Kayaking at Great Smokey Mountain Fish Camp, Franklin, North Carolina

This year we decided (finally) to go kayaking - we have passed the sign for the Great Smokey Mountain Fish Camp just as the bridge crosses over the Little Tennessee River every trip we have made.  Finally, it's time to let the dogs stay at the house and try out kayaking.  

They are located at 81 Bennett Road, Franklin, North Carolina 28734.  We rented single kayaks (sit on top) and a double canoe.  They didn't have any double kayaks, hence the reason part of our group choose the double canoe.  This was the first time I have used a sit on top kayak and I think they are pretty nice (we have the sit inside kind).  Please note: You must pay in Cash or Check - they do not accept credit cards or other forms of payment at the time we visited (August 2024).  They are open from 9am till 4pm, 7 days a week, April 1st through November 1st.  The website is http://fishcamp.biz/  (please note this is not a secure website, aka http not https).

The building just outside this photograph on the right is where you will find the owners to get setup with your rentals.  They also rent tubes and do have a few double tubes as well.  The place has lots of beautiful landscaping, given enough time I would probably spend several hours taking photographs of plants, flowers, etc.

There are a few campsites for RVs or tents if you're interested, but I didn't get any details on them.  Lots of canoes, kayaks and tubes!!!  They also provided us with life jackets.

Once you arrive in your vehicle:
     1) Pay for your vessel of choice

     2) Driver of vehicle will follow their vehicle to the 'take out' point down river

     3) Drivers get a ride back to the launch point

This allows you to leave from the place you get out.  They request that you pull your vessel out of the water and call the phone number posted on the tree where you get out.  They will come get the vessels.

After getting our life jackets, we headed down to the launch point where our kayaks and canoe were waiting for us at the river's edge. Little bit of a walk down to the water's edge.  They assisted us in getting into our water vessel of choice.  (Note: This photograph was taken later in our vacation therefore there is not anything waiting at the water's edge).

The river is very scenic and we enjoyed our ride down the river.  We choose the approximately 1.5 hours of kayaking because the weather was expected to start raining in about 2 hours.

And we are ready to start....

The Little Tennessee River is a light brown color, assume that is because of the clay bottoms in this part of the country - but overall, in many places the river was pretty shallow.  At first, as this photo shows, it's smooth sailing....but what fun would that be?  Soon, it becomes more challenging and more fun!  Let's try to get through this without getting stuck - whether it's because the water was shallow (inches) or there are rocks - some visible and some just under the surface.

Well, I can say, that if you stop to take photographs like that above, you're going to most likely get stuck!  I highly recommend anything you want to take along you put in a dry bag (that big yellow thing is my dry bag with snacks, water, towels, keys).  We all had cell phone protectors as well - if you don't have one, they sell them at the shop where we rented the kayaks for a reasonable price.

I got stuck - so why not photograph everyone else trying to get through?  I suspect that this is much easier in a kayak than a double canoe.  The depth of the water where I am currently stuck is only inches, but the water is flowing through this area pretty fast which pinned me against a rock. Again, what fun would it have been if it was just floating down the river the entire time?

Eventually you will get past the rocks and the flow of the river is such that you could probably just steer and eventually get to the take out point.  Clouds are moving in....yes, I am already wet but do I want to be drenched? (No).

They told us that we are to be on the lookout for a couple of very nice wood houses on the right.  This is our clue that we are getting close to the take out point.  

Soon after the two nice wood houses (cabins), you should ensure you are on the right side of the river.  You will see a stop sign - this is where you exit the river.  Keep in mind that there is a good flow to this river, so paddling back up river if you miss this will definitely be harder.  This is a bit of a steep incline to get to these steps and get out - and pulling your vessel out can take some strength.  Kayaks are much easier than the double canoe.

Just as we managed to get to the take out point, it started to drizzle rain.  By the time our entire party got out of the water, it was starting to rain pretty hard!  They have a pavilion there to protect you from rain.  If you want to have a picnic or a bbq - there are grills.  You can stay in the river as long as you would like and enjoy the area for a picnic - next time we will be a little better prepared.

If you're curious, sure we would do this again.  It was a fun and cool way to spend the morning.