Georgia Natural Wonder #262 - South River - DeKalb County (Part 10) ***

[Top Row Dawg]

Tangent on South River

Class III - 0.5 miles long (GA 81 to Snapping Shoals Creek)



"The South River runs through a narrow wooded valley, skirts some exposed bluffs, and winds along the base of several tall, gumdrop-shaped granite outcroppings that include Panola and Arabia Mountains. Evidence of habitation and development are common along the South River but somewhat surprisingly do not occur in sufficient concentration to spoil the wilderness beauty of the stream.



Despite its urban setting, the river’s shores are exceptionally wooded, even in its upper reaches. Water quality continues to improve. Born in the city streets near the state capitol and Zoo Atlanta, many of the river’s headwater creeks crawl underground through a combined sewage–stormwater system before the river emerges to flow southeast through DeKalb, Rockdale, and Newton Counties on its way into Lake Jackson."



The South is a city river, beginning close to the Atlanta airport and winding through DeKalb and Rockdale Counties before forming the border between Newton and Henry Counties and entering Lake Jackson. Running through metro Atlanta's population center, the South has been ravaged over the years by sewage runoff, heavy siltation due to development, and all of the substances and chemicals that come from roads, parking lots, and people's yards. In many places, you can find the recent high-water mark of the South by looking at the line of trash and debris on the bank. The smell of chlorine from upstream water treatment facilities is not overpowering, but it never quite goes away either.


Surprising white water in at least one or two spots along this river.

Despite the South's problems, conditions on the river have improved drastically since the early 1990's. After 60 miles of the South were declared "extremely polluted" by the EPD in 1991, the city of Atlanta began diverting 26 million gallons of treated wastewater to the Chattahoochee basin (where it originated) from the South. The condition of the river has improved markedly in the past 10 years.



So how's the fishing? Better than you might expect. Largemouth bass are at the top of the food chain, and they appear quite healthy. Redeye bass are native to the South, and used to be caught in the numerous shoal areas that dot the river. Some say that the pollution problems of the 60's, 70's, and 80's wiped them out. GRF would be really interested to find out if redeyes still exist here.


Rockdale River Trail.

A relative newcomer to the lower reaches of the South is the spotted bass. Spots were illegally introduced in Lake Jackson during the 1990's and have started showing up in the South in the stretch of river downstream from the dam below GA Highway 81.