Lazy day at the Ocoee Whitewater Center

Today we traveled to the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Tennessee. The main road past the center is closed until about the 15th of April due to a rock slide that covered the road, so we stopped at the center to have a picnic and take a small hike by the riverbed. Since the road is closed by the center, they have not been releasing the water from the dam. The riverbed is dry most of the time anyway, unless they are releasing the water for rafting trips. We took a nice walk down the path next to the riverbed and it was very quiet. This trail is known as Old Copper Road and it was built between 1851 and 1853 to connect the Copper mines with the railroad in Cleveland, TN. It is now part of the US Forest Service property. After leaving the Ocoee Whitewater Center we stopped at Boyd Gap Overlook. This was a very pretty site with a long range view of the mountains in Tennessee. At this time the leaves had not filled the trees yet, so the view was more of a wintery view.