Cullasaja,
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3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge (Lower Cullasaja)
Class IV-V(V+)
2 Miles
Avg Gradient 184 fpm
Max Gradient 300 fpm
Eclipse
EclipsePhoto of Jeff Cook by Josh Werts taken 10/2/2004 @ 4.05 ft.
Gauge Information
River Description
Gauge Description:
Its been scrapped down as low as 3.6, but most like to see a bit over 4.0 to pad things out. 4.6
has been stated as the optiomal level. Pads things out and covers some bad undercuts. Its been run
up to some pretty stupid levels.
The gauge is located at the SR 1620 bridge, near Vanhook Wayside Park and the take-out for the
Upper Cullasaja.
There is also a gauge on the RT 1678 (Peeks Creek Road) take-out Bridge. One foot here is close to
4ft on the USGS
RIVER DESCRIPTION
Some of the bigger drops are:
Double Drop
Eclipse
Next time
and Whale Tail.
More Info:
Just getting to the put-in of the Lower Cullasaja is a major workout.
First thing to do is park at the wide spot in the road that is the overlook for Cullasaja Falls.
You'll be standing on the side of Highway 64 dodging cars, trucks and tourists. Carefully unload
your creek boats (don't even think about a playboat on this one) and set them in a place where they
won't get run over by passing vehicles, or slide 200 feet down the cliff to the base of the
falls.
Get all of your gear together, and gingerly start your way down the trail to the base of the falls.
Its only about a 60 degree slope. With a boat on your shoulder that qualifies as a cliff. Just
picture the hike into Tallulah - sans stairs.
Someone always slips on the way down and loses a grip on thier boat. My advice is to quickly get
behind the downhill side of a tree when this happens. A fifty pound boat doing about 60 miles an
hour bouncing out of control down a hill can do quite a bit of damage. Another thing to be aware of
working your way down the hill to the put-in is that most of those vines are poison ivey. Be
careful what you grab onto.
With any luck you and your boating friends have made it to the base of the falls!! Check the first
three drops for badly placed logs before you put on. Once you have made sure everything is good to
go, get your skirt on the boat, get focused and peel out. Its about 4 strokes to the first class 5
drop.
From the put-in to the drop known as Whale Tail the river does not let up.
Below Whale Tale the river calms down to class IV for a little while, then class III+ boogie to the
Peeks Creek Bridge.
The take-out is the bridge at SR 1678, Peeks Creek Road.
AFWS Current Rainfall Data for Macon
County.
Check the Highlands gauge, 1824.
Gradients from Topo map
From the Lake Sequoyah
to Buck Creek:
1st 0.5 mi: 200 ft.
next mile: 120 ft.
next mile: 60 ft.
next mile: 120 ft.
next mile: 300 ft.
next mile: 60 ft.
next mile: 140 ft.
See also: Other sections of the Cullasaja:
0. Above the lakes (Class
IV-V+)
1. Upper (Lake
Sequoyah to below Cosmic Crunch) (Class )
2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above
Cullasaja Falls) (Class IV(V+))
4. Peeks Creek Rd (NC-1678) to Peaceful Cove
Rd (NC-1677) (Class II(III))
5. Peaceful Cove Rd (NC-1677) to Fulton Rd
(NC-1668) (Class I-II)
StreamTeam Status: Verified
Last Updated: 2006-02-11 09:15:02
Eclipse - Lower Cullasaja
Cullasaja Rapid #1 - The Slot - Video
Cullasaja Rapid #3 - Eclipse, wide view
Cullasaja Rapid #4 - Next Time, again
Cullasaja Rapid #4 - Next Time
Cullasaja Rapid #2 - Double Drop, reverse
Cullasaja Rapid #3 - Eclipse
Cullasaja Rapid #2 - Double Drop
Trash Can on Lower Cullasaja
Detail Trip Report Edit
Trash Can on Lower Cullasaja
@Cullasaja 3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge, (46.79KB .jpeg)
Whale Tale on Lower Cullasaja
Detail Trip Report Edit
Whale Tale on Lower Cullasaja
@Cullasaja 3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge, (44.55KB .jpeg)
Cullasaja Falls at Flood
Detail Trip Report Edit
Cullasaja Falls at Flood
@Cullasaja 3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge, (205.79KB .jpeg)
1st Drop on Lower Cullasaja
Detail Trip Report Edit
1st Drop on Lower Cullasaja
@Cullasaja 3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge, (36.48KB .jpeg)
Eclipse on Lower Cullasaja
