Tallulah
3 - Coleman River Junction to Lake Burton(Upper Tallulah)
| Difficulty | II-III+ |
| Length | 7.7 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Tallulah River Near Clayton, Ga |
| Flow Rate as of 45 minutes | 77 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | January 19, 2022 |
River Description
Fun section for anyone looking for a short and sweet trip with just enough action to keep it interesting. There's a boat ramp (known as 'Tallulah River Ramp' on google maps) on Chester York Road that can be used as a take out to knock off a couple miles or more of flatwater at the end of the run. I've used two different put ins as well. One is at the bridge over the Coleman River (I'd call it a creek) where it flows in to the Tallulah. Just below this put in is a short class II with an eddy on the right below the rapid, immediately followed by what I assume is the class III on this run. Alternately down river a half a mile or so is a fishing pier/dock and I've used that as a put in as well and eliminated the class III with only some minor Class I & II stuff below this put in. There is a rapid just above this put in that has many rocks with minimal spacing between them that looks to be tough to find a line through until the water is up enough to go over some of them. I've portaged this rapid on river left when putting in at the Coleman river bridge. The run is about 5.4 miles from the Coleman River put in to the boat ramp. About a 4.8 mile run if you put in at the fishing dock/pier and go to the boat ramp.
River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportPaddled 5/27/22 at 1350cfs when we put on. New wood above the big rapid right below the Coleman confluence. It's a river wide log at the entrance of the rapid. Could probably be ducked under at lower flows but I'd probably avoid it. We put in at the fishing pier about 1/4 mile down river from the Coleman confluence. It was a fun run. Didn't notice any new wood below that point. There are some strainers but they're all easily avoidable. At this level the run felt similar to the Lower Nantahala.
Ran this river twice in the past few months. Once at 700CFS and dropping and last weekend at 475 CFS and dropping. Both were fun. Scraped a few rocks at 475 but not a problem at all.
Standing at top of Cold Buns rapid. Flow very low at 225cfs. Roget Nott having already run the rapid is waving at the bottom.
Scouting Cold Buns rapid on the way to Coleman confluence.
Hanging out below Cold Buns. This rapid is not easily portaged. Very steep banks.
Looking upstream from the Fishing Pier at this rapid. Would be easier to run with more water. This is 225 cfs. Roger Nott ran in his long Canoe. I portaged it easily.