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Stekoa Creek - 2- Timber Bluff Road off US Route 76 to Chattooga River
Stekoa Creek, Georgia, US |
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2- Timber Bluff Road off US Route 76 to Chattooga River (Lower Stekoa Creek)
| Usual Difficulty | II-V(V+) (for normal flows) |
|---|---|
| Length | 6.6 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 75 fpm |
| Max Gradient | 250 fpm |
Really Big Slide
Really Big Slide
Photo of Adam by Logan James taken 12/18/08 @ 2.1
Gauge Information
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHATTOOGA RIVER NEAR CLAYTON, GA | ||||
| usgs-02177000 | 2.00 - 10.00 ft | II-V(V+) | 01h43m | 2.16 ft (running) |
River Description
Gradient: Mapping this out on Google Earth here is the Gradient I got for feet per mile-by-mile starting at Timber Bluff Road Bridge. 30, 55, 35, 75, 10, 80, and 200 feet in the last .60 miles before it drops into the Chattooga. I did this by using the path ruler on Google Earth and looking at the elevation by the mile. This is probably pretty accurate, but the next time I go down I will try to take a GPS to make sure.
Shuttle Details
The logical and easiest shuttle for this run is to put on at either Timber Bluff Road off of 76,
or at the pull off of East Wolf Creek Road where the river leaves the road, (putting on at the
pulloff on East Wolf Creek Road cuts out the first two mile of the run). The take out that
is the easiest to access if coming from Atlanta or Clayton would be to take out at Camp Creek
which is about 2 miles down the Chattooga from where Stekoa Creek flows in and is above the Five
Falls. The other Shuttle option is to use the standard Chattooga take-out for section four
which includes the infamous 2 mile lake paddle to the Tugaloo Lake Boat Ramp. The Camp
Creek take-out is a parking lot on river right about two thirds of a mile off the river. The
trail is similar in length and steepness to the trail at Woodall Shoals. Using this option knocks
off about 30 miles of shuttle.
See also the Class-V Upper Stekoa.
Also if anyone has any information on the names of the rapids post them in the comment section and I will change them. I made them up from my 2 runs that I have done.
Editors
Rapid Summary
| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Put in |   | |
| 2.1 | Alternate Put-in | | |
| 2.3 | Big Bend Rapid |   | |
| 3.3 | Entrance to Taylor Shoals |   | |
| 3.4 | Taylor Shoals | 5.3 | |
| 3.4 | Good Boogy Below Taylor Shoals Portage | | |
| 4.9 | Flatwater Ledge | | |
| 5.3 | Entrance Ledges to You Run It First | | |
| 5.4 | Big Shoals | | |
| 5.5 | Mill Shoals | | |
| 6.0 | Triple Undercuts | | |
| 6.1 | Double Boof or Die | | |
| 6.2 | Boof above Cave Rapid |  | |
| 6.2 | Cave Rapid | 5.3 | |
| 6.3 | 1st Boof Below Cave | | |
| 6.3 | 2nd Boof Below Cave | | |
| 6.4 | Pothole Slide | |
Rapid Descriptions
Bridge that crosses creek on Timberbluff Rd. Find a good place to pull off the road completely and be discrete, all private property so be respectful of residents.
This is a put in that cuts out 2 miles of flatwater and only passes up 2 rapids. It is the bend in Wolf Creek Road where the road leaves the creek. There is a gage about a quarter mile upstream on the bridge. 1.0 feet is what I consider a minimum as it will be a little scrappy at that level.
Big Bend Rapid
Big Bend RapidThis is the rapid right after the creek leaves wolf creek road. It is right around the corner. At low flows say below 1.6 feet on wolf creek bridge gage run the right side of the island. You can portage and scout on right. At higher flows you can run the more vertical left side. This rapid drops about 15-18 feet total. Class two boogy water afterwards till it gets flat again.
