Tubing the Chattahoochee River: one of the best ways to spend a summer day!

Way up yonder on the Chattahoochee it’s a summer tradition to find an inner tube and float your way down the river.

Sounds overly simple, but it’s arguably the best way to spend a couple of hours on a hot day in North Georgia. Nothing beats the heat quite like cool mountain water – just ask the hundreds of people who drive to Helen, Georgia for the trip down the Chattahoochee River every day during the summer season.

It’s a fun, inexpensive activity that will appeal to the whole family, because you don’t need to be an avid swimmer to enjoy tubing!

Unless you live on the river and have your own sturdy inner tube and life vest, you probably want to rent them from one of several companies that operate in Helen – an almost Disney-esque tiny Alpine village in the North Georgia Mountains that is likely to put you in the yodeling mood.

The main tubing companies are: Cool River Tubing and Helen Tubing.

Helen Tubing is operated in conjunction with a local flea market just outside of downtown. Tubers pay only $3 to rent the company’s signature bright pink tubes and take a long float down the river. At Cool River Tubing, located on Edelweiss Strasse, the blue and green tubes with enclosed bottoms are $5 and you're given a choice between two different trip lengths.

Both companies provide transportation to and from launch and exit areas, as well as life vests, restrooms, showers and parking. Push-off sticks, souvenir t-shirts and water shoes are also available for purchase.

In addition to tubing, each company in Helen also offers some additional entertainment: waterslides. Cool River has a spiraling slide that is located just off the river for tubers who would like to take a break from floating and try something a little more adrenaline pumping ($5 per person). Helen Tubing doesn’t stop at just one slide; they have a whole water park! Four large water slides and a 1,000-foot lazy river are patrolled by lifeguards daily ($15 per person, $10 for children under 42”). You must be over 42” to ride the slides.

The tubing season runs daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day every year, weather permitting. 

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