Ocoee Rafting — Attraction in Ducktown

Great rapids, even better guides, incompetent upper management.

Allow me to start by addressing the positives, I loved the rapids, they were all exciting and had a lot of unique twists (metaphorical) and spins (literal). Not to mention the guides, my group had Fisher, he knew exactly how much danger and our group could handle and includes as many heart-pounding exciting moments as possible, while still keeping us all safe. This is, unfortunately, where the positives end.

I did this while on a road trip with some of my friends, one of which left a pair of shoes at the main location. An hour of driving and some fooling around at an Airbnb later, he realized his mistake and we began looking for his missing shoes, with no success. At this point, we knew they could only be at Ocoee Rafting, so we immediately called. This is when we learned that the first thing they did after finding the shoes was throw them into the river. There are many logical courses of action to take after finding lost property: attempt to locate the owner, wait and see if someone returns for it or even just keeping for yourself, but never would I consider waterboarding the item to be the correct choice. Then, the people at this place decided to throw the shoes into a dumpster which would be emptied in the morning. Do understand that we called maybe 3 hours after we left, while I understand that they could not keep our belongings safe forever, they did not even wait a full day for someone to claim the shoes before dumping them in the garbage. We were told our only chance for recovering the lost property was to come back in the morning (before the dumpster is emptied) and dig around for the shoes. We were already 50+ miles away, and not in any position to disturb our entire trip just so we can take some impromptu dumpster diving lessons. This truly ruined the experience for us and was a bad start to our trip. If you go here, expect competence from the guides but keep all interaction with anyone in the shop to an absolute minimum, they seem to lack any and all...

Whitewater rafting was our favorite activity during our one-week stay in Blue Ridge, GA! Ocoee Rafting is a large and well-run company that has experienced and friendly staff. After the safety briefing, we were loaded onto buses and driven 9 miles west to a dam to begin our adventure. Yak (Stephen) was our guide and he made the trip absolutely fantastic. He is super experienced and knowledgeable about the region, the river, and he kept us safe, entertained, and laughing the whole trip down. We never felt at risk of falling out of the raft, even though it can happen. You are allowed to bring cameras (smartphones) with you at your own risk or you can purchase a package of photos taken by a staff member after the trip for $43. There are no lockers on site - we were advised to keep all personal items in our cars until after rafting but could use their very nice dressing rooms/restrooms/showers to change into dry clothes afterward. Also, t-shirts are required to raft, no swimsuits or tank tops are allowed. We wore long-sleeved rash guards and shorts to protect from the sun. One other note - for footwear, I suggest a closed toe sandal (like KEEN) as I wedged my feet under the thwarts (cross tubes filled with air in the raft) for stability. Thank you for a...

10/10 recommended!! I did the full river trip last weekend with friends and it was SOOO fun! Our guide Bode was excellent! He was very knowledgeable, gave clear instructions and was playful enough to make the trip down the river unforgettable. The entire trip was great but my favorite rapid was the Cat’s Pajamas. Bode gave us the option to take the more calm route or the more adventurous. (we choose the more adventurous route) He warned us that there was a high chance we all would end up out of the raft and sure enough we did BUT it was FUN!! I highly recommend you request Bode if you want a fun, knowledgeable, and personable guide who has a great sense of humor and a way of making you feel safe. The entire process from booking the trip, check in, rafting and returning to the outpost was smooth and easy. The restrooms/changing areas are clean and dry. The outpost/check in area was very cozy with rocking chairs, and plenty of shaded areas to wait until you load the bus. The buses are clean and the driver was very friendly. You could tell the different rafting companies based on the color of their raft. The blue rafts (Ocoee Rafting co) appeared to be having more fun than the other colored rafts and just seemed to be better organized and more...