Ocoee Whitewater Center

The Ocoee Whitewater Center, near Ducktown, Tennessee, United States, was the canoe slalom venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and is the only in-river course to be used for Olympic slalom competition. A 1,640 foot (500 m) stretch of the Upper Ocoee River was narrowed by two-thirds to create the drops and eddies needed for a slalom course. Today, the course is watered only on summer weekends, 34 days a year, for use by guided rafts and private boaters. When the river has water, 24 commercial rafting companies take more than 750 raft passengers through the course each day. Because the river is dry most of the year, the Center, now operated by the U.S. Forest Service, also serves as a site for hiking, mountain biking, conferences, weddings, and receptions. It receives about 300,000 visitors a year. The Ocoee Whitewater Center visitor center was destroyed by a fire early on the morning of April 26, 2022, and the main structure was completely destroyed. As of June 2023, investigators hadn't determined the cause of the fire. On May 27, 2023, a little over a year after the fire, the day use area of the Center opened to the public and the U S Forest Service sought public input for developing a masterplan for the Center.