Customer Reviews

Tennessee Rivers: A Paddler'S Guidebook (Outdoor Tennessee Series)

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I am not a very experienced paddler, but I've been to a lot of the places listed in this good new book while fishing or hiking, etc. The author has included most every piece of water big enough to put a boat on, with good summaries of the rivers. But they're just summaries. The maps are excellent, but they aren't very detailed. Put in and take out information is brief and often lacking in the detail needed to actually find them. (For instance, this is the sort of thing you get: "Most put-ins are on private property, so you'll have to be careful.")

What this book does very well is give you a good overview of all the paddling to be found in the state, with good maps and a few paragraphs about each river. From there, you'll need to break out the Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer and the USGS Topos and really start to work. But it tells you that the rivers are there, where they are, their class ratings, etc. so you'll know where to head next. For a beginner, that's good, in my opinion. We don't need to be going alone, and this book makes it so that you'll have to look further for more information on most of the rivers, ideally a canoeing or paddling club. One of the best is the TVCC, or Tenn. Valley Canoeing Club, which you can find easily on the 'net if you're heading this way.

No detailed maps. Only has descriptions of the rivers, but no details about the put-ins or take-outs or how to locate them.