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Movie Trails

Paddle Faster! I Think I Hear Banjo Music!

by Tom Straka and Knight Cox

 

Tallulah Gorge is one of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern United States. It is nearly 2 miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep. Much of the movie was filmed in the area below the state park overlook in this photograph.

"Paddle faster! I think I hear banjo music!" can be seen on tee shirts around extreme Northeast Georgia and its boundaries with the Carolinas. That is where the 1972 movie Deliverance was filmed. It reinforced a stereotype of the rural South that still persists today. A wild and remote Appalachian river, the Cahulawassee, was about to be drown by a dam. Four suburban friends were going to see it before it was turned into one huge lake. The trip turned into a nightmare. The film, based on James Dickey's novel of the same name, was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1972, including Best Picture and Director. It is now a classic movie depicting the South and rednecks.


A daytrip is all it takes to see most of its scenery; and it is only an hour from The
Great Smokies or less than two hours from Atlanta. All the main filming sites can be seen in a short loop, just over 70 miles in length, starting in Clayton, GA or Westminster, SC. Travel time, without the stops, is just at an hour and a half.

Much of the movie was filmed on the Chattooga River. This spot is Bull Sluice and you'll think you hear banjo music as you watch the rafts and canoes come through.

To start with the fictional Cahulawassee River of the movie is actually the Chattooga River that forms the boundary of Georgia and South Carolina. U.S. Highway 76 will take you from Clayton, Georgia to Westminster, South Carolina. About half-way between the two is the Chattooga River.

On the South Carolina side is a small USDA Forest Service parking area and facilities. From there a short path will take you to Bull Sluice; you'll think you hear banjo music as rafts and canoes navigate the rocks here. While there are
much wilder places on the river, if you are lucky enough to see a canoe in the river it'll seem like you are watching the movie. Most of the action will be rafters as local outfitters take groups down the river, but there are plenty of canoes on the river.

Most of Deliverance was filmed below the U.S. 76 bridge where river access is poor. One additional access point is Woodall Shoals. From the bridge go east 2 ½ miles to Orchard Road and turn right for one half mile to Woodall Road. Turn right and follow the gravel road to the parking area. A trail begins at the parking area.

The Chauga River near Westminster, South Carolina is actually where much of the movie was filmed. It does have much of the feel of the movie and a small waterfall is right there also

Actually much of the movie was filmed closer to Westminster, South Carolina on the tamer Chauga River. There is a small park where the river crosses U.S. 76 with good access to that river. The park has a small waterfalls and the river will leave little doubt that it resembles the tamer scenes from the movie.
From there continue to U.S. Highway 123 in Westminster and turn right back to Georgia.

The lake along the state border is where both rivers ends up and further along the border it becomes the Savannah River. This highway will take you back to Georgia and to U.S. Highway 441/23; take this road north to Tallulah Falls, Georgia. Tallulah Gorge has been called the Grand Canyon and Niagara of the South and it is where some of the whitewater scenes and the rock climb scenes were filmed. The gorge is a spectacular 1,000 foot chasm with a series of cascading waterfalls.

The tourist trap on the Overlook makes you feel like you've gone back to the 1950's and it has a wonderful view of the Gorge.

Go to Tallulah Point Overlook (follow the signs) for a good overview and a very southern tourist trap that has been there since 1912. It has a covered overlook and offers the chance to revisit a time when sodas were in glass bottles. You'll think you're back in the 1950's.

Tallulah Gorge State Park has a visitor's center with plenty of exhibits (look for the photographs of the movie being filmed). Free permits allow visitors to hike to the bottom of the gorge, but there are plenty of trails and a suspension bridge at the top that offer fantastic views.

The small boy who plays the banjo in the movie, Billy Redden, was plucked out of a local school for the movie. Billy still lives in Clayton and it does not take much detective work to locate him. He'll sell you an autographed photograph. Billy could not play the banjo, even enough to fake it, and his hand is not the one actually playing the chords (another boy is behind him and has his arm stretched around Billy).

This is the perfect day trip as the loop has beautiful scenery and the stops will quickly take up hours. None of the stops require very long hikes on the trails, assuming you don't go to the bottom of the gorge. And there will be several times you'd swear you hear banjo music!

For more information:

Tallulah George State Park www.gastateparks.org/TullulahGeorge

Westminster, South Carolina www.westminstersc.com

Chattooga River- National Wild and Scenic River http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-chattooga-river-paddling-south-carolina-sidwcmdev_068932.html

Rabun County, Georgia www.theblueridgehighlander.com/rabun-county-georgia/index.php


Authors: Thomas J. Straka and Silas K. Cox work in the forestry department at Clemson University in South Carolina.

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