Never been. Plan on taking my son and have a camper. Where would you recommend to go for two beginners. I prefer not to drive more than 4-5 hours so Colorado is out

Hiwasee is pretty tame in Benton Tn. Nice little national forest campground there also.

No help here but hope y'all have fun, take plenty of pics to share

Chatahootchie River in Columbus, Ga. raft co. is open.

https://chattahoochee.whitewaterexpress.com/

Ocoee for beginners.
Chatooga is where Deliverance was filmed it's fun...but maybe not for beginners. The Ocoee has a mile lake at the end you have to paddle out.

Ocoee

nantahala River. Bryson city, NC

Hiwasee

Nantahala. you can do it with a guide or without. Mrs. Irish and I are two 50 somethings and we do it by ourselves. Pretty fun.

https://noc.com/

Both the Natahala and Ocoee were fun, easy trips. On the Ocoee when we went they had a picnic lunch and we stopped and ate, also had a slow section where you could get out and swim by the raft.

I hear it gets hot there..............:)

Rafted the Nantahala last week. Had a fun trip. It is relatively tame and a good entry level river. Would recommend the pizza place on the banks of the river. Either it is really good or I was really hungry. We went with the NOC and had a blast.

Nantahala, Ocoee or Hawasee. All are close together. I have actually paddled all three in a 4 day trip back when I was kayaking.

Sold - Nantahala it is. I also just learned you can walk a part of the Appalachian Trail from the NOC center too.

Pro tip if you go to the Ocoee -

> Don't get on a raft if the guide puts the weight up front and says "we're just gonna float over this first rapid".

I go about 275, and he put me and another fella that weighed about 225 at the front. He told us not to paddle that we were just going to float over the first rapid. We got there, the nose of the boat gets pulled under along with me and the other guy. I ended up bouncing off rocks for about 100 yards before I could get back to the raft. Scar on my ankle and back, and to boot all the skinny folks were left trying to pull in two big boys. That was my first trip.

On my 2nd trip, I explained what happened to the guide and he just shook his head lol.

For beginners, the Nantahala River near Bryson City, NC. I was there over the July 4th weekend and did a guided tour because we had kids between the ages of 7 - 10, plus the wives. Great time. Also did some mountain biking at Tsali and hiking at Deep Creek. Tons of stuff to do in that area and the scenery is outstanding. Deep Creek has a river that you can float on a tube. We didn't' do that but we hiked along the creek for a bit and it looked fun. You can camp there too,

Saw lots of boats like the one that Irish posted. Depending on water level, the river only has a few tough obstacles. The two toughest are at the very end. Water is about 42 degrees this time of year and will sho'nuff wake you up.

Closer to home, we did Big Canoe Creek near Springville. No real whitewater but a good 2+ hour trip in an open kayak.

https://bigcanoecreekoutfitters.com/

Love the Ocoee and Nantahayla.

Did the Chatooga long ago with a church group and never again - too dangerous and too long.
We went past a body that had been stuck in the rocks and was unrecoverable.
There were insane category 4s and 5s all the way.
It was terrifying at times.
I was thinking the whole time "what the heck was (assistant pastor)(a good friend) thinking when he booked this trip"???

Chatooga can be scary - when I was a JROTC instructor we'd take the seniors for a class trip on the Chatooga. There is a nearby state park where we'd camp. Also took wife and three kids who were young at the time on several tips. Guess I've been down it a dozen or more times. Definitely exciting. They use big butyl rubber rafts with eight people per and a guide. Guides run it twice, sometimes three times a day and know what they are doing. I have three canoes and three kayaks if you want to take them somewhere for a local to get started. Lots of quiet backwaters around here to explore.

There are several sections to Chatooga - some sections are more mild and don't have all the category 4s and 5s - they are just 1s, 2s and 3s.

Can camp in Clayton Ga at Black rock state park. The Chattooga is pretty close. There are a couple of outfitters, NOC and I believe SEE. We enjoyed the chatooga over the Nan, Nan water was very cold it is from a damn and resevoir. Chattoga has more rapids but you can choose to do the beginer course. The Nan river moves much faster. Both are good but we have been on chatooga multiple times and enjoyed it more. Either way relax and enjoy a trip down the river.