Cullasaja,
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2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) (Middle Cullasaja)
Class IV(V+)
2.5 Miles
Avg Gradient 84 fpm
Max Gradient 136 fpm
Chan on 1st Drop
Chan on 1st Drop
Gauge Information
River Description
The Middle section of the Cullasaja is a good place to work on moving up to the next level. Two
drops are usually portaged, but first the fun stuff!
The usual put-in for the middle section, according to a well-known local, is ½ to 2/3 of
a mile above T-Bone. There is a Forest Service Road that has been cut down the right bank. You
can park here and walk your boat down to the river and put on below the mayhem of Nemesis,
Bricklayer, and Cosmic Crunch. The later of which seems to be on the outer limits of whatÂs
runnable.
About 1/4 mile below the put-in is the First Drop, a sliding drop that has a vertical drop of
river left. Good landing area below, so it's pretty user friendly. The Second Drop is directly
below and can be run down the slide or down the drop, but if you run the drop go to the right of
the rock that has recently possitioned itself in the main channel. Going left usually results in
a bad bow pin (witnessed).
The Take-Out is usually at the Rock Shop or the 1st bridge above the shop. The few that
want to paddle on down to The Big Stuff will probably have to set a vehicle in the big pull-off
on the right side of the road and then run the drops and huck back up to your vehicle.
About halfway into the run is T-Bone. T-Bone is a 4-step drop next to a bend in the highway. In
the bottom center of the drop is one of the biggest, scariest potholes you will ever see. The
usual line is up against the left bank. There is a very easy portage beside the road. At higher
levels, say above 5ft, a right line opens up.
Below T-Bone is some class III+ technical boogie water, until you cross under the bridge and then
look for the Rock Shop take-out. After the Rock Shop there is a good looking surfing wave and
then a small ledge before the proverbial bottom drops out. A pretty serious horizon line marks
the entrance, and the current split by a large boulder. Scouting is best achieved on river right.
ThereÂs a 10-12FT slide/drop, then most of the river takes a hard right hand turn around the big
rock in the middle of the channel. While passing the rock start looking for an eddy to get in to
line up for the stuff below. Next, hit another steep sliding drop and then you really, really
need to look for an eddy to get into, because 200ft plus Cullasaja Falls is waiting below.
There is a Super Slide that has been run, but it is not advised because a swim would set you up
for the last of your life. The slide is only run a low levels because of the push the extra water
would give at the bottom and the chance of having to run Cullasaja Falls. A word of
CAUTION about the class VÂs. Only run these if you have a bombproof roll and have
adequate boaters to set up safety. A swim here would probably be FATAL.
AFWS Current Rainfall Data for Macon
County.
Check the Highlands gauge, 1824.
See also: Other sections of the Cullasaja:
0. Above the lakes (Class
IV-V+)
1. Upper (Lake
Sequoyah to below Cosmic Crunch) (Class )
3. Lower - Base of Cullasaja Falls to Peeks
Creek Bridge (Class IV-V(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 09:13:50
1st Drop on Middle Cullasaja
Adam Garrett on Middle Cullasaja
Bryan Mangum 1st Drop
Detail Trip Report Edit
Bryan Mangum 1st Drop
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , NC(87.24KB .jpeg)
WillVDB and Kevin Merritt on Upper Drops of Middle Cully
Detail Trip Report Edit
WillVDB and Kevin Merritt on Upper Drops of Middle Cully
Middle Cullasaja, NC(0.00B .mov)
WillVDB and Kevin Merritt on T-Bone
Cullasaja Falls
Detail Trip Report Edit
Cullasaja Falls
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , (35.86KB .jpeg)
Super Slide
Detail Trip Report Edit
Super Slide
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , (24.50KB .jpeg)
T-Bone
Detail Trip Report Edit
T-Bone
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , (14.96KB .jpeg)
Unpinning CFS
Detail Trip Report Edit
Unpinning CFS
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , (38.39KB .jpeg)
Chan on 1st Drop
Detail Trip Report Edit
Chan on 1st Drop
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , (23.86KB .jpeg)
Photo#7137
Detail Trip Report Edit
@Cullasaja 2. Middle (Below Cosmic Crunch to Above Cullasaja Falls) , (1.68KB .jpeg)
1st Ledge of the Big Stuff
Looking Down the Big Stuff
5-6 Foot Ledge above the Class V's
Middle Cullasaja, Cosmic Crunch
First Class V above Cullasaja Falls
Entrance to the Last 3 Drops
Carnage on Middle Cullasaja
UGADelta...before the carnage.
>> next
River Alert
User Comments
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.
Forum: BoaterTalk<br />
Re: Middle Cullasaja Questions coopster New <br />
<br />
Date: Apr 20 2004, 0:59 GMT <br />
From: BLT <br />3 mini gorges to the cully, top is from the dam below the lake, bottom is at
the bottom of big w/fall by road...
<br />
The middle gorge is a bit outta control. There is a section just below the middle gorge that has
some technical stuff then 2, 8' ledges, then a road side class 5, followed by some flat then a
series of class 3 rock gardens, then you get down to the area above the big falls. This one is good
if you get there and the others are a bit beefy. <br />
<br />
Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Apr 20 2004, 3:24 GMT
From: wncpaddler
You can Park and Huck the two drops above T-Bone and run T-Bone itself as low as you want. Lowest
I've done it is 3.21ft. and it was really scrappy. I would say optimum would be 4-4.5 ft. That
really pads things out but make some other stuff really intresting. Watch out for what Newt calls
the "box" if you run the drop on the second. Running the slide keeps you away from this. (Newt got
worked pretty hard there about 2 months back at 4.25) But you can run the drop with good speed and
about 2 ft left of the curler at the top. At lower levels the second drop is pretty sketchy. You
won't be able to get much speed and are sure to pin hard in the cave on the far left. It's not
terminal, but still bad enough. (1st hand experience there) As for T-Bone you can see how it looks,
just stay way left and pull yourself along the top part, at lower levels, and stay away from that
huge pothole at the bottom. Pretty good recovery there though.
