Piney, VA

Upper Piney

Upper Piney
Photo of Wendy Dalton by Gordon Dalton

Gauge Information

River Description

Take-out near the town of Woodson below the Rt. 666 bridge. Taking-out above the bridge is not advised.

Put-in above Alhambra at the pull-out beyond the National Forest sign.

The Piney is appropriately named; this river drops off the Blue Ridge through thick hemlock, pine and mixed hardwood forest over some slides and congested boulder drops on its way to Alhambra. There is definite potential for downed trees in the river so be heads up. The section from the Alhambra bridge down to Woodson is nice class III-IV water. There are several low-water bridges in this stretch that form lethal hydraulics at high water!

The main issue on this creek is access! My advice: Be respectful, and as discrete as possible when in this area. Let's not give anyone reason to be hostile toward boaters. Put-in within the National Forest. Take-out below the bridge near Woodson. Remember that Virginia navigability law is not necessarily kind to boaters on mountain streams (e.g., John's Creek).