Ok, I'll admit it; Deliverance is a really, really disturbing movie. However, that being said, there's no denying that the surrounding scenery the four main characters canoe through is gorgeous-- despite the messed up stuff that happens to them. Everything is so green and wild-looking, and it's not hard to understand why Burt Reynolds' character is so eager to explore it before the river is flooded by the dam and it all disppears underwater. The book and movie were inspired by the creation of Carters Lake from the Coosawattee River in the 1970's, but since everything had been flooded and stripped by the time Deliverance was being filmed, the production chose a river some 50 miles away for filming.
The fictional river that the friends want to canoe down is called the Cahulawassee, but the movie was filmed on a 10 mile stretch of the Chattooga River, between Northern Georgia and Southern South Carolina. The Chattooga is notoriously difficult to canoe, with tons of intense rapids-- and, much like the Cahulawassee, it was selected as a filming location because it's so isolated from civilization; just a few things to keep in mind, should you elect to visit.
Or, I would suggest having someone guide you down the river, maybe from Chattooga Whitewater Outfitters.
The Chattooga empties into Lake Tugalo, which also makes an appearance in the film.
The scenes in calmer waters, after Drew dies (sad face), were filmed at the lovely Tallulah Gorge State Park, which is close by. Tallulah Gorge, unlike the Chattooga, is a popular park for hikers and canoers of all experience levels-- and they have campsites as well, so you don't have to rough it too much while exploring the movie's filming locations.
The lake that's being flooded at the end is Lake Jocassee in Devils Fork State Park... and there really is a former graveyard, Mount Carmel Baptist Church cemetery, that is now at the bottom of it.
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