10/10 recommend! It was such a relaxing and fun experience. If you like being on the water and cruising and having mini little rapid runs.. this is it. Staff and crew are super sweet and friendly. Nature at its finest! read more

Favorite local outfitter by far. No stress, no fuss. Choose your adventure. Pack a lunch and have fun! I wont use anyone else for this stretch of the Broad River. It's a nice way to destress and decompress. read more

I've done a couple of trips down the Broad River with the Outpost. The kayaks are 10ft sit on top that are pretty average. They offer a nice quiet float down the Upper or you can take the more adventurous lower which offers a shuttle back. You can also bring your own yak for a shuttle fee. This last trip I ran into some problems on the River and the staff at the Outpost was incredibly helpful. Jason in particular went out of his way to offer assistance and was kind when I was feeling really foolish. I very much recommend the folks at the Outpost if want to run the Broad River. read more

Had a problem with one of their employees taking a found phone home and had it for a while! Had to get police involve and threaten to have them arrested before they gave back the phone! Yes I know the phone shouldn't have gone on river , but fact of the matter the owner of phone kept calling to see if it was turned in and was told sby employee that someone had picked the phone up so we got cops involved! Have been informed that taken lost property from business is considered theft and we could of brought charges against these folks! Will not be using this outpost ever again! Don't trust none of the employees due to the stupid judgement of the so called manager taking the phone home with her! read more

"Maybe he did save my life going down in the kayak that way." -- Barcelona (1994) High Five, BRO. Who knew you could have so much fun spending hours in the sun, working your arms off and sitting in a puddle of mucky river water? Okay, maybe me, but I wasn't 100% convinced... But for $20 and some great friends, this was the perfect morning/afternoon adventure. Just outside of Athens, Broad River Outpost is not exactly as I was expecting (Stephie, I should have read your review first as it is spot on). But this place is run staffed with a bunch of college-aged kids, but they get the job done. You show up and park and take as little with you as possible and they provide you with the rest of your necessities. They get you where you need to go and you spend the day on the river. 'Nuff said. There were small kids kayaking for themselves, there were some kids in kayaks with their parents, there were people in tandem kayaks - all of the above. So much fun! My group - we mostly rowed it - but we are active folks. You could spend the entire time floating and still get where you are going without fault. Too much fun! So what do you need? The essentials: Water Beer (in cans), if so inclined Sunscreen (apply before leaving and reapplication during the trip to avoid sunburn) Water shoes of some kind Change of clothes for afterwards (including a towel) Hat/visor(recommended, not required) What do they provide? Life vests Kayak Oar Hook for your key (no keys go to the river - be prepared for this) We opted to leave our cars at the Takeout and go up river and do the 3 mile "easy" rapids section. This allowed us to only do the light section in a couple of hours and return the kayaks at the start and leave as soon as we were done. Easy peasy. You have no concept of time while on the river - but who needs it. Next time I might consider a water proof time piece of some kind - as my navigation by sun seemed in conflict with the rest of my group. Might be nice of BRO added some mile markers or something to give you some idea of distance traveled (mostly for the newbies). read more

I love BRO! $20 for a kayak and hours of fun. They have 3 routes- Two, the easy rides, start upstream from BRO and you exit at the main BRO landing. 1, the "rapids", starts at the main BRO location and drifts downstream 6.5 miles. We picked the rapids section. They gave us 2 choices of options. We could leave our car downstream, they would follow us in their bus, and bring us back to the entrance point, or we could leave our car in the main BRO parking, and once we arrived downstream we would have to wait for the bus to pick us up and bring us back to our car. We opted to leave our car downstream so that when we finished kayaking we could leave our kayaks there and immediately get back on the road. The keowees we rented are open kayaks, so make sure and wear sunscreen on those pasty white legs. Like Lauren said, you can bring a cooler and attach it to the back of your keowee. There is even a cup holder for your water or beer. The river is pretty easy to manage. You might be slightly nervous about the rapids, but once you make it over the first set, your nerves go away. It isn't difficult to get through the rapids. The one shitty thing about the Broad is that it can get pretty low, which means you will get stuck constantly on rocks and sand bars, which tests your scooting and arm muscle ability to the max. That was probably my biggest complaint, but has nothing to do with BRO. I just came at the wrong time for water levels. I think the beginning of summer sees much higher levels. Tips: *They open at 9 am during the summer months *Make sure your bring something to drink; you'll get hot with all the paddling and pushing yourself off of rocks. *Make sure you bring clothes to change into after wards. No one wants to get a yeast infection from sitting in a wet bathing suit. No one I know, that is. *Leave your car at the take out spot. Its much better than having to wait for the bus at the end. *Bring deodorant. *Commerce, home to a very large outlet mall, is 25 minutes away from BRO and is on the way from BRO to the ATL. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to BRO from midtown Atlanta. read more

