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Fall Creek Falls State Park to Highway 30Class IV-V
7 Miles
Avg Gradient 94 fpm
Max Gradient 252 fpm
Cane Creek
Cane Creek Photo of Ben Northcutt by Alex Harvey Gauge Information
River DescriptionFall Creek Falls State Park.From Boatertalk, 12-2-02: Put in: Cable trail from Cane Creek Falls Nature Center and Overlook Wear your helmet, and 5.10's - very steep. Take Out: Hwy 30 bridge at 285 jct. Paddle up at put-in for best view of 80'+er in TN Rapids include: Pine Tree Falls, Crack-slot, Twin Towers (this hole flanked by huge rocks the site of many disasters), Corner Pocket (hole on left), Airplane turn, Hallway Falls, Rear Entry (now snuck left) Miles of class 2-3 then 1-2 follow, can be scrapy, always long. When the river splits 4 ways, pick R or L channel - still brushy but deeper watch for logs Daniel Talley adds Wrom: PNKMBIPBAR Thursday night it had rained a dab, only around an inch in these parts and not quite enough to get stuff goin to par. Richland Creek was running, but I wanted something new. Being disappointed in the situation, I strapped the boat on top of the car and headed west to Fall Creek Falls. For years I've been wanting to run Cane Creek, and being a semi-large watershed I figured it would have some water. It did, not much but enough was there for some sunny November fun. From the falls to the confluence of Fall Creek was a blast. Several IV+ made for some good fun, and I'm sure at higher levels class V would not be an overstatement for some of them. It had some of the best boulder garden drops I've seen, constant s-turns back to back with great climaxes at the end. After Fall Creek, it flattened out for a good 3/4 mile with an occassional class III. Then I came upon around three or four excellent drops, you know, those that have three or four slots to choose from, and only one of them not having a sieve with a tree in it. The trees were pretty bad in this 1 mile stretch, having to get out two or three times. The rest of the run I just sat back, enjoying the scenery on many many class-II shoal rapids. All was well, aside from the overwhelming feeling that I was running out of water. I thought to myself, surely I haven't outrun the water, as I crossed through several large pools, almost mini-lakes. Suddenly, I couldn't quite see the exit to the pool. Luckly I found a small exit, but yes, I was running out of water. The next thing I know, the water becomes very silty with an aqua color and I run this little wave train straight into a cliff. The cliff has three or four vertical slots where the water was entering. Over to the right was a 6-ft whirlpool, nothing violent, but interesting nonetheless. Getting next to the cliff, the air pressure made for an interesting sound. Over to the left was the dry riverbed that I walked for 100 yards or so and luckily found a road that eventually led to hwy 30. 45 minutes later a nice nursery owner took me back to my car. Interesting day. Maybe next time I'll wait until later in the season when that cave fills up and I can paddle happily to the bridge. Anyone else had similar experiences with this run or nearby watersheds? and two, is there a gauge in the park? -daniel Clay Wright helped out with: Paddle behind falls at low levels - no, haven't run em. Logs plague this run, but several class 4 and 5 rapids in virgin forest canyon. Watch for "Twin Towers" - named for the World Trade Center similarities. Was for the 2 big rocks flanking the drop. Now for the Big f*&$in hole. Set rope river right. 3 mile paddle out through scrapey-scenic class 1-2. Under 0'', much flow disappears. StreamTeam Status: Verified
Last Updated: 2006-04-06 17:34:19
Stream Team Editor Clay Wright Rock Island, TN | ||||||||||||||||
NWRI - Cane Creek Fall Creek Falls State Park to Highway 30 (mobile)