Detail Trip Report Edit
Eclipse on Lower Cullasaja
@Cullasaja 3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge, (20.08KB .jpeg)
Double Drop on Lower Cullasaja
Detail Trip Report Edit
Double Drop on Lower Cullasaja
@Cullasaja 3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks Creek Bridge, (18.48KB .jpeg)
Drive to put-it for Lower Cullasaja
Eclipse on Lower Cullasaja
Trash Can - Post 2004 Flood
User Comments
The first 4 drops of the Lower are definitely super serious. I haven't run Eclipse or Next time,
but First drop and Double drop are not user friendly either. last time I was there I saw one of the
best and most well known paddlers in the world have a nasty swim. The green is VERY forgiving
compared to the Cullasaja. I would say that after you can run the Monkey and sunshine smoothely and
calmly then you are totally ready to do the Cullasaja. Just running the Green light and getting by
though..... I don't know. Different story. The Lower Cullasaja really is a big pile of shit to be
quite frank. I think most people who have run it would agree. First drop is a boat breaker and not
that fun, Double drop is deceptively more difficult than it looks (had to pull my buddy out of a
cave there), Eclipse is just sicko and hard and super nasty, Next time is easier looking but still
V+ and disgusting. Then you have about 5 decent but consequential and stacked up pushy drops, then
you gotta walk Trash Can now, whale tail kicks ass, two boofs after that and then you are done. Its
too short for all the work and risk invovled in my opinion. Its more dangerous than Jones. Its a
ditch with huge blocky undercut wood filled, sieved out rocks and drops. The overall impression
when looking at the putin rapids and horizon is that this run was not made for kayaking. Doesn't
mean people haven't and won't run it though, yano. This run is not for the timid or part time. That
why I will never go back. This run is for complete jaded gnar heads who are in the area and its the
only thing running. Not many people DRIVE from home in seeking of the lower cullasaja. But, just my
two cents. I know that when I was all about checking it out there was no convincing me otherwise. I
just had to do it, so I understand when others feel the same way. Just be careful, because few
boaters have the skills to hit that run safely. Any doubts about being ready or not and you are
probably not.
Its all about the new run though.
I feel ya.
Kirk
hiked down to the first 4 drops (down to eclipse) and only one had a clean line, every other drop
has horribly placed wood. First falls has a big log in the entrance, and eclipse has an easily
removable tree blocking the whole river above first boof. Enjoy
challenging new line. double boof, aka trash can is no longer a go. at 4.8' all the water still
pushed right into an undercut sharp protruding rock. a mandatory portage for anyone who doesnt want
to get slammed. portage river right. the lead in to whale tail is cleaner than before and still
good to go. be careful out there.
Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Sep 27 2004, 21:42 GMT
From: unipaddle
this might have been posted already. many changes on the lower of mention. trees in 1st rapid. new
ODDLY placed boulders above ecliipse. jerry curl has adjusted its "jerry curl". most of all
TRASHCAN! this is now the ugliest rapid on the river. 5 foot sloping drop into pinny pillow area
with all the water washing to the right of the large boulder sending you towards a jagged,
overhanging, undercut, jaw snather of a boulder @4.1. it will probably be passable @ 4.5 and above.
wash out of trashcan leads directly into whale-tail with very few eddies in between. the nasty
reputation of the lower cullasaja just got worse.
Forum: BoaterTalk
Re: cullasaja -- update... unipaddle New
Re: lower cullasaja BSK New
Date: Sep 28 2004, 0:39 GMT
From: ugadelta98
The Cullasaja is broken into three distinct sections (for whitewater boating): the Upper, Middle,
and Lower.
Upper: 3 Big drops at the beginning, several portages (including Dry Falls), some flatwater, a
little class III/IV, and then some solid V/V+ stuff from Nemesis and Bricklayer down to Cosmic
Crunch (which is realistically a VI).