Entrance Ledge Taylor Shoals
Entrance Ledge Taylor ShoalsYou will paddle by a field on the right side of a short flatwater section and as the river bends to the left you should start thinking about getting out, especially at high water. There are a few small ledges for about 50 yards before the big waterfall of Taylor Shoals. At low water you can run this entrance, but be careful and don't miss eddys. There is an ok portage trail on theleft for the waterfall.
Taylor Shoals
Taylor ShoalsThis is a very big waterfall that lands on rocks. Portage on Left. If you run it take pics so you can right the description.
Boogy water below Taylor Shoals
Boogy water below Taylor ShoalsGood fun class 3/4 boogy water after taylor shoals waterfall. This is just read and run, but there are some undercut to stay away from.
Ledge that breaks up long flatwater section
Ledge that breaks up long flatwater sectionAfter Taylor Shoals boogy water there is a long stretch of flatwater of maybe a mile or so in length that is broken up by a nice 8-10 foot ledge.
Entrance to You Run It First
Entrance to You Run It FirstSome Ledges that are the entrance to a very big 40 foot waterfall that all lands on rocks. Be careful after coming out of long flatwater section and know you can make eddys. Portage on the right is not a good trail at all, don't know about left side.
You Run It First
You Run It FirstVery big 40 or so foot waterfall that lands on a big rock shelf. Portage on right is hard, but doable. Don't know if left side is a better portage or not. If you run entrance ledges above this one don't miss the eddy.
Really Big Slide
Really Big SlideWe ran this one down the right side making it like a double drop slide, but maybe a possible line down the center. Pretty scrappy at top at low water. Drops about 30-40 feet total.
Triple Undercuts
Triple UndercutsThis rapid is not too big, but very dangerous. It has bad undercuts on the right side where you enter the rapid and then the current pushes bad to the left side of river to another undercut. There is a rock ledge here that you have to power over at low flows. There is also a bad undercut at the bottom of the rapid. Stay center as much as possible. You can portage on right.
Double Boof undercut on left
Double Boof undercut on leftThis is another small rapid that is a double boof of about 3 and 4 feet, but it has a very bad undercut sieve on the left side.
Click Here For Video
Boof Above Cave Rapid
Boof Above Cave RapidThis is a pretty nice boof above the cave rapid. The top part of the drop is about 4 feet with current feeding into undercut on right, then some current into a nice boof of about 6-8 feet. It kinda lands on rocks. There are sieves and undercuts everywhere. Eddy out just below cause Cave Rapid is just below.
Cave Rapid
Cave RapidThis is about a 12 foot drop that is very nasty and dangerous. It is all undercut and sieved out. Most of the current goes into a cave with no escape. Fun to Risk factor is very low on this one. We portage and seal lonched off rock on the right, may be able to portage left but not sure.
1st Boof Below Cave
1st Boof Below CaveNice boof rapid of about 6-10 feet total. We ran a little right of center.
2nd boof below Cave Rapid
2nd boof below Cave RapidThe secong nice boof below the cave rapid. Eddy out on the right to scout or portage pothole slide.
Pothole Slide seen from Chattooga
Pothole Slide seen from Chattooga This is the slide you can see looking up from the chattooga. it is about 20 feet long slide that has bad undercut on the left. Run far right.
