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Paddlers will find much to love in and around Asheville, North Carolina, in the eastern United States. Asheville sits at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, so you know there’s a lot of water to explore. Plus, the city of 94,000 is ringed by the Blue Ridge Mountains, which you see as you stroll around town and can watch the sunset over while sitting at a rooftop bar or restaurant.
I visited the area twice in late spring and early summer, once staying in Asheville and once in Greenville, just over the border in South Carolina. These three fun places to paddle all offer kayak rentals if you’re traveling sans watercraft.
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French Broad River
This is the most accessible of our paddling adventures. I Ubered there from downtown, then walked back afterward (okay, kind of long and hot, but doable).
The French Broad River flows 218 miles in Tennessee and North Carolina. I covered about six miles on a self-guided Biltmore trip with gear and shuttle courtesy of French Broad Outfitters.
Three other people had signed up for the 9:30 shuttle bus to the starting point. Our guide drove us up there, gave us a few guidelines (count five bridges, stay to the right between bridges four and five because of downed trees, pull out just past the RV park), and then pushed us off the bank. Bon voyage!
It was a slow-moving stretch of river that you could paddle or just float. It was also pretty bumpy in places—I inched over a bunch of logs just under water level but didn’t get stuck.
My trip passed through the famous Biltmore Estate, the grounds of the US’ largest private home. It was very green and uncrowded, with occasional glimpses of stables and other signs of civilization on the Biltmore grounds. French Broad Outfitters also offers the more urban 6-mile trip through the River Arts District or an all-day, 12-mile float that covers both the Biltmore and River Arts.
Duckies on the Nantahala River
Just before Nantahala Falls, our group of 15 paddlers plus four guides from Nantahala Outdoors Center pulled out of the river and walked to a viewpoint to reconnoiter. We were about to go over a small waterfall rated a class III rapid as the pinnacle of our trip down the Nantahala River in duckies—bright yellow, one-person inflatable kayaks. The falls were like our final exam.
“See that big flat rock? We call that the billboard,” said one of our guides. “Stay between it and that triangular rock.” Below us, a guy in a ducky hit a car-sized rock and flipped spectacularly, his paddle flying across the river. Gulp.
None of us took the option to walk around the falls. I went first before I chickened out, following right behind our guide Shane. While the navigation plan made sense from above, it carried me faster than I could have located the billboard and the triangular rock once I was in the water. In what seemed like ten seconds, I dropped, water gushing up my nose.
I’d Survived the Falls!
The Nantahala Outdoors Center’s Bryson City location is about 77 miles southwest of Asheville. NOC opened in 1972 and now operates seven river locations in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. When I visited on a weekday in June, the place was crowded with people renting rafts and kayaks, joining group trips, eating in the restaurant, relaxing by the river, or enjoying their rest stop on a ride with the Great Smoky Railroad.
In Short, the Place Was Jumping.
My guided trip included a shuttle ride to our starting point eight miles upriver and basic instructions on paddling a ducky. The water was a chilly 53 degrees, and the rapids were mostly class I and II. It only took a couple of hours to cover eight miles of river.
Being captain of my whitewater vessel was exciting and a little scary as someone used to flatwater kayaking and group rafting. Obstacles seemed to pop out of the fast-moving water before I had time to steer. Fortunately, the ducky was very forgiving, as I bounced off some enormous rocks and trees without flipping.
Afterward, I ate a black bean burger—impressed by the café’s vegan choices—while sitting at the river’s edge with my whitewater guide, Elvis. He moved to North Carolina after a buddy told him about the Nantahala. “I fell in love with whitewater kayaking,” he tells me, adding that he bought land nearby. I can see why.
Paddling on Lake Jocassee
Greenville is 60 miles south of Asheville, just over the border in South Carolina. The two towns have an unofficial rivalry. At 72,000, Greenville is a little smaller and more conservative, and feels a bit more Southern. Asheville is more hippieish, with a giant weekly drum circle and more people living on the streets. Also, more ghost tours.
During my visit to Greenville in May, I paddled what’s rumored to be South Carolina’s prettiest lake. Lake Jocassee is between Greenville and Asheville, a little closer to Greenville, in Devil’s Fork State Park.
You can rent a kayak or SUP on the lakeshore from Jocassee Lake Tours or Eclectic Sun. If you have time for an all-day adventure, Jocassee Lake Tours offers a six-hour tour in which they tow kayaks behind a pontoon boat to prime paddling spots. The naturalist guides know where to find waterfalls, swimming places, and wildflowers and give you the lowdown on history, geology, and folklore.
I only had a few hours before my flight home, so I rented a kayak. “You just turn and cross the lake where this piece of land juts out,” one of the kayak wranglers showed me on a map before I set off on my own. “Then you can find the waterfalls over here.”
It turns out that pieces of land do little but jut out, and they all look pretty much alike to me. My navigational skills prompted me to hug the lakeshore. There were no waterfalls for me, but I saw beautiful little islands, some turtles, and a forest full of trees.
Lake Jocassee attracts scuba divers with its clean, clear water and flooded town beneath. Before a dam was put in, creating the lake, there used to be a girls’ summer camp, a lodge, and the Mt. Carmel Cemetery, as seen in the movie Deliverance. Divers can still view headstones 130 feet below the surface; some have spotted artificial flowers dating back half a century.
All three of my paddling trips were fun. These are just a few places you can explore in the Asheville area with your trusty kayak or SUP.
If You Go:
Both Asheville and Greenville have friendly little airports. But if you plan to rent a car—which you’ll need to access Lake Jocassee and the Nantahala River—you might want to fly into Charlotte, NC, which has many more flights. I recommend the budget-friendly Modal Coffee and Hostel in Greenville and the luxurious Zelda Dearest in Asheville for lodging.
Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Visit Greenville, SC, and Explore Asheville hosted parts of the writer’s trips to the region. As always, Go World Travel operates independently, which doesn’t influence our coverage.
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Author Bio: Teresa Bergen is a Portland-based writer who specializes in outdoors, eco, vegan and sober travel. She’s on a mission to paddle in every US state and Canadian province. Teresa is the author of Easy Portland Outdoors and Sober Travel Handbook, and co-author of Historic Cemeteries of Portland, Oregon.
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