Ocoee River, Cloudland Canyon & Little River Canyon

Three days that connect the best active terrain in a broad arc around Chattanooga — the Olympic-caliber whitewater of the Ocoee River east of the city, the 1,000-foot gorge of Cloudland Canyon in northwest Georgia, and Little River Canyon National Preserve in northeast Alabama, one of the deepest river gorges in the eastern United States. Little River is geologically unusual: a river that originates and flows entirely on top of a mountain plateau (Lookout Mountain) before dropping 600 feet into a canyon at DeSoto Falls. The canyon rim road parallels the river for 12 miles with pulloffs at every viewpoint; the Little River Falls at the canyon's head drops 45 feet in a wide curtain over granite. Three different canyon systems, three different river types, and three days of sustained physical engagement within Chattanooga's day-trip radius.