Chattahoochee River Tubing

Floating down the Chattahoochee on an inner tube is the quintessential Helen summer experience. The river runs through the town at a gentle pace — shallow enough to push off the bottom in most places — and several outfitters rent tubes and shuttle you back to your starting point. The float takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on how far you go and how much you dawdle.

The river runs cold even in summer, which makes it refreshing in the mountain heat. Tubing is possible from April to October; July and August are peak season. Bring sunscreen — the long float means extended sun exposure on the water.

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The Chattahoochee River rises about 10 miles north of Helen in the Blue Ridge Mountains and eventually flows 430 miles south to form the Georgia-Alabama border near Columbus. Its headwaters at Helen are cold, clear, and shallow — ideal for floating. The same river that locals tube here will, 200 miles downstream, be a broad, warm waterway flowing through suburban Atlanta.