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Johnson city is close to mostly class 4 and 5. French Broad runs a lot and is class 3 but most of the rest in that area is easy class 4 (Noli) to solid class 5 (Elk, Linville) I would rec JC for class 4/4+ guys, especially with how close the watauga is. Other problem with JC is that there is nothing to run during the summer months. All the dam controlled stuff is just too far away.
Maryville is close to Cheoah, Ocoee, and the park. There are a lot of class 3/3+ boating days on that stuff. You could get 200+ boating days easily on class 3 within 75 miles of maryville.
When looking for the best city for each class I would look to what cities would provide the most boating days annually for that class. For the class 3, that means close to the Ocoee, Brown's canyon, or American. Because of that, my opinion is that the best towns for class 3'ers would be something close to those rivers, that being, Chatty (or maryville), Salida, or Sacramento. Knoxville would be the king of class 3/4 towns if the Ocoee was 45 minutes closer what with the proximity of plateau class 3, smokey mountain class 3, and the Ocoee. Unfortunately as gas prices rise and it becomes more expensive to day trip the Ocoee, boating days are getting fewer. Its just getting harder and harder to justify the price for Ocoee day trips.
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class III guy town New 
BoaterTalk 
