Created In Partnership With Columbus, Georgia
W hitewater was the last thing on my mind when I first heard of Columbus, Georgia. The southeastern United States isn’t typically known for its whitewater. The first day I paddled the Chattahoochee River, I was blown away by the quality of the kayaking. Big waves, warm water and friendly people defined the Columbus experience for me, and I’ve been yearning to go back ever since.
In 2025, Columbus was recognized as the world’s first Center of Excellence for canoe freestyle by the International Canoe Federation. The city hosted the 2023 ICF Freestyle Kayak World Championship and will host it again in 2029. The Chattahoochee flows right through downtown, with 22 miles of parks and paths paralleling its banks. At 2.5 miles long, RushSouth Whitewater Park is the longest urban whitewater park in the world and home to several world-famous whitewater features, including Good Wave and Ambush.
More than 50,000 visitors travel to Columbus each year for whitewater sports, but it wasn’t always this way. In 2012, the city removed two large dams and worked with hydrologists to launch a major river revitalization project. Today, the Chattahoochee offers five class IV+ rapids, 10 smaller rapids, warm water, dam-controlled releases 365 days a year, and flows of up to 13,000 cubic feet per second (the highest-volume rapids east of the Mississippi and south of Canada). All this makes the Chattahoochee a whitewater kayaker’s paradise. Each winter, freestyle kayakers flock from all over North America to train on Columbus’s warm waters and big waves. They even have a name for it: the Wintering Grounds.
Head south for winter whitewater
Professional kayakers and multiple-time freestyle world champions, Emily Jackson and Nick Troutman, bought a house in Columbus to spend more time paddling the Chattahoochee.
“One of the biggest draws to Columbus is the consistency and access to great river features. Between Ambush, Monkey Wrench, Good Wave, Great Wave, and the super high-water features, it has a ton to offer. Not to mention it is one of the warmest places to paddle year-round,” says Jackson.
The whitewater is the main draw, but Jackson says the best part about paddling in Columbus is actually the community. “The community is what makes Columbus so great. You have a kayak shop, Whitewater Express, that has committed a ton of energy and resources to supporting the paddlers, then you have individuals like Melissa Hargrove, who organizes dozens of get-togethers for people of all skill levels and kids to enjoy the river,” she explains…