By Suzanne Welander, Bob Sehlinger and Don Otey

From Amicalola Church Road (also known as “Six-Mile”) to Steele Bridge Road, a distance of approximately 3.7 miles. View Map

The Amicalola gets its name from the Cherokee phrase for “tumbling water.” It’s called a creek on most maps, but if it is merely a creek, it is an awesome one. The scenery is spectacular, and the rapids sometimes stupendous.

Only have a short afternoon available and want to get a quick and mild whitewater run in near Atlanta? Try the upper sections of Amicalola Creek. As with the famed lower section, the two 3-mile sections of river above GA Highway 53 feel surprisingly remote, courtesy of the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area that straddles the creek. Hemlock-lined banks shield the deeper recesses of the bordering forest. The Class II rapids above Steele Bridge Road tend to be sharper drops; downstream of the road, the character changes as the river widens and the rapids lengthen, retaining their Class II difficulty. The scenery is beautiful, even if the water quality isn’t; upstream poultry houses and runoff entering with Cochran Creek muddies the waters of an otherwise pristine run.

The Amicalola gets its name from the Cherokee phrase for tumbling water. It’s called a creek on most maps, but if it is merely a creek, it is an awesome one. The scenery is spectacular, and the rapids are sometimes stupendous. It is hard to describe this stream without superlatives, so if it is really just a creek, it is simply the best whitewater creek in the state. Located entirely in Dawson County, its upper east fork, Little Amicalola Creek, contains the famous Amicalola Falls.

DESCRIPTION: For the most part, the first 4.3 miles of the upper section from Goshen Church Road (A) to the campground off of Amicalola Church Road (B) provide easy floating, quiet beauty, and a few small rapids. The put-in at Goshen Church Road is surrounded by private property. Please be extremely courteous and respectful of the rights of landowners in this area. Note that with sufficient water (over 1.0 foot), a wilderness run through 5 miles of Class I–II rapids, with one Class III at an abandoned mill, opens up above this section.

The access point at the campground (B) is commonly called “6-mile” in reference to the 6 miles of river between there and GA 53 (D). Downstream of the campground, the stream turns east and comes to a shallow and rocky series of Class II ledges. Tornado activity from 2002—not the first tornado to upend trees into the river corridor—is evident in this section; watch for deadfall as the stream may be partially to completely obstructed. In mid-run, Cochrane Creek enters on the left and increases the stream volume considerably. In the next half mile are three good rapids that may require scouting. The first is a wide, 5-foot ledge. Look for a little chute into a pool just left of the downstream island. The next rapid is more complex; from a right-side approach several routes are possible. The third rapid is a 3.5-foot ledge that can be sneaked through on the extreme right; the main route left of center can be a boat buster. The remaining miles to Steele Bridge Road provide easy floating.

SHUTTLE: From Dawsonville, take GA 53 west; turn right onto Sweetwater-Juno Road before reaching the river. Continue two miles to a left turn onto Steele Bridge Road and follow the road to the take-out for this section at the bridge. To reach the put-in, continue on Steele Bridge Road west of the river. Turn right at the stop sign onto Amicalola Church Road. The six-mile put-in is ahead on the right; watch for the recreation area signage. View map.

GAUGE: The staff gauge is located at GA 53 in the pool upstream of the bridge on the river’s left side. An enjoyable minimum for this section is 0.8, though the river is runnable below this level, particularly between 6-mile and Steele Bridge for boaters who don’t mind the practice dodging rocks. The maximum is 2.5 feet for open boats, 3.5 feet for decked.

This canoeing guide was adapted from A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Georgia, by Suzanne Welander, Bob Sehlinger and Don Otey. Organized efficiently by watersheds, the book contains paddling guides to over 80 Georgia streams and rivers, plus the Okefenokee Swamp and the Georgia Coast, as well as a wealth of interesting and useful information about Georgia physiography and paddling in general. Order this and canoeing and kayaking guides for other states from Menasha Ridge Press.