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2- Timber Bluff Road off US Route 76 to Chattooga River, Stekoa Creek Georgia, US (mobile)
User Comments
Chattooga. The 441 gauge was at 0" and the Wolf Creek bridge gauge was at 1.4. This was a low
level, but that is ok for an exploratory run. There were seven of us in the group, none of whom had
run the entire length. Several had hiked up from the Chattooga previously and run the last several
rapids, but none from the top down. It was a good trip, rather uneventful. I was not expecting that
there would be so much flatwater. The entire run is probably 60-70% flatwater with some big rapids
thrown in. At one point, nearly half way down the creek, one of the guys with us proclaimed, "wow,
I finally got to run a rapid." The first rapid was fun, right or left of the island. The second
rapid was big with a hard hit at the bottom. The third rapid is the money drop. This one rapid, I
don't know if it has a name or how many people have run it, but it is the money drop that will lure
me back again. It is fairly intimidating looking but smooth as butter. Note to self, don't start
celebrating until the rapid is done...I started calling it Gorilla's Mama for lack of knowledge of
it's already name. (This name because when you run the right side, it has the same feeling of
Gorilla, without the notch, but of the feeling you get of landing off the pad and continuing to
drop under the veil)....The last stretch into the Chattooga is tight and technical, but short and
leaves you feeling slightly unsatisfied. If it weren't for Gorilla's Mama, I probably wouldn't go
back. There is one rapid I would especially like to comment on. The death cave, sieve, whatever its
name is rapid. I have heard about this rapid for at least a decade and a half...ever since Chris
Harjes and Nathan Hale ran this creek back in '94 or '95. That one rapid...and the poor water
quality...let me repeat that...and the poor water quality, have kept me from wanting to experience
this creek, at least from being able to find others that would want to go explore it with me. So I
am thankful for a group of paddling friends who are willing to try new stuff and break out of the
vicious cycle of ALWAYS going to Overflow. Let me state for the record that Toxaway and Overflow
were checked first, and since neither were running, Stekoa was our last option short of a long
drive to the Smokies. Anyway, the death cave, sieve rapid has a very clear, albeit very narrow line
through it that does NOT feed the cave, sieve. Yes it is a mean looking rapid, but a great example
of a rapid where you have to drive toward the thing you want to avoid in order to avoid it. What?
In order to avoid the cave, on the approach, you have to drive toward the cave, because when you
crest the top of the wave that guards the cave, there is a tongue that bypasses the cave. If you
try to stay too far right of the cave, there is a ledge with a hole, kicker wave that throws you
into the cave. Anyway, the moral is, sometimes you have to go toward that which scares you in order
to find the safe way. I could very easily start preaching about giving your life to Christ, but I
will save that for River Fellowship (1st Sunday of every month at Woodall Shoals 8 am, 2nd Sunday
of every month, Green Narrows take-out 9 am). To sum up, lower Stekoa is fun, big, somewhat stinky,
a lot of work if you are not willing to run the big ones, but definitely rewarding. PS paddling
Lake Tugaloo with hand paddles is less than enjoyable. Happy boating and may you find the joy of
knowing Christ as you enjoy His handiwork.
you'll need to park on Rickman Airfield Road, carefully cross 441 to the median between the north
and south bound bridges. The gage is on the South bound bridge river right, downstream pilon.
Please report your levels and low, medium and high info so we can dial this gage in and develop a
correlation. E-mail info to me at h2olevelcheck@hotmail.com. -- Thanx -- Rob Maxwell
chattooga was only about 1.7 (it had just rained the night before). But the last mile or so into
the chattooga is non-stop class 5. The entire section we looked at had undercuts, sieves, caves and
potholes everywhere and there were very small pools in between the drops. You can hike/wade/climb
up the creek on the river right side but it isn't easy. The water quality is really nasty
The drops in order that you would kayak down them are:
1. A 5 foot drop, that looked clean (didn't get a good look)
2. A 15 foot drop that is backcut and lands on a rock on the right side, and has a log in the river
about 8 feet downstream. It had an undercut wall on the left side of the landing zone. (probably a
portage)
3. A 15-20 foot slide/drop, where you had to land within a 4 foot wide slot, or you would get
shoved into an undercut on the right or an undercut cave with no way out on the left (which is
where a lot of water went). It was really sketch (portage).
4. a clean 6 foot ledge
6. another clean 6 foot ledge
7. a 20 foot rocky slide with a huge undercut/sieve/cave blocking the entire left side of the river
at the bottom. (this is the slide that can be seen from the chattooga)
well I would like to see which of the two ones that I think would be portages have been run. And we
need some pictures of them on here.
extreamly high water. Several Southeastern Guides said 1.9 on the Chattooga was a good minimum. At
levels near 3 feet or higher you could easily not be able to stop at the big rapids and find
yourself as a greasy spot on some rocks at the bottom of the big waterfall.