Sope Creek

Sope:

Put-in:

Lower Roswell Road in E. Cobb (a couple miles west of Johnson Ferry Road). Park at the electrical box on the east side of the bridge. Carry boat across road and down to the river.

Take-out:

Columns Drive (off Johnson Ferry, near the Hooch), or paddle the Hooch out to the metro hooch section and take off at Metro hooch put-in or metro hooch take-out, depending on how long a paddle you want, how much flatwater you can stand.

The in-between:

After you put on, you'll paddle about a 1/2 mile or so of flat, moving water, then the rapids pick up. At the first good, right hand bend, a ledge forms. Be on the far right, almost under the trees to find a sluice that punches what can at some levels be a nast hole. (III to IV+ depending on level; V if you're on river left at high water/flood)

Below that is the bridge rapid (you should be able to see the bridge from upstream of the aforementioned ledge rapid). Start middle right, go down center between tow bridge pilings. A big, nasty hole forms under the bridge at some levels. Eddy left or right. Immediately downstream is a ledge hole (20 feet from bridge) that is best snuck on far right. After that comes another big ledge hole. Again, get far right to go around it. This section is a III+ at low water, solid V at flood. In between it's a regular old IV, but very continous at higher water. The bridge is Old Papermill Road (or it might not be 'Old,' unsure of that). It's a good exit point if things are too big for you. There's a trail out of this small 'gorge' on river left abvoe the first ledge drop that leads up to Papermill Rd.

Below this, the river settles into class III boogie water, some ledge holes to punch/sneak. Then it flattens out after a little while and you'll be coming into a golf course. At some levels you may find that 2 big sewage or gas pipes are crossing the river above your head. At flood, these are at river level and are very dangerous, with little in terms of eddies above them thanks to the manicured bank inside the golf course. They tend to collect wood.

Overall, expect to find some strainers on this creek, dirty water and a short period of opportunity. Right after a good rain ends in Marietta and E. Cobb is the best time; if it's too high, just grab a burger at one of the restaurants on Johnson Ferry and come back in an hour, it will have dropped.