Chattanooga river tubing doesn’t have to be a scary experience and you can confidently take a self-guided approach.
It may seem daunting but enjoying Chattanooga tubing on your own doesn’t have to be. I’ll show you how to tube down the river and tips for what to bring and how to prepare.
The Lower Ocoee
Our Chattanooga tubing adventure takes us to the Lower Ocoee River. This is the section of the Ocoee River that’s beneath Ocoee Dam 1. It’s the calmest part of the river. You can tube, kayak, and even paddleboard this section.
The water is very calm with only a few tiny rapids. Most rapids are formed by fallen trees. The obstacles are all navigable even though they are ever changing. You never know when the next storm will bring down more trees. But that’s what makes this fun, there will always be new obstacles to enjoy!
Chattanooga Tubing Must Haves
Besides the tube, there’s some other equipment I highly suggest having. In fact, I made a list of tubing must-haves for you to utilize. Here I share exactly what I have, why I have it, and where to buy it. Don’t worry, everything is at a low price point, so you don’t have to spend a fortune on this.
Also keep in mind that you’ll need two vehicles. One to leave at the exit point and one to transport everyone to the entrance point. Be sure to leave cold drinks and towels in your take-out car so they’ll be ready for you after your 4+ hours on the river.
Guided Chattanooga Tubing
If you don’t want to purchase your own tubes and supplies for this endeavor, there’s another option. Outdoor Adventure Rafting offers a guided tubing tour for about the same price as buying your own tube and supplies. So, if you’re visiting from out of town or don’t want to store everything when not in use, this is the way to go.
I personally have not tried this company, but they have good reviews, so I trust that they offer great experiences. Their tubing tour is about an hour and a half long and there’s a guide in a kayak so they can help you out of any sticky situation. If you only plan to enjoy Chattanooga tubing one time, this is what I would recommend.
Tips for Your Trip
The Ocoee Dam 1 opens around 11AM. Check the hourly discharge by looking at TVA’s schedules. Typically, it will be easiest to float the river in the afternoon. And even easier as the day goes on because the water will slowly rise over more obstacles leaving them fully submerged and no longer tubing obstacles.
Plan to be on river for at least 4 hours. We managed 3½ but spoke to some people who took 6 hours because they stopped a lot to enjoy the scenery. Do whatever pace is best for you. However, be aware that what lines the river is almost all private property. Please don’t trespass.
As mentioned earlier, fallen trees are the main obstacles. Overall, they aren’t too difficult to get around, however, having a paddle might help you a little. My one friend kayaked instead of tubing, so she was able to pull us all out of some tricky spots. I think that is why it took us less than 4 hours. You can buy a small paddle for your tube if you would like, although it’s not completely necessary. The info for this is in my post about tubing must-haves.
When considering connecting tubes together, keep this in mind. The lessons we learned with 4 of us connected together were:
- It’s easy to keep your group together and more enjoyable because you can all chat.
- A connected group floats downstream faster than a separated group of tubes. (We tested this when one of the girls decided to ride solo and three of us were still connected together. We passed her and left her in the dust!…er water wake?)
- It’s very difficult to avoid obstacles as a connected group. It’s a lot easier if you’re going solo. Sometimes you may want to separate on purpose and then join back after you’re through a rough patch.
With that, you should be able to confidently navigate this section of the Ocoee River and thoroughly enjoy Chattanooga tubing this summer.
Put-In and Take-Out
The best entrance point is at Sugarloaf Mountain Park. There’s free parking and access to the boat ramp. It sits right below Ocoee Dam 1, so you get to start at the very beginning of the Lower Ocoee River. Another great thing about this place is there’s restrooms. These will be the only restrooms you see on this trip so be sure to make wise use of them while you can.
The most common exit point is the Nancy Ward Gravesite. There’s free parking and a boat ramp, just like at the Sugarloaf Mountain Park. However, getting out here is very challenging. If it weren’t for the group ahead of us being prepared and throwing us a line to pull us in, I don’t think we would have made this exit. The river is the fastest right in front of this ramp. I suggest, when you park your take-out car here, tie a line to one of the trees near the water. So, when you come flying downstream you can paddle to the line, grab it, and use it to pull yourself in. Just having a paddle with your tube will NOT get you to this ramp. The water is too fast to manage an exit in this way so don’t rely on your paddle to get you out of this one.
Unfortunately, these are the only entrance and exit spots. I’ve searched for others but most property on this section of the river is private.
The Route and Map
The key to this trip is remembering to count the bridges. When you start at Sugarloaf Mountain Park, you will immediately go under bridge one of four. Continue counting bridges two and three as you go under them. But watch out, bridge number four signals your exit at the Nancy Ward Gravesite. As soon as you see the fourth bridge, start making your way to the left side of the river. The boat ramp is on the left side, right BEFORE the fourth bridge. Below are photos of all four bridges in the order you’ll encounter them.
Here’s the route we took to help you visualize. Purple is the river route, and the bridges are marked and numbered in red.
Final Thoughts
Chattanooga tubing is a great way to stay cool this summer. And it can be very affordable to do over and over again. Here’s the video of the first time we tried Chattanooga tubing on the Lower Ocoee. And here’s the video of all my recommended equipment from after I tried it all…twice.
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve been on the Lower Ocoee River or just tubing in general before. I’d love to know! Until next time, enjoy exploring Chatt!
Thanks for this post Amanda! Me and my family have been wanting to go tubing but weren’t sure how or where, so we are definitely doing it next weekend!
That’s great to hear! Thanks for sharing! I’d love to know how y’all like it after you go!
I love your site! Thank you for all of the tips. We’re traveling from out of town and have our own tubes but we will only have 1 car. Is there a shuttle service we could use, or do you think calling an uber would work?
The only shuttle services are the ones you rent the tubes from. I’m unsure what the cost of an uber would be, it might be more cost effective to just rent the tubes for your visit instead and leave your tubes at home.
This was a super helpful post. I paddled this section yesterday on my paddle board and your notes were so helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! That’s awesome! I need to take my paddleboard out there now that I have one. It’s definitely easier to paddle than tube that section because of the exit but either way, it’s a beautiful waterway.