ACTION 8 UPDATE: Montgomery Whitewater makes plans for fall, three months after grand opening

Montgomery Whitewater has now been open for three months, so what are the plans for later in the fall when the weather turns cooler?

Montgomery Whitewater is a 120-acre park that opened in July, with Phase 1 offering class II-IV rapids for rafters, kayakers and standup paddlers. It also has a full-service restaurant and bar and a outfitter store.

Action 8 News talked to Montgomery Whitewater General Manager Dave Hepp on Monday. He said there have been about 7,500 rafters on the course since the opening on July 7. He says attendance has dropped off once the school year started.

“Once school got back in session, we started cutting the water back,” he said. “We don’t want to run the water quite as often. We’ll turn it off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nowadays and just want to run it Thursday through Sunday.

“I suspect we will do the same thing through November and then once November is complete, right around Thanksgiving or so, we’ll probably cut the water off, minus weekends probably, unless we have group sales that are booked. We’re basically holding the water in the lower pond so we can turn it on at any time, so we are essentially going to run off of events and sales over the winter and then ramp up for next spring.”

Montgomery Whitewater does have many other events planned. The Haystack Festival will bring live music, yoga, children’s activities and more on October 20-21.

The ongoing Get Down Concert Series presents live music on Thursday nights through November 16.

A run club has also started that meets on Thursdays.

Over the winter, Hepp says Phase 2 construction will being, which will include a ropes course in the woods. It’s expected to open in the spring. Biking and hiking trails are also planned, as well as creating access to the Alabama River.

Concerts are free to attend.