Class

Flow

III (IV-)

700 cfs (minimum to TO @ Stackhouse)Â

III (IV-)

1,200 cfs (minimum to TO @ Hot Springs)Â

III+ (2@IV)

3,500+ cfs

Directions to the alternate take-out at Stackhouse: Head north out of Asheville on US 19/23. Take the US 25/70 (Marshall) exit. Follow US 25/70 19 miles to State Road 1139/1319 (Stackhouse Road). Look for it on your left shortly after you pass USA Raft. Turn left and follow Stackhouse Road downhill all the way to the river.

There are many, many rustic bed and breakfasts in Hot Springs. I know several paddlers who have been married at The Duckett House, for example, and another couple who were married on Max Patch but had their reception at the Rock House. The most unique bed and breakfast, however, has to be Elmer Hall's Sunnybank Inn (828-622-7206). Extremely popular with AT through hikers, a stay at Elmer's includes a family-style vegetarian dinner and breakfast and a chance to converse with an extremely eclectic assortment of guests. In a former life Elmer was a Methodist minister at Duke University; his library is extensive. Most find the Sunnybank Inn through word of mouth. Here are some of those words: Google Search on Elmer and the Sunnybank Inn. And for the two of you who are chomping at the bit for pricier accommodations, here are a couple additional Hot Springs lodging options.

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Guess how Hot Springs got its name! Consider reserving yourself a tub at the Hot Springs Spa (828-622-7676 or 800-462-0933; see the price list in the preceding link). The most private tubs are numbers 5 & 6. Most paddlers take out at the rafting outpost on river right 1/3 mile upstream, but if you timed it right you could paddle directly to the tubs on river left. Retrieve the bottle of wine from the truck, change out of your river clothes in a changing room, shower, and relax in a hot tub. What could be finer? You can even reserve a massage!

Do a Google Search on Hot Springs and you'll get a lot of interesting hits. I've found the Sherpa Guide to Hot Springs useful, and Hot Spring's history interesting reading. Consider timing a trip to the French Broad to coincide with the annual French Broad River Festival.

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This is a great run for intermediate paddlers. Its greatest challenge for those beginning to build their skills is its width. It is only slightly harder than the Nantahala if one sneaks the two most difficult drops, Kayaker's Ledge (III at all but high levels) and Frank Bell's (IV- at all but high levels). Both are easily sneaked: they occur in the channels on the river right sides of large islands. Run the left sides of the islands and you'll miss them entirely.

Kayaker's Ledge comes at the end of the long, flat, relatively shallow section of the river called Windy Flats. Windy Flats begins below Stackhouse, about the point the railroad tracks cross Big Laurel Creek. The island on whose right side Kayaker's Ledge forms is about 130 steep feet high and occurs at a sharp right hand bend in the river. Scout Kayaker's Ledge before running it -- it creates an obvious horizon line.

The pair of small islands on whose right sides Frank Bell's Rapid forms are located about a half mile below Kayaker's Ledge and about a quarter mile below the last of the series of small islands below the main island at Kayaker's Ledge. There is a great ender spot at the bottom of Frank Bell's, a good enough spot that in the days when enders were king we'd sometimes walk our boats the 2/3rds of a mile up the railroad tracks from the end of the road on the river left side of the river just to do them. If memory serves, 1,000 cfs was the optimum ender level.

For descriptions of the many runs in the Asheville area less challenging than Section 9 -- including seven on the French Broad -- see Betsy Mayers' Paddling Asheville: 28 Gently Exciting Regional River Trips. This very well done guide for those interested in paddling class I-II in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee includes put-ins, take-outs, directions from Asheville, landmarks by river mile, excellent maps and general comments. For less detailed descriptions of every run on the French Broad from its headwaters near Rosman, NC into Tennessee, see Bob and David Benner's Carolina Whitewater: A Canoeist's Guide to the Western Carolinas.

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