Chinquapin Creek,

Lower Canyon Rim Road to Little River Canyon

Roy Tastes the Rainbow

Roy Tastes the Rainbow
Photo of Roy S. by Adam Goshorn @ 4"

Gauge Information

River Description

Brad Hinds: "I am pretty sure we did the first descent of Chinquapin Creek about six years ago [1995?]. We ran everything but one drop were it sieved out after the second drop which was a bouncy slide."

Chinquapin is the biggest (and only runnable) tributary flowing into Little River Canyon between Bear and Johnnies Creeks. It is short and steep, dropping about 350 feet in about 0.7 miles before dumping into the Little River just upstream of Powell Trail. It is extremely steep non-stop action featuring endless slide series seperated by cascades and waterfalls.

There is a painted gauge on the downstream side of the bridge at the put-in. After scraping down it at 4" I would say that 6" is probally a better minimum. Another good indicator is that if Johnnies Creek is over 0" and still rising fast, Chinquapin may be going. The creek is much more narrow at the put in bridge than some other places on the creek. At lower levels this results in the water being great in some rapids and very low in others. If it looks fast and juice'n at the put-it, the rest of the run should be good to go. If the put-in looks scrapy, don't bother.

Take-out options include Powell Trail or Canyon Mouth Park

If your short on time, daylight, or just looking to get on another run; I suggest using Powell Trail as a take-out. Its not far downstream from where Chinquapin hits Little River and is a quick (less than a mile) hike up the hill. Powell Trail also makes for a quick shuttle to retreive cars and get on with you day.