Rafters from all over the United States come to the Ocoee River for the thrill of whitewater rafting. This year, rafters will have to wait to hit the water as the rafting season is postponed until further notice.
Angie Arp, owner of Ocoee Rafting, said, “I have not had any official notice from the Tennessee State Parks or U.S. Forest Service. Since the river is on Federal government land they made the call to shut commercial rafting down and will most likely be the ones that determine when we can start rafting again.
“TVA is still releasing the scheduled water releases for private boaters and for company guide training. March and April isn’t normally a very busy time for most rafting companies simply because it is often still cold, but because everything is uncertain reservations for the summer have really slowed down. So this virus epidemic has affected outfitters business.”
Arp said, “It normally starts getting busier the second weekend in May and then really kicks off Memorial Day weekend, and if the river does open back up by mid May that doesn’t give much time for reservations before the typical busy Memorial Day Weekend Holiday. Hopefully things will be back to normal by at least mid May and hopefully everyone will have been in for so long they will decide a day trip to the Ocoee is well deserved.”
Kim Schofinski, deputy communications director of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, hopes to get the rafters back on the water as soon as possiblesaying, “We are working with Outfitters to develop plans on how to reopen and implement recommendations from the CDC and the Department of Health. No specific time has been determined as to when to re-open for rafting on the Ocoee, but we are working toward the ability for outfitters to be back in business in the weeks to come,” Schofinski said last week.