Updated update: Do not paddle the Little River yet! Due to a bureaucratic glitch, the ban on paddling the waterfalls in Dupont State Forest will remain in place until the new rules are enacted... in april of 2003. This is still a great victory for paddlers, we just need to be patient. North Carolina's Little River first drove southeastern creekboaters nuts when it appeared in Wayne Gentry's video "southern Fired Creekin" under the name "mystery creek." The paddlers bounced and flew down

Triple Falls

, a series of three fairly large cascading waterfalls. Since then, word has gotten out that these falls are on the Little River, between Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina.

The reason for all the secrecy is that the falls, and the whole watershed, used to be owned by Dupont and was off limits to the public. Several years ago however this land was bought by the state (an awesome conservation story in itself) and turned into a park run by the State Forest. Now called

Dupont State Forest

, the land offers hiking and mountain biking to an increasingly large number of people each year.

The Little River is not exactly a paddler's paradise but does offer some unique opportunities and spectacular scenery. The river consists of flat water and waterfalls and nothing else. Most of the handfull of drops are unrunnable; however Triple Falls has obviously been run, and Hooker Falls is an easy 20 foot waterfall into a pool that offers many local boaters their first experience with vertical whitewater. The Little River is all about Park and Pray, rather than a downriver run.

Earlier this year, the State Forest proposed a series of rules for Dupont that banned paddling over any of the waterfalls in the park. American Whitewater met with the Regional Forester and hiked each of the waterfalls to discuss safety and potential for paddling use. After this meeting the Regional Forester agreed to remove the ban on waterfall running from the proposed rules and access was restored!

This represents an excellent case of a situation where AW offered its expertice in paddling and its social and environmental impacts to ease the concerns of a regulatory agency. We look forward to working with Dupont State Forest in the future, should the need arise.

If you decide that you want to run any of the falls in Dupont State Forest, please respect the land managers, the many spectators, and the land itself. And please, take all possible safety precautions.

Thanks to Dupont State Forest!