If you're type A, come prepared for a general lack of organization, lack of direction, and lack of sense of urgency. Though we had a reservation, I couldn't tell that it served any purpose, as it was about an hour after our planned time that we actually dipped our paddles into the water. There's lots of standing and waiting around while the staff figure out who is going where, driving the bus, loading boats on the trailers, trying to count, etc. Additionally, come with a basic knowledge of kayaking, because no instruction is provided at all, and be prepared to load your own boats into the water and drag them out of the river (both of which are really two man jobs, so bring a friend). Beyond that, this was an absolutely stunning way to spend a couple of hours. The river current is just strong enough that you could just sit and float in your boat most of the way and still make pretty good time. Though BRO was hopping the day we were there, the groups space themselves out on the river, and there was rarely another group in ear or eye sight during our entire paddle. There are some sandbars which would be a nice place to stop and eat lunch or just hang out for a bit, and you can tie your cooler to your kayak or use one of their provided cooler bags. The solitude and the scenery combined were enough to take your breath away on their own, but add in the occasional group of turtles sunning themselves on tree branches and the beautiful blue heron that flew across the rive just feet away from us, and it was a pretty magical afternoon. I was a touch nervous about the "rapids" that others mentioned, but they were really just some small patches of rocks in the river, and not what I picture when I hear the word. Granted, I still managed to capsize my kayak, but you'll be totally fine, I promise! read more

Kayaking down Broad River was pretty fun! For a while, there was not a whole lot going on.. Lots of slow moving water with some rocks here and there. The last hour and a half I found myself trying to avoid rocks. There was 2 "waterfalls", one was about a foot, and the other was about 3-4 feet. The man that worked there was not very thorough.. We did a lot of guessing. He definitely didn't give us a whole lot of direction before the trip which i think could have been better. We ended up stopping along one of the banks and having lunch in the shade which was really nice. Although the water was low, I would probably go again. read more

Really fun activity to do, especially on a hot day. My friends and I (zero to little kayaking previous experience) chose to go down the stream with 'rapids' . I would recommend this route. It was not rigorous, but very fun and exciting. The 'rapids' were just small downfalls with stronger currents. The water was extremely shallow, despite it raining the night before (we got stuck a few times between rocks / sandbars). It's great fun and the workers were extremely nice. Be sure to check out their website (a bit outdated), but you can get a free kayak rental if you bring 10 people. The kayaks were set up for us and when we finished the route (took about 4 hours - we floated a bit, stopped and swam, and paddled hard), a bus drove us back to our car. You get a life jacket and kayak for $20. Also, BRO provides bag-like coolers (we kept our beers in it), so leave the styrofoam coolers at home! The kayaks were clean - always a plus. We didn't make a reservation and it was no problem. We had a large group and it was a Saturday around noon (April though). I will definitely be back! read more

If you are a private boater, like me, you may not be welcome. I arrived today at 3:05 and was told in explicit terms that because I would only be paying a $20 shuttle fee and not renting their equipment, they wouldn't shuttle me. Because 3pm is the last put in they allow. I guess I was 5 minutes too late. The guy was inflexible and i got the impression my business wasn't welcome. How unfortunate. I have directed people there to rent boats (their bread and butter I completely get). Not any more. Most outfitters and river folks are great. Not here. I'm disappointed. I won't return. read more

$15-$20 for a good long canoe trip? Now, that's not bad!! The key word here is ''Broad'' and that goes seeing without really saying! The post itself is small, and has that classic ''laid back country setting'' that takes you back to the good ol' days of the countryside/camping days of youth. The driver at the front is courteous to answer all questions one may have, and you are quickly escorted on a nice little drive up the river in a little bus with your canoe and promised at LEAST a two-hour trip on the ''beginner's course''. My husband and I had a great time, drifting down the river and seeing the gorgeous sites such as beautiful skies over the cranes that nested nearby and gentle but lightly challenging rocks to climb over that do not leave you feeling terrified to tip over! The price is FANTASTIC for such a memorable activity that is sure to bring back fond smiles again and again, especially if you bring the friends and the family! The inside of the post provides you with basic needs such as sunblock, a restroom, drinks, snack bars, and canoes/kayaks for sale in the back. The place was very easy to find on our TomTom GPS, so no worries too much on that. I'm sure that we will be back, even for a two-hour drive trip from where we are, it's well worth it just because of this great time that we had! My husband and I will never forget and are already hoping to bring friends back. read more