Middle: Some Class IV boulders garden stuff below Cosmic Crunch, some class III boogie through
semi-tight slots, one small drop, two 8 foot drops (both IV's above 4.5), some Class III boogie,
T-Bone (a Class IV+/V) multi-tiered drop, some more Class III boogie, a mile or so of flatwater, a
small gorge with Class III+/IV moves (above 4.5 it is Class IV, and only gets tougher as more water
comes in), then some ledges in front of the rock shop; there are 3 more Class V rapids below the
rock shop, and directly above the big falls, but very few people run them- if you screw up and swim
you could end up flushing down over Cullasaja Falls (over 200 ft multi- tiered drop).
Lower: put in at the base of Cullasaja Falls; you have many Class V/V+ rapids for over a mile. The
famous ones are Double Drop, Eclipse, Next Time, and Whale Tale, but there are many more stacked in
there. It is a serious creek run. The takeout is the Peeks Creek Bridge.
I grew up in Franklin (live away now though), and have been paddling the Cullasaja for about 8
years, so I am very familiar with the majority of the run. I have paddled alot of the Upper, all of
the Middle (many, many times), and from below Whale Tale down on the Lower (we hiked in from Peeks
Creek- I'm not a good enough creeker to even consider the rest of the Lower still). That river is
beautiful, powerful, and dangerous, so be careful on it; I see alot of people posting on here about
it these days.
this section down to 4.0' and all of us agreed that 4.6' is the best level we've run it at so far.
Everything is a little more padded out. There is a small stick in the right side run out of First
Drop since the rainfall from Hurricane Frances, but it is easily avoided. Be careful on this creek,
though, because it is sick.
Forum:BoaterTalk
Date: Mar 21 2003, 01:08
From: Bergen
The tree below Whale Tale is gone.
There is wood on the bottom right below first drop (only a problem above 5').
The second rapid below Next Time has a tree just under the water. Ran it today @ 5'3" not
visable.
gauge on the downstream bridge piling at route 1620 (where the USGS gauge is) was reading 6.9
Visually i thougth the level looked moderate on the upper and the middle, and stomping on the
lower. bradley
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So much rain, but
. . . Tried for Raven's but low water alternative Cullasaja proved a technical roadsite treat. The
put-in one of the most spectacular in the SE: just off the highway but down a steep, spray-swept
trail to the base of a 70+ foot unrunnable waterfall. Action starts immediately with a nasty s-turn
into a reverse Sunshine style left boof. Lots of impact, though everyone who ran it said it was
'fine'. Beautiful double boof left next, then Eclipse. Another Sunshine-esque rapid, Eclipse ramps
8' into a visible piton-rock. Only a tight right boof allows you to miss most of the rock - enought
ot soften the impact. The remaining technical slots should be scouted well, too. Next in the memory
was "Next Time" which at this low flow comprised of a mandatory right to left boof into a shallow,
narrow corridor. Sweet boof, all aces. Several fun boofs and a whale-tail later we were scraping
through class 2 boulders looking for the bridge. Cool run. Short, steep, sharp, sweet. For added
amusement, we drove upstream to the lake and ran the top cascades. This awesome series has been on
my list since the Wayne Gentry days and it lives up the videos for sure! The first drop slides 10'
but the 2nd 20' flume is only a boat-lengh away. You try and aim left or drag your left blade as
you rocket out of this one, cause a low wall off the right bank sends all the water (any you,
hopefully) into a 90 deg. left turn leading a 45 deg right turn down a 15' bounding cascade. No
video shot this trip, but Daniel D, Al G, Nate E, Tommy H, Pat Keller, Jason Hale and I sessioned
it so many times we could've used a time-lapse. Daniel's handpaddling runs were far better than
mine. nuff said. Anyway - another cool roadside class 5 off my 'to do' list. So many more . . . but
rain on the way! Clay
could run the right channel if you had more water than we did (3/4' at peek's creek bridge). There
was also wood blocking the top of the sneak at Eclipse and across a small drop just below next
time.
sections. Upper is from the lake to above the unrunnable falls. Middle is from below Nemesis to
above the 200-foot unrunnable falls. Don't miss that last eddy. Then there is the lower. 600 plus
feet a mile. 10-foot pools followed by 20-foot drops. Its from the base of the big falls to the
bridge two miles downstream. Don't do the lower until you are bored on the Green Narrows. Be
especially careful around the drops called Eclpise (similar but worse than Sunshine) which has
nasty siphon/undercut in it, and 15 feet downstream the waterfall known as Next Time. After the
first 6 drops it eases up a little. To hard class 5, that is...... Be careful out there.