Good Day,

I'd like to know from paddlers in the USA which smallish towns (but close to biggish cities) would be good to live in for kayaking in the States. A place where land is also not too expensive! Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Adrian

Are you thinking of moving to the States?

I need answers, not questions Please

I know few, but their in Scandinavia

AdrianTregoning wrote:

I need answers, not questions Please

Sorry, none of my business of course. . . .

It seems that many of the really dedicated whitewater paddlers are living around western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia, because of the rivers in this region of the U.S. There are several cities in this region: Charlotte, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Greenville South Carolina, or even, the largest of them all but a little further away, Atlanta. (Atlanta's suburbs also extend fairly far north, or in any direction.)

Jackson Kayak, for example, is in Sparta, Tennessee, which is roughly halfway between Knoxville and Nashville, and not that far north of Chattanooga. Joe Jacobi, the Olympic gold medal winner, is in this area. The large Nantahala Outdoor Center (www.noc.com/) is there too.

It's hard to say about the housing prices in this area, because it is diverse -- rural and suburban -- and because the housing market is on something of a roller coaster in the U.S. these days, due to the economic crisis, overbuilding and the credit crisis. Housing prices in the greater Atlanta region have plunged, for example, probably the same in Charlotte, but it's hard to say how long that will last. Usually if you buy something well into rural America and away from suburbs, the property prices can be quite cheap, but then it's hard to get credit, etc. So it's difficult to say, although the area we're talking about is nowhere near as expensive as either of the coasts.

Hope that's helpful. I don't live in this area, I live in Texas, where all the rivers have dried up, at least temporarily (we hope).

Haha, no worries! There might be a small chance, let's see. I never count my chickens....

Thanks so much for the response! I really appreciate it.

I've heard the area around Mt Hood is excellent.... Good paddling, and windsurfing, which is good for me

Anybody else with any thoughts.

Anywhere between Asheville, NC; Bryson City, NC; Johnson City, TN; and Boone, NC should be good for creeking and the ocean is 5ish hours away. Charlotte has the USNWC, which is great for slalom/playboating, but not catching eddies and resting; the eddies recirculate really badly, even on the smallest features.

White Salmon, WA / Hood River, OR. Little White Salmon and Green truss within 30 minutes. Tons of other super sick creeking. An hour away from Portland. Pretty much the tits on rits. And it's not in the East, so that's always good.

CJCC's and gary21cp's advice is spot on; their info is very accurate. I travel up to those areas with my Remix XP and in fact am spending Christmas vacation there this December (actually Blue Ridge, GA) with the wife, kids, dog, and CAT! (As for the midwesterner's comment--frozen lakes and rivers in October! Whatever!) *Good thing about the North Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina (Charlotte) areas is that although it certainly gets dry suit cold the paddling season is year-round.

I've noticed the north Georgia mountains have very little wind, so not much windsurfing going on there. Georgia or North Carolina are your best bets since their mountain whitewater spots are not too far from the ocean (which I know is a factor for you). I plan to move to this area as soon as I can make that dream happen dangit! Problem is I have a good job with flexibility right here in tropical Florida where I am (so I paddle open ocean, flatwater rivers and 150 mile lagoons---which get really interesting at 20+ knot winds). But stay away from Virginia. Beautiful place and the Potomic has some nice big water but the taxes and cost of living are out of control.

Why move here, Adrian? Things are nuts in this country right now! I want to move where you are! Or New Zealand!

You ever get over here email me/look me up. I'd love to hook up and paddle!

Maybe some practical help: My wife and I travel up to the North Georgia and North Carolina areas and she's made her hobby to grab real estate books and hunts over websites, then we go to some of the properties (cabins are our big dream) and check them out. *The online real estate websites are very accurate and good depictions of what you'd be getting into. So google 'Real Estate North Georgia or North Carolina and see what you come up with. It's what we do over here! Rural is best. Smack in north central Georgia might be the best of all worlds for you. I'd be happy to snag you some real estate magazines this December and get them over to you if you could help me figure out how much postage (I'd pay for it no problem--it's just that I wouldn't have a clue how to address or post to foreign address). PM me or let me know.

Jeesh, thanks SO much for the awesome advice guys! I really appreciate it.

Thanks Tom, I'll let you know if it comes to that stage. Right now, nothing is certain. I LOVE South Africa. Make no mistake!!!! I would not want to leave for no good reason. But an opportunity might come my way to head over and although it's complex and I can't say anything now, it's something right up my alley and something I cannot turn my back on Living in Cape Town is just awesome, I think anybody who has visited CT or even South Africa will agree.

I'll have a good look at an atlas tonight and scope out the areas you guys have mentioned.

It was always my dream to live in Hood River, and windsurf what is known to windsurfers as The Gorge. Of course, kayaking is first priority, even though I've been windsurfing for 10 years now. Kayaking all the way!!!!! I believe Dalles (near Hood River) is a cool place...

I'm sure I'll come back later or tomorrow with questions

What kind of kayaking do you want to do? Western NC and east TN has several playboating runs (Nolichucky, Nantahala, Ocoee), creeking (Green Narrows, Raven Fork, Russell Fork, Watauga, Linville, Toxaway, Horsepasture), etc. Not sure about western states, but Colorado has lots of creeks as well, and play spots in Buena Vista, as well as M-Wave. Check out Americanwhitewater.org for more info, and if you want, I can get you a link to our local forums if you want to ask on there.

I'm in love with the ocean, and surf kayaking. So if I could be 1 or 2 hours away, double bonus. Wave sailing is also something I love. I'm not big into playboating, but enjoy big volume rivers, as well as low volume stuff. Some average type creeking (I don't think I'm Toxaway material yet....) and overnight trips. I love long, remote trips. The fewer people I see, the better... I've got the atlas now, going to start browsing the maps to check out terrain Cool, a link would be great, thanks Ian

Not many people are representing the west coast, so i'd just really like to echo that Hood River in Oregon is an amazing paddling community. Class 2 through Class five kayaking is literally twenty five minutes away and if you're willing to drive for an hour or two there are enough creeks and rivers to keep you occupied year round. It's also close to Portland and probably no more than two hours away from the coast. In addition to kayaking there is amazing windsurfing on the Columbia and great snowsports opportunities on Mt. Hood. It's definitely worth considering.

word up robmeister. the gorge is the place to be for pretty much everything you're describing. great skiing, windsurfing, kiting, biking right there with the l dub and truss 10 minutes away. in the spring there's tons of sick creeking right outside of town & in the summer when those start dropping out (if they're not in year round) its a couple hours to amazing snowmelt expeditions in washington. Portland's an hour away which is a tight city, one of the biggest in oregon but still got a good feel to it. the coast is about 1.5 hr drive and if you go across the river to white salmon, or even the dalles property's a whole lot cheaper. also no sales tax in oregon. 541!