Had a great time! People were very friendly. Relaxed atmosphere and a great overall experience

Absolutely love this place, definitely my favorite for kayaking on the Broad River! No fuss no muss here, costs $20 per person, you leave your keys and go (or you can opt for the upper portion of the river where they will drop you off). They have cooler bags that you can use for your drinks but you have to bring your own alcohol they don't sell any there. The kayaks are ocean kayaks so they float out of the water and any water that gets in will drain out. They're not super heavy and you can strap your belongings down with the buckles. They will stay open til 3 to rent kayaks you just have to be off by 7. You can also ask to do the full river (upper and lower portions) or the entire upper portion which would be a full day trip. I think it's best to go in spring (March, April) when the water is high! read more

Amazing experience, great price and super staff. I recommend it to anyone. Saw tons of turtles too :)

LOVE IT. This place is wonderful!! Gorgeous river, super relaxing on the non-rapids part and really fun/relaxing on the rapids part (you pick - there are 2 different options). I went with family - stupendous activity with siblings, parents, friends, etc. If you take your time, you'll spend 3 to 4 hours. With moderate paddling, it'll be around 2 hours. Staff is incredible (and incredibly funny). And it's only $20. This is an absolute MUST if you're in Athens for more than 4 hours. read more

Perfect. Simple and rustic. Courteous service. Reasonable prices for everything. DELICIOUS beef curry hamburgers at Wildcat "diner". Best hamburger I have ever had, and I've eaten at many great places. Fun fun family time or great couple outing. read more

We got there and were given no direction as to what we were supposed to do... The guy behind the counter was rude and obviously didn't want to be dealing with people..... The drop off point was sketchy and the water smelled like sewage. Once we got going, the river was fine... Nothing to brag about though. When we finally got to the take out area, we were terrified to see that the river was surrounded by warning signs notifying that the water was polluted... There was nobody there to help us get our kayaks out of the river and no signs giving any direction at all. I'm glad that my group had some guys with us or we wouldn't have been able to pull our kayaks up the steep hill, out of the water (I ended up dropping mine halfway up and it flew back down the hill into the river). Needless to say, we will not return to this sorry excuse of a "business" when we decide to go kayaking again. read more

I loved the price, and the fact that they come and pick you up down river! I did get stuck many times on the rocks, and flipped the kayak several times. Maybe it's not for novice kayakers. read more

My family and I truly enjoyed BRO last summer. We made memories and genuinely had a great time. We called to schedule a trip down the river last week for today when it looked as though the weather would be good. Then terrible storms started on Monday and went through Friday. My husband and I went to look at the river and felt it was too full, too fast, and too dangerous for our children. We called to cancel and we're treated terribly by David. He was rude and ugly to my husband and I on the phone telling us that we would be barred from ever kayaking with them again. This even after we explained our concern for the lack of experience of our children and their safety. I am bewildered by the way we were spoken to. It wasn't even a matter of money. Even though there is no cancellation policy, I would have been happy to have paid for our kayak rental but he immediately became nasty. This hurts my heart because BRO is a local business and in this time of crisis, I believe in supporting our local businesses but after the way we were treated by David, it's going to be hard to want to send any business or money their way. read more

Watershed river. Owner keeps it to be enjoyed as it is. I learned to kayak here. Love it!

We've used BRO several times now and love it. The staff is friendly and as efficient as possible considering all they have to do to take care of their guests. The price is beyond reasonable for what you get. The kayaks are nice, some more comfortable than others and they provide you with a life jacket and small soft soft cooler type bag if you need one. We've only gone down the lower section and have pretty much mapped our course based on our desire to navigate the "larger" rapids. It's great fun. Plan on getting wet. We have soft sided cooler that we use to bring water, snacks and sometimes other beverages. We've found that our investment in teva water sandals seem to work the best but an old pair of tennis shoes works just fine as well. Flip flops aren't much help especially if you come out of your kayak. We see folks of all ages out on the river having a great time and the scenery is awesome.We've gone late in the season and every time the water temperature has been refreshing and comfortable, not frigid. This is a great and inexpensive way to spend a day. Plan on about 4-5 hours on the river depending on how fast the river is flowing and how often you stop along the way. I highly recommend the BRO to anyone looking for a first time (or any) kayak adventure. read more