Lake Tugalo

Taylor on Tugalo

Taylor and I visited Lake Tugalo on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010. We paddled up the Chattooga channel, and picnicked on a sand bar. (We would have motored but the starter rope broke as we were launching.)


Tugalo is one of the Georgia Power reservoirs in NE Georgia. The Tugalo dam is just below the confluence of the Tallulah and Chattooga Rivers; below the dam, the combined river is named the Tugaloo, and continues through  Lake Yonah and Lake Hartwell, and then into the Savannah River. (Oddly, the lake is Tugalo, and the river is Tugaloo. Don't know why!)

The lake is shaped like a V. The left side of the V is the Tallulah River channel. At the head of the Tallulah portion of the lake is the powerhouse for the Tallulah Lake, upstream. Water is piped from the Tallulah lake down to the powerhouse at the end of the gorge; this is why the Tallulah Gorge has very little water flowing through it (except during the April and November weekends when water is release from the Tallulah Dam spillway, for white-water paddling in the gorge).

The right side of the V is the Chattooga River channel. Rafters on section IV of the Chattooga have to paddle about a mile down the lake, to reach the boat ramp on the SC side.

Tugalo is unique in its isolation. There are no houses on the lake, and only two boat ramps. The one on the Georgia side (through Tallulah Falls State Park) is accessible only by four-wheel drive, because of the steep gravel road coming away from the ramp. The SC side is paved as the ramp is approached, and is accessible to any vehicle.

Outboard motors are limited to 20hp or smaller.

To reach the SC boat ramp, take US-76 to Long Creek, SC. At the Fire Station, take Damascus Church Road to the west (right, if you're coming from Georgia). Where the road forks, take Battle Creek Road to the right. (The fork to the left continues as Damascus Church Road, but unpaved; it links back into Battle Creek after a couple of miles.) When you get to Damascus Baptist Church on the left (about 4 miles in from US-76), take a right onto Bull Sluice Road (should be sign for boat ramp at this junction). Continue on gravel road; near the boat ramp, it becomes paved, leading to the parking lot and boat ramp.