Satilla River — Waycross to Atkinson: River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 372 cfs the Satilla River is 222 cfs above the 150 cfs minimum for this reach. There is no published upper bound for this section, so the reading tells you it is floatable, not how pushy it is.

Over the last 24 hours it has gone from 327 cfs to 372 cfs, 14% up. Daily means over the past 7 days have run between 326 cfs and 408 cfs, 20% lower at the end of the week than the start. The last day and the week as a whole point opposite ways, which usually means a recent rain bump on top of a longer falling trend — worth a second look at the chart before you commit to the drive.

Satilla River at Waycross to Atkinson is a 15-mile Class I run in Georgia — easygoing moving water with light riffles and nothing technical. Most paddlers put in at Waycross area landing and take out at Atkinson (GA 252), a trip that runs about 7 hours at a relaxed pace.

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at above 150 cfs (a conservative estimate — see our methodology). Much below that and the Satilla River gets low and bony, so you end up scraping gravel and walking the shallows; well above the top of the range it turns fast, cold and pushy, which is a more serious day than most casual boaters want. We read USGS gauge 02228000 about every 30 minutes and compare the live number to that window, so the verdict at the top of this page reflects conditions right now rather than a monthly average.

Flows here are usually most dependable March–November. Spring can run high after rain or snowmelt, and late summer often drops too low to float well — but the gauge always beats the calendar, so check today's reading before you go.