Davidson,

2. FS Rd. 475, 2nd pull off to Sycamore Flats (Lower Davidson)

Usual Difficulty	I-II (may vary with level)
Length	5 Miles
Avg. Gradient	22 fpm

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
DAVIDSON RIVER NEAR BREVARD, NC
usgs-03441000	1.50 - 7.50 ft	I-II	01h06m	2.1 ft (rc= 0.1 )
	Upper limit for best boatability uncertain. Please help your fellow boaters with a comment or report.

River Description

This river is very rain dependent. It takes a good overnight rain storm to get it just up to runnable levels, but will drop about as quick as it rises. An overnight torrental ultimate unreal thunder storm will really get this river moving. At levels around 3.0-3.5 feet, it gets pumping really good. Lots of class II stuff at this level, a few surfing wave's will develop along the way, and lots of moving boogie water.

---

Directions to Put-in:

From Brevard: Take US 276 along the Davidson River north past the ranger station for 3 miles. Turn left on Forest Service Road 475, which takes you to the fish hatchery. We found the best place to put in is the 2nd overlook / pulloff on the left, the one with the "Roadside Camping Only" sign. There is a nice sandy beach right there with easy access to the river.

Directions to Take-out:

From Brevard: Take US 276 along the Davidson River. Go maybe a mile or so, and you will see a sign for Sycamore Flats on the left. There is plenty of parking, picnic tables, and bathrooms. River runs along the back side of the park.

You can add on about another mile of river running if you take-out around the US 276 / US 76 Bridge before entering the National Forest.

---

Hazards:

As always be on the lookout for trees. Stay on the main path of the river or just about any path on the river's right bank. If you take some left passages, be prepared to get stuck on rocks, and even portage around trees at minimum level. Even at higher water levels, I'd stay on the rivers main path.

If running under 1.5 feet, about half way into the run, there is a large tree crossing the entire river's path. You may need to portage if you can't hop your boat over it. The tree will disapear at higher water levels. The tree's top edge at 1.5 feet is right around the same height as the river level and may not be obvious.

Just past half way, and past the hazard above, you will come to a giganic tree clog. There is a tight squeeze on it's left, and some quick manuvering there after to get around some big rocks. At water levels around 1.5 feet, the right side of the river is somewhat runable around the clog, will be a bumpy ride due to being shallow and rocky, but at higher water levels no problems persists on the right side of the river and is the recomened path. You can scout this clog from roadside. It's about 2.5 miles upstream from the take-out.