At the Tennessee and North Carolina state line, an exit sign on Interstate 40 reads, “Whitewater Rafting.” The off-ramp exits into Hartford, a small community of around 800 people.
Hartford’s economy relies almost entirely on tourist traffic from the interstate, most of which is attracted by the gentle rapids of the Pigeon River and the outdoor activity centers which take visitors out on the water.
But all of that was put at risk when Hurricane Helene struck in late September, bringing devastating flood waters that plunged much of Hartford underwater. Noah Bryant, a river guide at Nantahala Outdoor Center’s Pigeon River Outpost, was there when it happened.
“It was kind of just a whirlwind of every emotion you could feel,” Bryant said. “We just didn't know what we were going to come back to, or if we were going to come back to anything, honestly.”
Bryant said the water level was doubling every 30 minutes. And though the structures and equipment at the NOC’s Pigeon River Outpost were largely spared, Smoky Mountain Outdoors – just a few hundred feet downstream – was wiped out.
Whole buildings had to be torn down and rebuilt, and the flood was so intense that it permanently altered the flow of the river in many places. Whitewater rafting on the Pigeon River would be forever changed.
“It was hard to see a road out of it,” Bryant said.
But over six months later, whitewater rafting has returned to Hartford. On Tuesday, representatives of the Smoky Mountain Outdoors, Nantahala Outdoor Center and the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau held a celebratory luncheon as part of a campaign to try and spread the word.
“We just want to welcome them back to the river, make them feel comfortable and tell them the story of what we've been through,” said Betsy Bevis, marketing director for the Nantahala Outdoor Center.
Smoky Mountain Outdoors has since been rebuilt. Now it’s back to being a bustling hub of activity, with crews of guides working to mount massive rafts on top of vans and buses, prep life jackets and helmets, and even finish some structural improvements to buildings. And they’re seeing support from fellow tourism hubs, such as Gatlinburg.
“Whether you're looking just to go and hike in the Great Smoky Mountains, or if you want to come and raft them, they're all the same mountains, and we're all the same community,” said Caroline Bean, a representative of the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We're really just trying to show our support and our love for this community, and to let people know that it's not wiped away. It's actually back, and it's better than it ever has been.”
That’s a theme the rafting guides are trying to lean into as the summer season begins.
“I say no river is ever the same on the same trip, but it is drastically different as far as rapids and stuff goes,” Bryant said. “The bones are kind of still there, but it is a 100% completely different river.”
The general consensus is that it makes for a new and more exciting experience.
“I’ve been out here for six years, so it was a shame to see the old Pigeon go,” Bryant said. “But it was also really exciting getting to learn a new river, and getting to take people down a new river.”
Bevis said while it’s been challenging to promote Nantahala Outdoor Center in the wake of a natural disaster, business has already improved. Many people want to go out on the water just to see the full scope of Helene’s effect on the river.
“People want to see what happened,” she said. “They want to trust us to take them down the river and to show them and tell them the story.”
According to many people living along the banks of the river in Hartford, it’s a story of resilience and eagerness to bounce back.
As Bryant reflected, “People are starting to pour in, and here we go again.”
