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Only about 30 to 35 people can participate in the Chattahoochee River Adventure by nonprofit organization Georgia River Network, according to Joe Cook, who is helping coordinate the event. He estimated that about 20 people have signed up so far. The Chattahoochee River Adventure will be an 11-mile paddle on the Chattahoochee River, starting at West Point Dam and ending in Riverview. Participants will get to see the historic Langdale and Riverview dams that the Georgia Power Company will soon remove. Plans are to hold a similar event after the dams have been removed so people can see the difference it will make.

The event will take place on July 23 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost for youth ages 17 and under is $35, while the cost for adults is $70. Registration fees will cover shuttle and guide services, educational programs and river maps. Links to the registration page and liability waiver can be found at https://garivers.org/event/chattahoochee-river-adventure.

A shuttle service will make it easy for people to get to their vehicles after the paddle.

“We’ll drop all our boats at the launch site, drive all of our vehicles to the take-out site, and then we’ll have a shuttle vehicle that will carry all the drivers back up to the launch site,” Cook said.

Boats used will mainly be kayaks and canoes. People can rent kayaks when they register online for the trip

The trip will mostly be flatwater with some Class I shoals. Cook said “Class I shoals” refers to the difficulty of boating through the water. Basically, there will be small ripples in the water.

“The reason why we’re doing that is those are historic dams,” he said. “They mean a lot to the communities there because they powered the textile mills that so many people worked in. But right now, they’re kind of obsolete … When you open the river back up and create free-flowing rivers and improve access to those rivers, that will be a very positive thing for the West Point, Riverview and Langdale communities.”

Cook said removing the dams will also restore the river habitat to what it once was.

“All of our trips are educational,” Cook said. We’ll try to teach people about issues impacting our rivers and learn a little bit about the natural history and cultural history of the places that we’re paddling.”

Paddlers will get to look at maps to see where they are and what they’re seeing.

“We’re kind of working in conjunction with Georgia Power Company,” Cook said. “The power company owns Langdale and Riverview Dam, and they are the entity that will be removing them. And so, we’ll have a representative from Georgia Power be there to talk to us about the process of removing the dams and what they’re working on right now.”

Registration will close about a week before the event.

It is recommended that people bring their own lunches.

More specific logistical information will be e-mailed to all registered participants in the week leading up to the paddle.

For more information, call Cook at (706) 409-0128 or email him at joe@garivers.org.