also become a major problem and will be monitored closely. DNR plans to ticket anyone visibly drinking in the boater parking or camping lot. Fines apply for excess drinking in the campground or parking lot.
Third, trash is also a major problem. If you are going to have a good time with your friends in the camping area, don’t leave a bunch of trash lying around until the morning or you will get ticketed for littering when you wake up. Again, same fines apply.
Fourth, all the fees have gone up $2. Day-parking is now $4, shuttle is $3 and camping is now $5. Camping, shuttle, and a day-pass for the next day is $12.
General information about the releases follows below…
Open Walk-On from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
First two weekends in April: 2-3, 9-10
Saturdays at 500 cfs and Sundays at 700 cfs
That’s right, Tallulah season is almost here!
Releases begin at 9:30 am and all boaters must start down the stairs by 3:00 pm to beat the flow down to the lake. You will need to sign a waiver at the top of the stairs to be permitted to paddle the river and veteran Tallulah boaters will need only to initial our registry. Please continue to park across the road from the put-in and remember that you must go under the bridge to cross the road. As always, boater camping is across the bridge toward the Interpretative Center on the right; you will see the signs.
Thanks to boater cooperation, permit-free weekends are here for yet another year, but with this increase in use, the need for us to tread lightly increases. If we don’t, then the permit system could return.
To help us keep permit-free access, here’s how you can help:
DON’T TRAMPLE THE TRILLIUM
Keep boats and bodies on the steps, bedrock, or water at ALL TIMES, especially at the bottom of the stairs, where some boaters jump the right rail or throw their boats vertically over the back of the platform. These areas are home to the one thing that could effectively end ALL releases on the Tallulah: persistent trillium. Also, keep your impact on the riverbank to a bare minimum in connection with scouting rapids.
This is absolutely CRITICAL because the protection of this endangered species literally makes or breaks releases in the Gorge. Remember, boaters now enjoy unlimited use of the Tallulah, but hikers are still limited to 100 visitors per day in the Gorge. Let’s keep the river open!
BOATER SHUTTLES
While we don’t require you to use the free shuttles that Georgia Power, NOC, and AW supply, it significantly helps with parking problems if you use them. This year, the shuttles will begin promptly at 11:30 instead of 12:00. Also, we hope all vans they provide will feature a roof-rack to make transportation of inflatables and open canoes easier. As always, at the take-out, be nice, patient, and wait your turn.
Also, if you plan to run your own shuttle, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT parking or driving past the sign to the top of the dam. If you run your own shuttle, drive slowly and carefully and park well out of the road and the way of the shuttle drivers. Please remember that any problems concerning private shuttles could shut the gate at the bottom of the big hill, where the road forks down to the campground, and you would then have to park at the campground to run your shuttle.
If you paddle an inflatable (raft, shredder, IK), please view the Tallulah Inflatable Standard
It is important to patronize local businesses during release weekends. In addition to the tangible economic example i
USE THE BOAT RACK
Last year, AW volunteers constructed a boat rack on the back of the platform. So by all means, use it instead of placing your boat on or off the platform! We hope this can lighten some of the crowding at the bottom of the stairs and give weary boaters ample room to rest their legs after the hike, but in case there is confusion at the bottom, PLEASE do not (or let your boat) venture from the stairs for ANY reason!
FINALLY…
Don’t forget, there would be no releases in Tallulah Gorge if it were not for the hard work of the American Whitewater staff and volunteers from the Georgia Canoeing Association and Atlanta Whitewater Club. Let’s all continue to demonstrate our superb stewardship of this natural resource.
As always, for more information, check out the best StreamKeeper site on the entire SK network, Brad Robert’s Tallulah Gorge page: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/506
Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at sutton@suttonbacon.com.
Thanks and we’ll see you at Tallulah!