As for a max. level I wouldn't be one it above 5.5ft. There was an epic swim there last Tuesday at
5.5ft. The swim occured above the 1st drop and there were no eddies until below T-Bone, so the Huka
went all the way down the 1st, 2nd, boogie water, and was recirculated in the hole below T-Bone for
20 min. Then pinned on a rock. Bad place to be at that level. I'm sure others will disagree, but
for a 1st time run....that's what I would suggest.
Be careful, and know where you are and what's comming up on the Cully at high water. It can be a
great place, but a deadly one too. Check out my photos on the AW page for a look at some of the
bigger class 5's right above the big falls.
around 3.2ft. I witnessed a pretty bad bow pin on the far river left side of the second drop. At
low levels (below 3.4ft) the second is really sketchy. At higher levels the second drops forms a
huge hole, not terminal, but still pretty sticky (above 4.5ft)
Update: it seems that the far left bank of the 1st Drop is undercut. Ben found it while he was
probing around out of his boat. I doubt it is an issue at any level except at maybe summer levels
and even then a lot of left angle would be needed to get into the undercut.
Re: New Pics and video clip up on AW of Upper/Middle Cullasaja wncpaddler New
Re: One thing with the pics..... Bradley New
Date: Feb 12 2004, 0:04 GMT
From: ugadelta98
T-Bone (Class IV+, but a definite V at higher water)) is what is commonly referred to as Sliding
Rock by the local swimmers on the Cullasaja (different that the Sliding Rock near Brevard) and is
located in the bend of the road upstream of the rock shop, after Gold Mine Road. It has a big
gravel and paved pulloff parking area to the left, above the main drop. There are two other
waterfalls located about 100 yards upstream, First and Second drops (about 8 feet apiece- III+/IV).
Above them, about 1/2 to 2/3 of a mile is the pulloff at the old Forest Service road where you can
put in below the mayhem of Nemesis and Bricklayer (located on the right, you carry down the steep
hill through the woods).
Don't worry about mislabeling those rapids you posted Adam, people have been wrong on trip reports
on the AW site for years. The drop you showed is the start of the 3 Class V drops that end the
Middle Cullasaja section. They are located right above the Falls, and have a last chance eddy at
the bottom before you hit the super slide (and are committed to the biggest, gnarliest, and
probably last series of drops in your shortened life- I know people run the big slide, but not
me).
-Newton
Directions: From Brevard take 64 West all the way into Highlands. (Ignore the real estate
development advertising Cullasaja that pops up before Highlands.) 64 West will take a right hand
turn in Highlands. As you leave town you will pass a Fee Area for Dry Falls. SR 1620 is the first
road on your left after you pass Dry Falls. The sign is located on your right but the road is on
your left. The gauge on the bridge is located downstream on river right. The day I ran the Middle
the gauge was reading 7.28 and the internet gauge was at 4.1. This was an optimal level.
Take Out: Drive up stream from Cullasaja Falls. You will see T-Bone just above the falls. It is
easily recognizable from the car-sized boulder sitting in the middle of the river. Just up stream
from this there is a turn off on the right. Park there for the take out.
Put In: As you leave the take-out keep heading up stream. About a mile or so (didn't measure exact
distance) the road will bend to the left. At this bend you will see an old service road covered
with grass, which will head back toward the river. Park in this area and hike your boat down the
service road to the river. This is where the put-in is for the Middle Cullasaja.
Description: The description I'm giving isn't for what is normally run on the Middle Cullasaja. I
put in at the bridge, which was much farther up stream. This is just to inform you of what is
farther up stream from where you typically put in. We put in at the bridge on SR 1620.
After floating down a 1/4 mile we came to a slide, (I suck at estimating height so don't quote me
on any of this) I would say in the 20' range. We ran this with no problems just left of
center.
We float some more and then come to the entrance to a canyon. We eddied out on river left and
bushwhacked our way through the shrubs to scout the first drop, which lead to having to scout the
second and third. By this time we are scratching our heads wondering where the heck we were. This
definitely didn't match the first waterfall picture on AWA and we questioned if this was really
only a class IV rapid?
What we were looking at was a 25' double tiered drop (similar to Boxcar on North Fork) just bigger
and 3x the volume of water. Immediately following the drop were rock walls that pushed the water
into the second drop 40' downstream. There weren't any eddies in this stretch so running the first
committed you to the second and third drops.
The second drop was an 8-foot boof, which landed 6 feet in front of the third drop. The third drop
was the one we looked at the longest. The walls of the canyon pinched down to a 4-foot wide slot.
The water was ricocheting off a rock on river left and shooting from left to right in front of the
drop.
After much debate and a few rounds of "paper, rock & scissors" we decided to make a go of it.
We ran the first drop straight down the middle. You can aim for the river left wall after the first
tier and shoot off of a launch pad to finish the second tier. That is what Nate did and he looked
very stylish doing it. If only he would have had his eyes open for it I would have thought he
intended to do it.
We rode the second drop high on river right, which dropped us right in front of the "pinch". We ran
the "pinch" straight down the middle and reached our first eddy on river right.
The next two drops are fairly straight forward. Just run the last one on river right. There is an
exposed rock in the center of the rapid which wants to flip you. That happened to us and we lost a
paddle there. We ended up climbing out of the canyon at this point.
There are more challenging rapids in this stretch and a couple places looked like you would have to
portage. Don't quote me on that though. I wouldn't attempt it unless you enjoy class IV+
rapids.